Roger Knapman's Letter to all Councillors in England

Nigel Garage · 13-01-2005, 12:35 PM

This was sent by the party leader to all councillors, on 3rd January. It was passed to me by a councillor friend, and I post it here as a service to UKIP members, as I don't think anyone was told about it -

Quote:

Dear Councillor,

The overwhelming result for the North East - 78% against, only 22% for - shows beyond a shadow of doubt that there is no appetite and no need for regional assemblies, either elected or unelected. There will be no more referenda on this issue in the foreseeable future, yet the assemblies are to continue in unelected form.

The status quo in your council is therefore unsatisfactory. If it contributes to the costs of the Assembly in your region, and incurs significant hidden staff costs in supporting the activities associated with regional government and European matters, then it does so in complete absence of any mandate at local level. These activities are beyond the reach of the voter, and go unreported, yet they involve a fundamental change to our recognised system of local government, including the possible demise of your own council. The use of council tax for such activities is possibly illegal, in that it is a form of taxation without representation and breaches our constitution, and for which councillors might be liable.

The electorate has rejected regionalisation and so too could your authority. Councils are not obliged to fund these activities and support the restructuring of local government, and several councils have already withdrawn their support. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council withdrew from the Yorks and Humber RA, and its leader said in The Guardian on Aug. 23rd, "Our thinking is that the £87,500 subscription should be spent elsewhere in local services." Other councils are expected to follow suit, and if your council and others did the same, the Assemblies would have the greatest difficulty in justifying their existence.

The UK Independence Party has been opposed to the centralising policy of regionalisation ever since the Maastricht Treaty created the Committee of the Regions in 1992. Whether or not you agree with this position, your own council has it within its powers to help put an end to these expensive white elephants once and for all. We hope you will choose to do so.

Yours faithfully

Roger Knapman

mkpdavies · 13-01-2005, 12:38 PM

This is one of the things I don't understand about the leadership. This seems to be a good letter to send out to me, so why not publicise it? All they had to do was put it up on the website!

They do seem to make a rod for their own back sometimes!

gimlet · 13-01-2005, 01:37 PM

I have just asked for it to be put on the web. Hopefully it will be, as it is a good letter.

Nigel Garage · 13-01-2005, 02:12 PM

I've just been passed this from Damian Hockney, a letter he wrote to Roger recently -

Quote:

Dear Roger

I refer to your letter dated 3rd January 2005 regarding Regional Government, which appears to have been sent to a large number of local councillors.

I had never seen it but it was brought to my attention today by a councillor from the London Borough of Sutton, who also happens to be a London Assembly Member. He correctly observed, with wry amusement, that it is completely irrelevant in London, since the London Assembly is already directly elected and governed by the Greater London Authority Act 1999.

The content of the letter is entirely inaccurate as regards London councillors. It also makes misleading statements regarding their position, and the law as it applies to them.

Unfortunately including London Boroughs in this mailing has made UKIP look somewhat amateurish in the eyes of London councillors. Presumably this is the exact opposite of the effect you intended. UKIP at the London Assembly have been working hard to discard any label of amateurism from which UKIP has suffered, with some considerable success in recent months. We were praised in the Evening Standard just before Christmas as the "voice of reason" on the Assembly.

Also, may I point out that your assertion about possible illegality will lack credibility unless you can substantiate it. I have already been asked about it. Presumably your office has done the research to support these assertions. If it is indeed correct, I would be most grateful to see the briefing paper, and I am sure it would be useful to publish it on the UKIP national website for the benefit of all our members.

I sit on the Commission on London Governance and it is inevitable that I will be asked about this type of thing when we meet.

Whilst obviously sharing your opposition to the EU-inspired regional assemblies, and applauding your efforts to capitalise on the excellent North East referendum result, I do think these initiatives need to be more carefully considered, including generating complementary press coverage. Perhaps you may see your way clear to using the considerable expertise we now have in the London Assembly before undertaking any more initiatives in future, particularly as they affect London. This has been offered on many occasions.

Kind regards

Damian Hockney

mkpdavies · 13-01-2005, 03:58 PM

The power of gimlet

http://www.ukip.org/abc_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=1183

At least they are listening. Definitely think the internet side of things needs some major focus. We should spend some money on having a propper internet team, keeping an up-to-date website, making use of multimedia etc. There should be press released put on it every day in the run up to the election.

Also a viral campaign, with lots of flash video presentations etc, and trying to get the UKIP logo on as many sites (including this one!) as possible!

Time to snap INTO phpbb_the 21st century in short!

B.A.Ware · 13-01-2005, 04:16 PM

You like your flash video don’t you. I would happy with some up-to-date news and local branch information. :P

13-01-2005, 12:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 30,604	This is one of the things I don't understand about the leadership. This seems to be a good letter to send out to me, so why not publicise it? All they had to do was put it up on the website! They do seem to make a rod for their own back sometimes! __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

13-01-2005, 03:58 PM	#5 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 30,604	The power of gimlet http://www.ukip.org/abc_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=1183 At least they are listening. Definitely think the internet side of things needs some major focus. We should spend some money on having a propper internet team, keeping an up-to-date website, making use of multimedia etc. There should be press released put on it every day in the run up to the election. Also a viral campaign, with lots of flash video presentations etc, and trying to get the UKIP logo on as many sites (including this one!) as possible! Time to snap INTO phpbb_the 21st century in short! __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

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13-01-2005, 01:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
gimlet Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Shropshire Posts: 802	I have just asked for it to be put on the web. Hopefully it will be, as it is a good letter.

13-01-2005, 04:16 PM	#6 (permalink)
B.A.Ware Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Birmingham Posts: 4,143 Party: UKIP	You like your flash video don’t you. I would happy with some up-to-date news and local branch information. :P