Eagle

A couple of years ago Jeffrey Titford asked a company to conduct research into wind farms. The company was Professional Solutions & Services LTD.

The managing director of this company was a certain Janette Gulleford. Coincidently, Janette Gulleford is related to Stuart Gulleford, Jeffrey Titford's Political Advisor.

The research was used in an article by Jeffrey Titford, East Anglian Daily Times 15/3/6. It was also presented to members at an Eastern Counties rally organised by Martin Harvey.

Questions.

Did Mr Titford approach other companies for quotes?

Did Professional solutions & Services offer the most competitive price?

How much was paid to this company?

Has this company ever made donations to UKIP? If so, when?

Has Janette Gulleford ever made donations to UKIP? If so, when?

Legin

Lots of questions there, I wonder to whom they will be answered??

Anthony Butcher

Is there are requirement for MEPs to put small research jobs out to tender? If not, then who the hell cares?

As for the issue of donations, are you suggesting that companies that donate to UKIP should receive preferential treatment? Voters love that stuff.

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HULKMAN

Am I the only one who thinks that this stinks? Didn't Titford think that giving a contract to his PA's mum was rather silly?

HULKMAN

Even if legal it makes UKIP looks as bad as the rest.

harryaldridge

This does seem like an incredibly silly thing to do for a supposedly intelligent man. However...

1. Presumably the research produced is fact based, and the report includes the evidence made to support the conclusion of the report. Thus there should be a great deal of objectivity, regardless of where the money was coming from. It would be worse if the services provided were 'hidden', e.g. secretarial services, so i think there is a degree of legitimacy in defending Titford's position. It would have been better to go somehwere totally independent, of course.

2. I do not know the company in question, but in my experience companies of this type, which provide consultancy/research services, are very professional and very good at erecting chinese walls where conflicts of interest arise. I know of a couple of organisations which are working for the regulators and the industry, but have transparent separation in place to prevent conflict. This could be the case here, but if it could not be proved that Janette Gulleford had little influence over the report, if indeed she did not produce the whole thing, then there is a question mark.

So yes, a very stupid thing to do. The party ought to publish a policy on employing/contracting to try and prevent this in the future, or at least have disciplinary powers where the rules are breached. Employing trusted party workers etc as assistants is fine and understandable, but when contracts are awarded to companies with clear links which could be reasonably be interpreted as jeopardising their independence then there is an issue. Professional organisations like accountants or lawyers are slightly different due to their governance etc, but non-professional organisations do raise questions.

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Anthony Butcher

It really depends upon the size of the 'contract' I think. If it was only a small job, then shopping around might simply be inefficient.

Also, perhaps he has used the company before and trusts their research? That would seem to be a reasonable reason to use the company.

I would have thought that the best thing that UKIP could do is establish a list of approved research companies that offer quality and value. That would end any worries.

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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

Geoffrey Collier

A.B.: I wouldn't speculate too much on this one Anthony, Shall we say that it is unlikely that Gulleford will be a prospective UKIP MEP in a very short time.

Tom Wilde

He is attracting amazing amounts of low-grade flak from anonymous trolls who seem to have signed up here for no other purpose. I know very little about Gulleford, but if I was still an Eastern Region UKIP member then I would be inclined to vote for him for that reason alone. He must be good - the 'Philes are afraid of him!

T.N.Warry

The problem with this type of thing is ALWAYS the same. UKIP ends up looking as sleazy as the rest.