British Democracy Forum - View Single Post - United Kingdom Independence party accused of diverting EU allowances

Petrina · 02-03-2008, 08:38 PM

Here is a message sent by a number of area chairmen to John Whittaker.The content is full of common sense ,I wonder if JW will bother to reply ,he will be silly if he doesn`t because quite clearly if UKIP is to keep any semblance of propriety something on these lines must be done .
In any other party the senior members of the party /NEC would have had the leader in for a chat and simply said get an apology /sue or go !

Dear John

A news article, potentially very damaging to UKIP, appeared in The Sunday Times on 24 February making serious allegations about Nigel Farage. If true, these would probably have led to his resignation as Leader, and ended his future as an MEP, as the allegations were similar to those against the MP Derek Conway.

Luckily Nigel issued a strong denial after the story had been published and this has helped re-build confidence. Unfortunately there are still many people who read the original story, printed in 1.3 million copies, but have not seen the denial, which appears only on the UKIP website.

In order that we might support Nigel on this issue and defend the party from damage we feel it is essential that the defence is as strong as possible.

Given that Nigel has said "There is not a single grain of truth in the statement that I am employing my son using EU allowances or in any other capacity" then he clearly will be able to force the Sunday Times to print a full apology quickly and we will fully support him taking that action.

Speed is of the essence and so that we can immediately re-assure worried members and supporters we would request that Nigel keeps the Party fully briefed including on

* What action he is taking against The Sunday Times
* Whether he is suing and if so what stage this has reached and how long it will take
* Whether he has sought a printed retraction and apology
* If so when that is likely to appear

We note that on 10 February the Sunday Times carried a correction and apology about a similar story they had run a week earlier about Julian Brazier MP. We look forward to reading a correction and apology in the paper this weekend which will vindicate Nigel.

We are all keen that this matter be laid to rest as quickly as possible. We want to support Nigel in redeeming his reputation so that we can devote all the party's energies to our political campaigns.

Yours sincerely

John Pratt
Chairman, UKIP Wales.

Steve Povey
Chairman West Midlands Area.

Peter Baker
Chairman East Midlands Area.

Jeff Mager
Chairman South West Area.

02-03-2008, 08:38 PM	#231 (permalink)
Petrina Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: sussex Posts: 1,037	Here is a message sent by a number of area chairmen to John Whittaker.The content is full of common sense ,I wonder if JW will bother to reply ,he will be silly if he doesn`t because quite clearly if UKIP is to keep any semblance of propriety something on these lines must be done . In any other party the senior members of the party /NEC would have had the leader in for a chat and simply said get an apology /sue or go ! Dear John A news article, potentially very damaging to UKIP, appeared in The Sunday Times on 24 February making serious allegations about Nigel Farage. If true, these would probably have led to his resignation as Leader, and ended his future as an MEP, as the allegations were similar to those against the MP Derek Conway. Luckily Nigel issued a strong denial after the story had been published and this has helped re-build confidence. Unfortunately there are still many people who read the original story, printed in 1.3 million copies, but have not seen the denial, which appears only on the UKIP website. In order that we might support Nigel on this issue and defend the party from damage we feel it is essential that the defence is as strong as possible. Given that Nigel has said "There is not a single grain of truth in the statement that I am employing my son using EU allowances or in any other capacity" then he clearly will be able to force the Sunday Times to print a full apology quickly and we will fully support him taking that action. Speed is of the essence and so that we can immediately re-assure worried members and supporters we would request that Nigel keeps the Party fully briefed including on * What action he is taking against The Sunday Times * Whether he is suing and if so what stage this has reached and how long it will take * Whether he has sought a printed retraction and apology * If so when that is likely to appear We note that on 10 February the Sunday Times carried a correction and apology about a similar story they had run a week earlier about Julian Brazier MP. We look forward to reading a correction and apology in the paper this weekend which will vindicate Nigel. We are all keen that this matter be laid to rest as quickly as possible. We want to support Nigel in redeeming his reputation so that we can devote all the party's energies to our political campaigns. Yours sincerely John Pratt Chairman, UKIP Wales. Steve Povey Chairman West Midlands Area. Peter Baker Chairman East Midlands Area. Jeff Mager Chairman South West Area.