Bar Hill Conference looks to future
Stuart Gulleford reports
Speaking in front of a packed house at Bar Hill, Cambridge, on 5 April, Jeffrey Titford, Dr John Whittaker, Lord Stoddart of Swindon and Nigel Farage gave fascinating speeches about the future of the country and the Party.
Jeffrey Titford opened the conference with a speech in which he looked ahead to the competition for places on the ballot for MEP. He described in some detail the kind of sacrifices that those that are elected as MEPs will have to make. He mentioned two new speaking engagements he had just accepted both of which clashed with family commitments. Jeffrey explained that, harsh as it sounds, the Party even has to come before family, once you are elected. He called upon the audience to be careful to choose candidates willing to make such sacrifices and with long track records of hard work for the Party. He also surprised the audience by announcing that he would not be seeking election himself.
Dr John Whittaker, the Party Chairman, spelled out how the EU is damaging Britain’s economic future and looked ahead to the prospects for the Party, calling upon it to rise to the challenges ahead with unity. He spoke at length about the development of the Party’s policy platform and the hard work that had been invested in it. He said that new policies in specific areas would continue to be rolled out over time, as had the recent one on energy, in which the Party had strongly supported the development of nuclear power. Dr Whittaker said that, as a scientist, he saw no future in wind turbines but would like to see a lot more research into the development of tidal and wave power.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon gave a very warmly received speech in which he painted a bleak picture of the way the Labour Government is dismantling Britain and changing the whole relationship between the people and their elected representatives. He pointed out the thousands of new criminal offences it had created and said that this Government is intent upon creating a situation in which the people of Britain will become subservient to those it elects, the opposite to the traditional relationship upon which our Parliamentary democracy has been built. He highlighted the importance of UKIP continuing to seek representation at Westminster. Lord Stoddart received a lengthy standing ovation from an audience which clearly wanted more.
Party Leader, Nigel Farage gave his usual barnstorming performance in which he looked ahead to the future of the Party. He said that getting UKIP MPs to Westminster must always be a fundamental target for us and that we must not be sidetracked by distractions, including those provided by malicious articles in national newspapers. He told the audience that UKIP members were generally very sceptical about things they read in the newspapers except when it came to material about the Party and its MEPs, which they tended to take far too seriously. He highlighted the “pack of lies” written about him recently in a Sunday newspaper, about which he was seeking legal redress. Nigel said there would be more of this mischief and that it wouldn’t always be possible to fight it out in the courts. He recommended that members should develop “a thicker skin”, when it comes to material denigrating the Party.
A report was also given on the Party’s finances in the Eastern Counties by Treasurer, James Carver. He asked members to continue to donate towards the European Election fund, through standing orders, some of which he handed out during his speech. He also asked the audience to give generously toward the expenses of the event and more than £400 was raised. Young Independence Chairman, Lisa Duffy gave a report on the excellent progress being made with the new organisation for young people interested in politics. Mrs Duffy highlighted the special meetings held for young people, representation at events all around the country and the creation of a website
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