Kevin Adamson

Good Luck to you Drew,you appear to be a man of integrity, something lacking in politics at the moment, I wish you well.

Go easy on that Belgian Beer though ,goes down a treat and as strong as you like.

mrabody

I don't have strong views on the "to ID or not to ID" question. I lean mildly in favour of belonging to ID as I think we benefit from having allies in the European parliament, even if their aims and ours differ, but it really comes down to what the majority of the UKIP MEPS want. Since I don't have a strong opinion on it I would acquiece to the majority decision in the interests of party unity.

mrabody

Thank you for the compliment. We all like to think we have integrity but it is something that sounds better when it comes from strangers.

I'll take your advice on Belgian beer should I prove so lucky as to be elected MEP.

mrabody

A shameless, unsolicited BTTT!

mrabody

I would like to remind everyone of the next Southeast Regional Hustings meeting the details for which are:

Sat. 26 July
Conference Chamber, Winchester Guildhall,
Broadway, Winchester, Hants., SO23 9GH
1.30pm for 2.00pm start
Chairman: David Samuel



If you can't make it please feel free to ask me questions on this thread. I welcome a challenge so the tougher the question the better.

C_steam

This is going to sound critical but it isn't meant that way - one good check sometimes is to completely reverse your goals and then see how they seem. If we did this then Drew's three goals become:-
1. Be dishonest
2. Ignore building the party
3. Not campaign

OK - these three things seem daft BUT the point is that no candidate would ever state them, which means that implicitly all other canddiates are likely to do some if not all of Drews original goals. Which begs the question, what is different of Drew to the others?

In other words, No USP.

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Little Englander (sour)

No chance of fighting to redress the devolutional imbalance. I will be spoiling my ballot paper.

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Little Englander (bigoted)

mrabody

Your critique makes sense in a very general manner, but the devil is in the details. Of course no candidate is going to say that they would be dishonest, but on questions such as building the party or campaigning they may have very different answers.

For example, at last weeks hustings one of the attendees made a point of asking all the candidates what percentage of their salary they would donate to the party. Two candidates said that they were not wealthy and hinted that they would not donate any portion of their salary. Another two quite frankly waffled on the question. Another two wouldn't commit. Another said that he would donate a substantial portion of his salary and explained why his personal circumstances would allow him to do so. Another said that as he wasn't sure how much his salary would be he couldn't commit to a firm figure but that he would like to give at least 10%. Another echoed his sentiment. Two candidates were not asked because the audience member felt that they had addressed the question either in their speech or their written descriptions. Another candidate stated that he thought the question was misguided because it was more important to get candidates who could attract large donations from wealthy supporters, and that even if all our MEPs donated all their salaries it would be too little.

Likewise several of the candidates were asked what they would do to build the party in the southeast. Again there was a variety answers.

You are no doubt correct that what I have written would likely be parrotted by any candidate hoping to get elected. But as I stated, the devil is in the details. And that is why I think it is very important for members to ask questions of myself and the other potential MEP candidates on this forum and elsewhere.

Drew Belobaba

mrabody

And another thought occurs to me. The above exercise only works if candidates are willing to promise to do something. You can't reverse a nullity. And of course whilst the three promises set out above are very general, underneath each general promise I set out the specific steps I would take to achieve that goal. Therefore if another candidate promises to behave with honesty and integrity you need to ask that person why we should believe him or her. I've set out why I think I will be immune to the corrupting influences of the expenses regime (a generally modest lifestyle). I've also set out what I propose to do to ensure I remain immune to corruption (publish my expenses, and serve a single term).

More questions are always welcome of course.

mrabody

I have ideas about how the devolutional imbalance should be addressed, but the selection process for next year's Euro elections isn't the place to talk about them. You are welcome to send me a message if you wish to discuss this further.