UKIP’s demise is nigh; it will be only remembered for its factionalism and Alf Garnett-esque membership
UKIP was formed by Dr Alan Sked, a wacky professor turned fan of Enoch Powell, in 1993. It morphed into a powerful campaigning force with the guidance of the charismatic yet self-serving personality of Nigel Farage but now, with the loss of its only MP, Douglas Carswell, and Brexit round the corner, its death is nigh.
Primarily guided by a beer swilling populist who never bothered to vote in the European Parliament yet one happy to take their pay cheques, this ragbag organisation undoubtedly, on the surface, represented views that were popular with many. Less immigrants, less regulation and making Britain great and independent again sounded appealing but in reality, UKIP’s internal problems dominated its existence to a point that these matters got lost in the milieu.
First, there is the matter of the behaviour and sources of their membership. Extremist right-wing parties including EDL and the BNP were wiped out thanks to UKIP sucking them dry and the backstabbing antics of MEPs like Godfrey Bloom – a man prone to referencing foreigners as coming from “Bongo Bongo Land” – and Alf Garnett-like supporters who liked to come out with comments such as telling the black comedian Lenny Henry to leave Britain made this so-called party anything but media savvy.
Secondly, UKIP failed to make a mark at Westminster. In their existence they have won only one seat and that was more likely due to their candidate’s personal popularity than their policies. In the form of Douglas Carswell they had a principled thinker but in the end, his acrimonious relationship with both Farage and the party’s main financial backer, Arron Banks, killed his ability to sit in their midst any longer.
Finally, UKIP is now led by an incompetent “Tim Nice But Dim-like” character named Paul Nuttall. He failed to win a parliamentary seat recently too but what he will forever be remembered for is fake news. Mr Nuttall invented his past but he’s failed to invent a future. UKIP is a spent force and it is time it was put out of its misery.
Flasher Teresa should announce a new referendum immediately based on the evidence that the nation was misled by a pack of lies and the present chaos it’s already causing
Enoch Powell was one of the impressive politicians the Tory Party ever produced.
A racist? Nonsense. A complete polymath with a deep understanding of Hindu culture.
How right he was when he predicated that our cities would one day be no go areas for anyone but followers of Islam.
No other religion causes the chaos that Islam is responsible for. It’s a backward religion founded by a carpet seller with a taste in under age girls
You do make them look Cranky . But be careful what you say.Or Wish for.Nigel F is not finished yet .But the E U is Finished.Greed is there Problem .Not like Robin Hood. They take from the poor and give to the Rich.Thats the EU stratagery.
Best Richard H.
Good commentary …
Yes, Enoch Powell told it how it was, and for that he has always been branded a racist. Most politicians would feel exactly the same way he did, but not one of them has the balls to say it. It has happened here in Melbourne and Sydney, where we now have no go areas. I know, it does sound racist, but the fact is, Multiculturalism just doesn’t work, especially those countries that follow Islam.
UKIP was never more than a one-policy party. This was pretty evident when Nigel Farage jumped ship after the EU referendum. And now Carswell is doing the same thing. Though quite frankly, I don’t know why he joined UKIP in the first place. His voting pattern has been pretty much consistent with many in the Tory Party – i.e. against EU, cut all kinds of welfare/social services, increase taxes, and get involved in any kind of military action overseas.
While I won’t shed a tear at UKIP’s inevitable demise, the one thing I will say is that their lack of representation in Parliament exposed a huge flaw in the first-past-the-post system. It surely can’t be right that they got almost four million votes in 2015 and only ended up with one MP. Especially since the SNP only got 1.5 million votes and have 56 MPs.
As for Enoch Powell, it always amuses me how he is hailed as a hero by the anti-immigration mob. What most people forget is that when he was the Minister for Health, he actively encouraged people from other Commonwealth countries to come to the UK and train/work for the NHS.
The truth of the matter was that Powell was a typical career politician. Happy to do a 180-degree turn on his positions if he thought it could further his prospects. There’s no doubt that he was fiercely ambitious. After all, he somehow attained the rank of ‘Brigadier’ by the end of WW2 – without once seeing any action.
At the time, taking an anti-immigration stance certainly seemed like a popular move. Only it backfired, when Heath sacked him. Probably not because Heath disagreed with the content of Powell’s speech as such – but because he knew enough to recognise a climber, bandwagon jumper, and potential backstabber when he saw one.
Ella, the political savant strikes again.
Perhaps you should write a biography of Powell!
Powell rose fast through the ranks from a mere NCO to brigadier. One assumes others, probably more experienced than Ella, found his work service of sufficient merit to justify his rapid rise.
The fact that he volunteered before call up shows the calibre of the man.
Edward Heath, being a charisma free and generally unpleasant piece of work, was insanely jealous of Powell’s oratorical gifts.
As for UKIP, whether it thrives or dies is inconsequential. It achieved the goal of disentangling us from the tentacles of the
neo Soviet EU. We owe Farage an unpayable debt.
Ah – I was wondering how long it would take for you to show up.
FYI, I have read extensively about Powell’s life. As I stated above, there was no doubt that he was a fiercely intelligent, ambitious man. But the fact that he rose to the rank of brigadier simply proves that he was a climber who ingratiated himself with the right people.
He was no Audie Murphy and there wasn’t much in the way of “work service”. Not once did Powell see any action – zero, zip, nil, rien, nada, duck’s egg. The end result would have been the same if he’d been a conscientious objector who had stayed at home.
I am not a huge fan of Heath either, but I will say that Heath had a very distinguished service record. In fact, one of Heath’s reasons for taking Britain into the EC was because he had seen the horrors of war first hand, and saw it as a way of preventing war in the future.
It is correct, however, that there was no love lost between Powell and Heath. Heath’s reasons for sacking Powell were probably more to do with seeing Powell as a potential threat rather than the content of his speech. And he wasn’t wrong. Powell did his best to undermine Heath as a Conservative backbencher before defecting to the Ulster Unionists.
As for Farage – nobody owes him anything, regardless of your views on Brexit. It was David Cameron who gave Britain the EU referendum. All Farage did was make a lot of noise complaining about the EU, while making ZERO effort to effect changes while an MEP.
Remember how he was on the Fisheries Commission, but only bothered to turn up to 1 out of 42 meetings. Contrast that with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall who actually got off his behind and started a campaign to get unfair EU fishing quota regulations changed.