British Democracy Forum - View Single Post - UKIP show little sign of threatening anyone

Lawrie Boxall · 21-08-2006, 07:47 PM

I am not suggesting a safe alternative at all. There has to be risk taking if UKIP is going to get anywhere. The problem with the Farage and Knapman era is that they have been unwilling or unable to take risks on policy issues and have preferred to stay well inside their comfort zones of pet EU obsessions such as fraud, corruption etc. That is undemanding and very easy stuff which anyone can do - but it leads nowhere in electoral terms and is the antithesis of proper political leadership.

So UKIP needs to take risks of course but planned and calculated and primarily based on UK and world political and geopolitical issues not on gimmicks. The risks I am thinking of are the changes the party needs to make it electable. These are the things the new leader needs to address and at this stage in our fight for democracy and self government we really do not have much to lose.

Of course with taking risks comes taking responsibility and not hiding when things go wrong as they inevitably will from time to time - and that includes putting the party and the members first.

Kilroy didn't exactly do this either and behaved very badly but he would have been very good at reaching out to UK voters and could have made a real contribution had he been handled better.

UKIP should not let the fear of making mistakes stop it from moving away from the single issue comfort zone. Nigel and Roger have been trapped in there for many a year and it is intelectual laziness keeps them there. It is the same laziness which lies behind Nigel's election manifesto I am afraid to say. The poverty of ambition is there for all to see. Nigel does the EU only so that's why he wants us to believe a bit more lobbying in the EU parl will get us out of the EU. Nigel is a one trick pony.

The new UKIP leader should understood that no political progress will be made without some poltical risk. He has to have a vision and not be afraid to express it. But the vision has to be inclusive - not simply designed to appeal to the business classes or the traditional socialists but the mass of people in between.

Provided he gets this right then when mistakes happen it will be the response that matters to the voters, not the mistake itself.

21-08-2006, 07:47 PM	#16 (permalink)
Lawrie Boxall Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Sandhurst Posts: 1,015	I am not suggesting a safe alternative at all. There has to be risk taking if UKIP is going to get anywhere. The problem with the Farage and Knapman era is that they have been unwilling or unable to take risks on policy issues and have preferred to stay well inside their comfort zones of pet EU obsessions such as fraud, corruption etc. That is undemanding and very easy stuff which anyone can do - but it leads nowhere in electoral terms and is the antithesis of proper political leadership. So UKIP needs to take risks of course but planned and calculated and primarily based on UK and world political and geopolitical issues not on gimmicks. The risks I am thinking of are the changes the party needs to make it electable. These are the things the new leader needs to address and at this stage in our fight for democracy and self government we really do not have much to lose. Of course with taking risks comes taking responsibility and not hiding when things go wrong as they inevitably will from time to time - and that includes putting the party and the members first. Kilroy didn't exactly do this either and behaved very badly but he would have been very good at reaching out to UK voters and could have made a real contribution had he been handled better. UKIP should not let the fear of making mistakes stop it from moving away from the single issue comfort zone. Nigel and Roger have been trapped in there for many a year and it is intelectual laziness keeps them there. It is the same laziness which lies behind Nigel's election manifesto I am afraid to say. The poverty of ambition is there for all to see. Nigel does the EU only so that's why he wants us to believe a bit more lobbying in the EU parl will get us out of the EU. Nigel is a one trick pony. The new UKIP leader should understood that no political progress will be made without some poltical risk. He has to have a vision and not be afraid to express it. But the vision has to be inclusive - not simply designed to appeal to the business classes or the traditional socialists but the mass of people in between. Provided he gets this right then when mistakes happen it will be the response that matters to the voters, not the mistake itself.