eublues

Consistently self-important.

Simon Muir

I think the point is being missed here.

I can't speak for Richard authoritatively, but I know from earlier conversations that he has always wanted to strengthen UKIP, not weaken it. The problem, as always it seems, is that for a long time the party has needed competent management internally and political vision externally.

It's Harry Callaghan's saying, "a man's gotta know his limitations." We can't all be good at everything (I'm a seriously c**p administrator, for starters), but from the days of Holmes no leader has ever had a serious attempt at getting an NEC management team in place, nor devolved areas of responsibility sensibly.

The NEC should be run as a board meeting, not a debating chamber, and collaboratively not competitively. It has never happened. The leader should set vision and ideology for the party - that hasn't happened either.

Too many NEC people, who as supposedly successful entrepreneurs and businessmen should know better, have reduced the party's management functions to a dysfunctional shambles. Injecting MEP money into an already paralytic structure could never have helped, and of course it didn't in practice.

Had the NEC functioned properly, it would have planned how MEP money should have been deployed in advance of the Euro elections, and a 'tithe' appropriately levied on the new appointees (who were not, of course, themselves actually elected - UKIP was!). With foresight and structure, the issue of individual appointees would never have arisen, and power blocs of paid staff not arisen either.

As it is, UKIP members are being asked essentially to take entirely on trust that their money is being well spent and the party properly managed. The recent leadership result reflects that tired old dictum - the triumph of wild optimism over experience (read 'evidence').

As a recent resignee, I have no enthusiasm to damage the party. It's no fit of pique that made me leave. I have however reluctantly come to the conclusion that UKIP must come to its senses as rapidly as possible, since delay only increases the hold the EU has over us.

The sooner the party is cleaned up and reformed the sooner it will start being effective. While nothing is gained by seeking to prolong the agony through remaining, I might do some little good by forcefully speaking out.

The question is whether anyone will listen, and it's not wholly encouraging at this point. There is a sizeable group, exemplified by MKPD and McGough, who appear to be in denial over the problems. Time will tell, but if they remain in the ascendant and don't realise/acknowledge the peril the party is in, UKIP will be finished.

It will be neither Richard nor myself who have brought it low however.

eublues

Without wild optimism we'd have given up years ago.

Are you saying that a different outcome in the leadership election (e.g. RS winning) would have been guaranteed to be so successful that we would have had the UK out of the EU quite soon now?

Niall Warry

UKIP has the potential with 10 MEPs and a membership base and UK wide branch structure to be MUCH more effective in getting our message across to move the day ever forward that the UK leaves the EU. Instead the MEPs have gone native theire are NO tactics and quite frankly at the minute UKIP is part of the problem. Nigel it would appear will make things worse> :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

ryansoton

I dont think ill speak about this on a publice forum.
All ill say is I am surprised by this latest development but Richard has made clear his reasons for resigning.

claire stone

The end justifying the means then?

mkpdavies

Hey don't inlcude me in the sizeable group. I have all but given up on UKIP. I'm only a member because I have it until 2010. I stepped down from the Woking commitee and will be working on other things other than UKIP now. I don't really believe in the way it will be run, but I still believe in it's core values. In the absence of anything better to go to, I will freelance on projects I think are useful in

a) Destroying the old parties.
b) Help us get out of the EU
c) NO2ID
d) Anti War
e) other things that take my interest

Nigel won and that's the end of it though. He will deploy his plan in full and the fruits of that will be there to see in no time at all. I don't like his authortarian approach, but if it gets results and UKIP goes on to greater things, then I will be surprised but happy. I just can't actively support such an approach, especially as it involved smearing some good people and friends of mine.

If I am totally honest, I think the only hope for the country now, is for Cameron to fail miserably (looking good at the moment) and for the Tories to split right down the middle.

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eublues

Peter Hitchins on This Week (BBC1) has just said this, that the Tories are going to split down the middle.

He listed all the things that the Tories should have been talking about (the EU, immigration, etc.) and said there was no party representing people who were concerned about these things. Diane Abbot did suggest UKIP to him, but he dismissed UKIP as having no chance of getting power. However, he didn't rubbish UKIP and he did dismiss the BNP as something completely different. Portillo said that the Tories used to talk about these things but the voters rejected them - but Hitchins said that the public didn't believe that the Tories meant it when they said these things (eg Hague's ridiculous commitment to no Euro for at least one parliament).

He did say that the Tories were talking about nothing with any meaning at their conference given the constitutional change that now confronts us (meaning a one-party state at home and the EU, I think). Can't argue with that.

mkpdavies

Abbott was out of order tonight. She first said Hitchens wanted to be tough on blacks, which he put down with the disgust that it deserved.

Watching Pratillo and Abbott snuggled up to each other on that couch, makes me want to hurl. It shows EXACTLY what the state of British politics is at the moment, with the two old parties working as one.

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http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/
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kernow