Britannist

I have watched the party election broadcast by Mr. Gerard Batten for UKIP on both ITV 1 London (6.25 pm) and on BBC 1 Television London (6.55 pm).

Mr. Batten's broadcast was professsion and he made straightforward and clear points. It was a broadcast free of the typical hot air and waffle such as that heard in europhile Livingstone's broadcast (Labour's first in London in this election campaign) at the start of last week.

Viewers of the UKIP broadcast will have noticed the UKIP purple and yellow Pound logo in the bottom left corner of the screen throughout the broadcast.

For those who did not see the broadcast and who have not watched it on the internet I have typed up what Mr. Batten said in it:

The broadcast started with two captions appearing on screen saying "On May 1st make a difference" and "Use your votes for Gerard Batten and UKIP."

Mr. Batten, shown getting int a taxi in a suburban street, said that he has lived and worked in London all his life and that in 2004 almost a quarter of a million Londoners voted to make him their voice in the EU 'Parliament'. "Now I am asking for you to vote for me again" Mr. Batten said.

He pointed out that "London is now more crime-ridden, overtaxed and congested since the post of Mayor was created 8 years ago - my top priorities as Mayor will be to cut crime, to get traffic moving and to reduce the tax burden." A caption then appeared on screen saying "I will drastically cut crime." Further captions then appeared on screen saying "Crime is out of control" and "I will drastically reduce crime in London."

Mr. Batten said that he would give the police only one target - "to drastically reduce crime". He criticised Livingstone's congestion charge and said he would get rid of it if he were Mayor of London.

Two captions then appeared on screen saying "The congestion charge is not working" and "I will stop the persecution of the law-abiding motorist."

Mr. Batten then declared "London is always going to be busy but I would get rid of the congestion charge, scrap emission charges - they don't work; they haven't eased congestion or pollution; they are just a tax on the motorist."

He then went on to say "I would minimise parking and traffic restrictions work on the system of safety first so that the traffic can move people can part and get around London more easily and I would like to reduce tube fares and make tickets more flexible." A market trader was then shown telling Mr. Batten that "small businesses are losing money over the congestion charge" and that "the amount of money people pay is colossal." After the market trader spoke captions appeared on screen stating "looked at your council tax bill lately and I will reduce your tax burden."

Mr. Batten, who was shown travelling around the capital in a taxi in the broadcast, then visited the edge of the London 2012 Olympic site. He complained "We have seen the council tax continually rise over the last 8 years without really delivering any more value for council tax payers" adding "as Mayor I will only spend money only on those big projects that benefit all Londoners and London people."

"The Olympics will undoubtedly benefit Stratford - but no one knows what the cost will be" Mr. Batten stated. He warned that "what we do know is that Londoners are going to be saddled with the cost for the next 30/40 years" and that "the original estimate (of the cost of the 2012 London Olympic Games) was about £2.5 billion - now it is £10 billion or even £12 billion."

Mr. Batten then said "What I will do as Mayor is cap the cost of the Olympics to the original 38 pence per person per week for 12 years which 'Ken' Livingstone promised us."

A caption then appeared on screen saying "Don't think I can win?" followed by one stating "You can make the difference."

Mr. Batten said after the captions had been shown "Anyone watching this may say I agree with everything he says but he can't win can he?" He then explained "In this election, typically normally only about 35% of the electorate bother to vote - that is what normally happens - 65% of people are not voting but if enough of those people bother to vote then they can actually make a difference.

A caption on screen then said "vote for me" followed by one declaring "punish the politicians who are not listening to you."

"It is perfectly legitimate to use your vote as a protest" Mr. Batten told viewers. He observed "Goodness knows there is enough to protest about - unlimited immigration, the EU and not having a referendum on the LisbonTreaty/EU Constitution." He asked "Why not use it to send a message to the politicians?" Mr. Batten further suggested "Why not punish the politicians and tell them you are not listening to me?" He said voters should tell politicians "You are not listening to what we want." He told viewers of the broadcast "You can do that my voting for me."

Mr. Batten then stated "As London Mayor my guiding principles will be justice and common sense" and "I will not pander to minorities, multi-culturism or the politically-correct - under my administration there will no money for cronies and quangos." He also said "I want to serve all Londoners equally as far as I am concerned there will be only one class of Londoner: those people that live work or pay taxes in London." Mr Batten made clear "I want to unite Londoners in a city we can all be proud of."

A caption then appeared in the broadcast saying "UKIP won two assembly seats in 2004" and one after it pointed out "we can win more this time." The final caption of the broadcast said "On May 1st make a difference vote Gerard Batten vote UKIP"

As the final caption was shown on screen Mr. Batten reminded viewers "Remember these elections are not just about the Mayor they are also about the assembly - they are fought on a system of proportional representation voting and we can win if those of the 65% who usually do not vote decide to vote for me."

The five minute broadcast ended with Mr. Batten's UKIP London Mayoral election campaign website address appearing on screen:

Gerard Batten for London Mayor

Britannist

London Mayoral Election 2008 candidates:

Richard Barnbrook, British National Party
Gerard Batten, UK Independence Party
Siân Berry, Green Party
Alan Craig, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Lindsey German, Left List
Boris Johnson, Conservative Party
Ken Livingstone, The Labour Party
Winston McKenzie, Independent
Matt O'Connor, English Democrats
Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrats


London Assembly election 2008 candidates (London-wide proportional voting list):

Abolish the Congestion Charge: Chris Prior

British National Party: Richard Barnbrook, Robert Bailey, Julian Leppert, Roberta Woods, Dennis Pearce, Christopher Forster, Jeffrey Marshall, Clifford Le May, Lawrence Rustem, John Clarke

The Christian Choice: Alan Craig, Paula Warren, David Campanale, Geoffrey Macharia, Stephen Hammond, Maxine Hargreaves, Sue May, Segun Johnson, Tom Conquest, Zena Sherman, Peter Vickers

Conservative Party: Andrew Boff, Victoria Borwick, Gareth Bacon, Edmond Yeo, Jane Archer, Kwasi Kwarteng, Benjamin Everitt, Andrew Stranack, Adrian Knowles

English Democrats: Roger Cooper, Steven Uncles, Leo Brookes, Sati Chaggar, Janus Polenceus, Arvind Tailor, Teresa Cannon, Johanna Munilla, Richard Castle, David Stevens, Carol White, John Dodds, Alex Vaughan, Ursula Polenceus, Kathie Broughton, John Griffiths, Liz Painter, Paul Szatmari, James Ware, Steve Scott, Nichole Vaughan, Peter Tate, Matt O'Connor

Green Party: Jenny Jones, Darren Johnson, Noel Lynch, Siân Berry, Shane Collins, Laura Davenport, Shahrar Ali, Yen Chit Chong, Miranda Dunn, Adrian Oliver, Jon Nott

The Labour Party: Nicky Gavron, Murad Qureshi, John Biggs, Len Duvall, Jennette Arnold, Val Shawcross, Joanne McCartney, Navin Shah, Ranjit Dheer, Balvinder Saund, Leonie Cooper, Ansuya Sodha, Shafi Khan, Alex Heslop

Left List: Lindsey German, Oliur Rahman, Rania Khan, Carole Vincent, Salvinder Dhillon, Sait Akgul, Elaine Graham-Leigh, Kumar Murshid, Glyn Robbins, Berlyne Hamilton, Katt Young, Paul Fredericks, Pat McManus, Tansy Hoskins, Mukul Hira, Pat Stack, Sultana Begum, Mujgan Kazeroonian

Liberal Democrats: Michael Tuffrey, Dee Doocey, Caroline Pidgeon, Jeremy Ambache, Geoffrey Pope, Benjamin Abbotts, Stephen Knight, Shas Sheehan, Duncan Borrowman, Monica Whyte, Merlene Emerson

One London (Leader Damian Hockney): Damian Hockney, Peter Hulme Cross, Robert Hough, Helena Nelson, Martin Rutter

Respect (George Galloway): George Galloway, Linda Smith, Abdul Sheikh, Zakaria Abdi, Sabia Kamali, Abdurahman Jafar, Carole Swords, Hanif Abdulmuhit, John Mulrenan, Mohammed Rashid, Margot Lindsay, Anthony Collins

UK Independence Party: Lawrence Webb, Kathleen Garner, Michael McGough, Ralph Atkinson, Jens Winton, Arnold Tarling, Peter Dul, John Bailey, Mick Greenhough, Jonathan Serter, Magnus Nielsen, Sunita Webb, Lynnda Robson

Unity for Peace & Socialism: Christiane Ohsan, Pauline Fraser, Avtar Uppal, Ivan Beavis, Mohammed Khan, Jean Turner, Sarwan Singh, Harunor Rashid, Monty Goldman, Peter Latham, Philip Brand, Charlie May, Eleni Geropanagioti

Independent: Rathy Alagaratnam


London Assembly 2008 election Constituency Candidates:

Barnet and Camden

Clement Adebayo, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Brian Coleman, Conservative Party
Graham Dare, Veritas
Miranda Dunn, Green Party
Nicky Gavron, The Labour Party
Dave Hoefling, Left List
Magnus Nielsen, UK Independence Party
Nick Russell, Liberal Democrats
David Stevens, English Democrats

Bexley and Bromley

James Cleverly, Conservative Party
David Davis, Left List
Ann Garrett, Green Party
Mick Greenhough, UK Independence Party
John Hemming-Clark, Independents to Save Queen Mary's Hospital
Alex Heslop, The Labour Party
Tom Papworth, Liberal Democrats
Miranda Suit, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Steven Uncles, English Democrats
Paul Winnett, National Front

Brent and Harrow

Shahrar Ali. Green Party
James Allie, Liberal Democrats
Bob Blackman, Conservative Party
Pat McManus, Left List
Navin Shah, The Labour Party
Zena Sherman, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Arvind Tailor, English Democrats
Sunita Webb, UK Independence Party

City and East (containing boroughs: Barking & Dagenham, Newham, Tower Hamlets, City of London)

Hanif Abdulmuhit, Respect (George Galloway)
Robert Bailey, British National Party
John Biggs, The Labour Party
Philip Briscoe, Conservative Party
Thomas Conquest, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Julie Crawford, Independent
Heather Finlay, Green Party
Michael Gavan, Left List
John Griffiths, English Democrats
Rajonuddin Jalal, Liberal Democrats
Graham Kemp, National Front
Michael McGough, UK Independence Party

Croydon and Sutton

David Campanale, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Richard Castle, English Democrats
Zana Hussain, Left List
Shafi Khan, The Labour Party
Shasha Khan, Green Party
Abigail Lock Liberal Democrats
Stephen O'Connell, Conservative Party
David Pickles, UK Independence Party

Ealing and Hillingdon

Nigel Bakha, Liberal Democrats
Richard Barnes, Conservative Party
Mary Boyle, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Sati Chaggar, English Democrats
Ranjit Dheer, The Labour Party
Salvinder Dhillon, Left List
Ian Edward, National Front
Sarah Edwards, Green Party
Lynnda Robson, UK Independence Party

Enfield and Haringey

Sait Akgul, Left List
Teresa Cannon, English Democrats
Brian Hall, UK Independence Party
Segun Johnson, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Matthew Laban, Conservative Party
Pete McAskie, Green Party
Joanne McCartney, The Labour Party
Monica Whyte, Liberal Democrats

Greenwich and Lewisham

Tess Culnane, National Front
Len Duvall, The Labour Party
Chris Flood, Socialist Alternative
Stephen Hammond, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Andy Jennings, Conservative Party
Jennifer Jones, Left List
Susan Luxton, Green Party
Johanna Munilla, English Democrats
Brian Robson, Liberal Democrats
Arnold Tarling, UK Independence Party

Havering and Redbridge

Leo Brookes, English Democrats
Roger Evans, Conservative Party
Ashley Gunstock, Green Party
Farrukh Islam, Liberal Democrats
Balvinder Saund, The Labour Party
Dr Peter Thorogood, Independent
Carole Vincent, Left List
Paula Warren, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Lawrence Webb, UK Independence Party

Lambeth and Southwark

Shane Collins, Green Party
Jasmijn De Boo, Animals Count
Shirley Houghton, Conservative Party
Daniel Lambert, The Socialist Party
Geoffrey Macharia, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrats
Janus Polenceus, English Democrats
Valerie Shawcross, The Labour Party
Jens Winton, UK Independence Party
Katt Young, Left List

Merton and Wandsworth

Leonie Cooper, The Labour Party
Ellen Greco, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Strachan McDonald, UK Independence Party
Steve Scott, English Democrats
Shas Sheehan, Liberal Democrats
Kris Stewart, Left List
Richard Tracey, Conservative Party
Roy Vickery, Green Party

North East (containing boroughs: Waltham Forest, Hackney, Islington)

Jennette Arnold, The Labour Party
John Dodds, English Democrats
Meral Ece, Liberal Democrats
Alexander Ellis, Conservative Party
Aled Fisher, Green Party
Maxine Hargreaves, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Nicholas Jones, UK Independence Party
Unjum Mirza, Left List

South West (containing boroughs: Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames, Kingston upon Thames)

Tony Arbour, Conservative Party
Andrew Constantine, Free England Party
Roger Cooper, English Democrats
Andrew Cripps, National Front
Peter Dul, UK Independence Party
Tansy Hoskins, Left List
John Hunt, Green Party
Stephen Knight, Liberal Democrats
Sue May, Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Ansuya Sodha, The Labour Party

West Central (containing boroughs: Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham)

Abby Dharamsey, Independent
Merlene Emerson, Liberal Democrats
Kit Malthouse, Conservative Party
Explo Nani-Kofi, Left List
Murad Qureshi, The Labour Party
Julia Stephenson, Green Party
Alex Vaughan, English Democrats
Paul Wiffen, UK Independence Party

Source (10.4.2008):

London Elects - The candidates

Britannist

The following is an amended copy of the text which appears in the first posting to this thread (please refer to the copy of the text below rather than that in the first posting to this thread):

I have watched today the party election broadcast by Mr. Gerard Batten for UKIP (the anti-EU UK Independence Party) on both ITV 1 London (6.25 pm) and on BBC 1 Television London (6.55 pm).

Mr. Batten's broadcast was professional and he made straightforward and clear points. It was a broadcast free of the typical hot air and waffle such as that heard in europhile Livingstone's broadcast (Labour's first in London in this election campaign) which was shown at the start of last week.

Viewers of the UKIP broadcast will have noticed the UKIP purple and yellow Pound logo in the bottom left corner of the screen throughout the broadcast.

For those who did not see the UKIP 2008 London Mayoral and Assembly party election broadcast shown in the capital today and who have not watched it on the internet I have typed up what Mr. Batten said in it:

The broadcast started with two captions appearing on screen saying "On May 1st make a difference" and "Use your votes for Gerard Batten and UKIP."

Mr. Batten, shown getting in a taxi in a suburban street, said that he has lived and worked in London all his life and that in 2004 almost a quarter of a million Londoners voted to make him their UKIP voice in the EU 'Parliament'. "Now I am asking for you to vote for me again" Mr. Batten said.

He pointed out that "London is now more crime-ridden, overtaxed and congested since the post of Mayor was created 8 years ago - my top priorities as Mayor will be to cut crime, to get traffic moving and to reduce the tax burden." A caption then appeared on screen saying "I will drastically cut crime." Further captions were shown saying "Crime is out of control" and "I will drastically reduce crime in London."

Mr. Batten said that he would give the police only one target - "to drastically reduce crime". He criticised Livingstone's congestion charge and said he would get rid of it if he were Mayor of London.

Two captions then appeared on screen saying "The congestion charge is not working" and "I will stop the persecution of the law-abiding motorist."

Mr. Batten declared "London is always going to be busy but I would get rid of the congestion charge, scrap emission charges: they don't work; they haven't eased congestion or pollution - they are just a tax on the motorist."

He then went on to say "I would minimise parking and traffic restrictions and work on the system of safety first so that the traffic can move and that people can get around London more easily. Mr. Batten also said "I would like to reduce tube fares and make tickets more flexible."

A market trader was then shown telling Mr. Batten that "small businesses are losing money over the congestion charge" and that "the amount of money people pay is colossal." After the market trader spoke captions appeared on screen stating "looked at your council tax bill lately?" and "I will reduce your tax burden."

Mr. Batten, who was shown travelling around the capital in a taxi in the broadcast, then visited the edge of the London 2012 Olympic site. As he looked towards the new Olympic buildings under construction, he complained "We have seen the council tax continually rise over the last 8 years without really delivering any more value for council tax payers" adding "as Mayor I will only spend money only on those big projects that benefit all Londoners and London people."

"The Olympics will undoubtedly benefit Stratford (the site of the 2012 London Olympic Games) - but no one knows what the cost will be" Mr. Batten stated. He warned that "what we do know is that Londoners are going to be saddled with the cost for the next 30 to 40 years" and that "the original estimate (of the cost of the 2012 London Olympic Games) was about £2.5 billion - now it is £10 billion or even £12 billion."

Mr. Batten then said "What I will do as Mayor is cap the cost of the Olympics to the original 38 pence per person per week for 12 years which 'Ken' Livingstone promised us."

A caption then appeared on screen asking "Don't think I can win?" followed by one stating "You can make the difference."

Mr. Batten said after the captions had been shown "Anyone watching this may say I agree with everything he says but he can't win can he?" He recalled "In this election, typically normally only about 35% of the electorate bother to vote - that is what normally happens - 65% of people are not voting." He added "But if enough of those people bother to vote then they can actually make a difference."

A caption on screen then said "vote for me" followed by one declaring "punish the politicians who are not listening to you."

"It is perfectly legitimate to use your vote as a protest" Mr. Batten told viewers. He observed "Goodness knows there is enough to protest about - unlimited immigration, the EU and not having a referendum on the LisbonTreaty/EU Constitution." He asked "Why not use it to send a message to the politicians?" Mr. Batten further suggested "Why not punish the politicians and tell them you are not listening to me?" He said voters should tell politicians "You are not listening to what we want." He told viewers of the broadcast "You can do that my voting for me."

Mr. Batten then stated "As London Mayor my guiding principles will be justice and common sense" and "I will not pander to minorities, multi-culturism or the politically-correct - under my administration there will no money for cronies and quangos." He also said "I want to serve all Londoners equally - as far as I am concerned there will be only one class of Londoner: those people that live work or pay taxes in London." Mr. Batten made clear "I want to unite Londoners in a city we can all be proud of."

A caption then appeared in the broadcast saying "UKIP won two assembly seats in 2004" and one after it pointed out "we can win more this time." The final caption of the broadcast said "On May 1st make a difference vote Gerard Batten vote UKIP"

As the final caption was shown on screen Mr. Batten reminded viewers "Remember these elections are not just about the Mayor - they are also about the Assembly." He explained "They are fought on a system of proportional representation (voting) and we can win if those of the 65% who usually do not vote decide to vote for me."

The five minute broadcast ended with Mr. Batten's UKIP London Mayoral election campaign website address appearing on screen:

Gerard Batten for London Mayor

Anthony Butcher

This is purely nitpicking on my part, but claiming that congestion charging isn't working doesn't seem to sit comfortably with A market trader was then shown telling Mr. Batten that "small businesses are losing money over the congestion charge". If the congestion charge isn't working to reduce the number of people in the city centre, why are small businesses suffering from less trade? Is there just less money to spend?

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Britannist

The market trader (in the UKIP London 2008 Mayoral election broadcast shown yesterday) may have been referring to some of those employed in or running small businesses in the capital having to pay the congestion charge each day to travel by car into or through the congestion charge zone area of London to reach their place of work.

He may also have seen or heard of some small businesses in the congestion charge zone of the capital losing trade because some customers had been forced - because of the cost of the congestion charge - to stop using their cars for travelling to small businesses, markets and shops in the congestion charge zone area (even if some other people are having to continue to pay the congestion charge to get to work by car).

In other words - many shops and businesses in the London congestion charge area have seen their trade/number of customers fall since the charge was brought in, but while less people are driving into the congestion charge zone to shop there are still people driving into or through the congestion charge zone to reach their place of work (their car may be an integral part of their job).

Independent UKIP

You're not nitpicking, you're talking nonsense, sorry to say. The congestion charge isn't working for one thing because traffic speeds have been going down within the original zone (one measure of congestion being the speed of traffic). That costs small businesses money. The new zone is too new for any definite assessment of traffic speed I believe but might be wrong on that of course.

Small businesses have to pay the congestion charge if they drive in the original zone and now if they drive in the extended zone. That costs small businesses money. It costs all small businesses money regardless of whether they are using the roads if their suppliers are using those roads. And Livingstone is also increasing the overall cost on transporting goods through his LEZ policy.

If you think the congestion charge is only for the very centre of London where few people live then you couldn't be more wrong. The recent extension (opposed overwhelmingly by local residents) is in predominantly residential areas of London including where I live. Areas whose residents are typically (unlike me) tory voters and thus fair game for Livingstone and with less congestion than parts of East London where Labour has a lot of support. The original zone also included at least many 10s of thousands of residents.

If Batten wasn't committed to abolishing the Congestion Charge I would be reluctant to vote for him.

Britannist

True - I said the moment the europhile Livingstone announced his unwanted western London extension to the congestion charge zone that he was not deliberately not extending it further south or east into Labour-voting localities of the capital where he needs electoral support. I believe that the Conservative vote in west London in the 2006 London Borough Elections rose partly because of opposition to both Livingstone's congestion charge zone extension and due to his backing for the west London tram line opposed by a large number. For those readers who do not know it, Labour lost control of most Boroughs in west London in 2006 . UKIP-hating Livingstone seems to think he can win the London Mayoralty again on 1.5.2008 despite having angered many in west London with his policies such as the congestion charge zone. Hopefully he will lose that election. London deserves better.

Anthony Butcher

There's no need to be snippy - it was a genuine question. Hence I asked if it is a case of less money being around. I don't live in London so I have no idea about what difference the congestion charge makes; to an outsider the comments looked like they might be contradictory. Thank you for answering my question

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If you care about what's in your food and where it comes from, then get it labelled!
Label My Food - http://www.labelmyfood.org.uk