wayneanthonyharling

id have to say jason smith, very closely followed by jonathan arnott.

Helped Jason about for a little bit in the run up to locals this May. Very hard worker. Has great vision. He is very actively against the smoking bans in pubs, even though he is a non smoker. Very pro choice I believe, and a strong believer of civil liberties.

Jonathan Arnott

Jason is a strong candidate. Nevertheless, I hope that I shall have the opportunity to put my own case to you at a hustings meeting.

Mattrix

Both Jonathan and Jason would make good MEPs I think, Jonathan might be better known in UKIP cirlces, but if you read any newspapers you've got to have heard of Jason Smith.

For me it's:
1) Jason Smith
2) Jonathan Arnott
3) Toby Horton
4) David Daniel
5) Godfrey Bloom

Did anyone get to the 1st husting meeting? From all accounts, Toby Horton didn't turn up, Bloom and Smith spoke without notes and looked impressive, Arnott impressed with his statistical knowledge but didn't look comfortable.

UKIP needs Jason or Jonathan but the fear is we might get another Godfrey Bloom term.

HM

What is it that's so bad about Bloom? Is it just the women/prostitution comments or is there something else going on?

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• Respice post te; hominem te esse memento!

Westcountryman

"He stamped on my face!!"

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Manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam - "This hand of mine, which is hostile to tyrants, seeks by the sword quiet peace under liberty."

ukiplassie

I wasn't there but have the next best thing. I asked a friend to send me full notes on the meeting which I will post here. It's quite long.

__________________
Say no to the EU! We want a true democracy not a false parliament acting as an oligarchy!

ukiplassie

Candidates Present: Jonathan Arnott (JA), Godfrey Bloom(GB), Jason Smith(JS) and David Daniel(DD). Toby Horton not present.

Opening Speeches

JS – Our freedom has gone down the drain, we live in a democracy (mentioned Lisbon Treaty). What we need is a spokesman and to generate media interest in UKIP Yorkshire and the EU. I will build up the media and develop it. I am not your stereotypical UKIP representative. I am different because I tell it like it is. I will spend as much of my time in the UK as possible to develop the MEP profile and I will reorganise the region as a whole. We need a full time Regional organiser (RO), and a press officer. I will develop a website and give branches the technology and support to have their own websites. I will fully support braches via the RO. I will give the branches financial support and I will support the people in our region, I will not be stuck in Brussels 7 days a week. I will develop talent in branches, I will improve organisation and develop media support. “If you want change I am the candidate for change.”

JA – Been in UKIP since 2001 aged 20, within weeks had persuaded others to stand so we had candidates in every Sheffield seat at the general election. Represented UKIP in newspapers, radio and TV. Must re-organise the party in Y&NL: 200k euros/year staffing allowance. Employ Regional Organiser full time; pay for by not employing Brussels-based assistants. Employ 2 interns to do partially Party work; pay part of salary personally out of own pocket as ‘Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion’. Employ a Press Officer, Researcher and Office Manager instead of PA. Must have visible office easily accessible by public transport, already received 4 offers of volunteer work. Buy risograph print press to allow us to produce in-house leaflets and respond the same day as other parties attack us. Donate allowances to UKIP instead of to charity; use these for ring-fenced campaign account to help with costs of future general & European election campaigns. Nothing against charity, I chair 2 charitable organisations in Sheffield and have 12 years’ hospital radio experience. As UKIP’s Local Elections I co-ordinator have detailed knowledge of issues across country and know how to get message across; designed leaflets for hundreds of candidates. Must fight harder and smarter.

DD – Gave brief CV and outline of political experience as former councillor. I have been a chairman in the county council and I have experience with politics. I am a widower “so I have no domestic ties.” I agree with JA about reorganising UKIP. I will employ a technical team as I am more valuable meeting the people and broadcasting. I will be with activists from time to time and I will introduce drop in surgeries for people to see me.

GB – Why am I standing again? I gave up my job to work for Yorkshire and UKIP. I have reached different people, charities and women’s groups etc. I speak and lunches, and present to 100- 200 people a week. I have brought people to Brussels, I have converted people. I do constituency work and have that balance of how to best use time and money. I am interested in winning as seats provide a platform to get the UKIP message across. Communication is also very important. I have been on radio and TV more times than all the other Yorkshire MEPs put together. I have formed relationships and I speak on matters outside the EU sphere. I have developed personal relationships with Charlotte Milligan from Look North and I have been on the Jeremy Vine show 5 times in the last 12 months. These personal relationships have taken 4 years to build; we now no longer have the time to build up from scratch. “Why would I drop the baton when I have made progress?” I think I am moving forward of course I would like to spend more time with branches be we must be “pragmatic” about it my time is better spent on shows and in the news.

__________________
Say no to the EU! We want a true democracy not a false parliament acting as an oligarchy!

ukiplassie

Questions from the floor

1. Can you indicate how you would improve present UKIP structures and the organisation for the promotion and benefit of yourselves and the other UK parliamentary candidates if you were selected as MEP?

JA – There are 2 issues there 1) organisation and ensuring the structure communicates more efficiently and 2) practical support through providing leaflets, helping activists and campaigning. I already mentioned the organisation in my speech, I would have a full time, professional office and I would ensure that it was in contact with its members. I can not change the party structure as that is the job of the NEC. In terms of finances I will not need £60k a year to live on; I will donate a substantial amount to the region for branches and for fighting elections and help to provide deposits etc.

GB – I don’t agree with the organisational side but with money a) you have to be careful how you spend your money. I have given the party around £1k a month “in one way or another as otherwise I will break too many bloody rules.” Everyone is helped at some stage and most people more than once. I always attend meetings when I am asked. I will continue to commit £1k a month and possibly more. I gave £30k to the last Euro elections out of my own money; I will do the same again this time. I have raised sponsors in the background. I will have the finances and I have been “pressing branches” to tell me where they want bill posters to help them. “It is not what I will do but what I will continue to do.”

DD – We need a single phone number for the region. I will be as generous as I can be, but I don’t know the rules so I can make no promises.

JS –On the organisational side we will have a full time RO to support branches. I have a general feel of employment and I will have a press officer and an IT team to help develop websites and provide branches with more multimedia. We need the right people in the right place. I also agree on the one phone number for the region. On the financial side we have to be careful not to get caught out. “I will give money to branches who work hard and who are not lazy.” The RO will also help them out and give leaflet drops. GB knows the ins and outs.

2. Godfrey why did you sign the nomination form to sponsor a non UKIP candidate in the Haltemprice & Howden By-election?

GB - I believe in saying no to the smoking ban, I proposed him as there was no UKIP candidate standing.

JA – the decision to stand or not was decided high up in the party. It looked like we would do well but Godfrey asked me to that decision on trust as there were other things going on. There was a statement to the media that if David Davis supported the Lisbon Treaty he would get GB’s support. David Davis gave these assurances on question time, he was as Eurosceptic as a Tory ever gets, yet we still supported a candidate from another party. There is a difference between supporting an independent and another party’s candidate.

DD – It was the freedom to choose and I support the beer mats and non-smoking ban as many public houses and working men’s clubs are closing down in vast numbers. There is nothing wrong with being associated with that campaign.

JS – It was GB’s own opinion. The issue was one of communication about David Davis. Party members heard it on the news, there were no official announcements to branches and people did not know.

GB interrupts: I spoke to the Yorkshire Post and said that I would support David Davis about the arrest warrant and EU freedoms. I then said that I would not support him as I was not assured by Davis that he would support these issues “but that’s politics.” It was not a hierarchical decision to have no UKIP candidate, if we had one if would have ended up as a circus and people would vote for a lark, maybe we would have finished third, but it would have been a disaster for our up-coming EU campaign. Nigel Farage offered to take him on (David Davis) and we asked branches to commit money and leaflets, but in 10 days it was not enough time to run a campaign, so we decided to stand back and devote the time and money to the EU campaign. “It was no secret.”

3. What is your biggest weakness in politics?

JS – Some people have said that I have a bit of an ego.

DD – I am not IT literate, but I would employ somebody to help me and I will become PC savvy.

GB – I am too feisty and too punchy, I do try to control it but it is a hostile atmosphere both here and over there. You have to have a combative personality but I will work on curbing being a “gobby little *******.”

JA – I am a facts and figures person, great for memorising EC Directives or phone numbers but a problem in social situations – kind of face blindness, and I apologise if I have ever done that to you.

4. If UKIP struggles to fund a Head Office, have you looked into the facts and figures of how to fund a regional office or are you being a bit rash. Have you looked into business plans and problems etc?

GB – “You can’t do it so I don’t do it.” Yorkshire is bigger than many countries in the EU. Where would you put a central office Hull, Sheffield, Leeds, the rents are more expensive and you need to look into liability and PAYE, you lose expertise etc. I have 35 years business experience and “I do it probably as good as you can get” I have a wide team, I am approachable and I return phone calls and emails promptly. I have a very quick turn around. An institutionalised, central office eats money.

JS – I disagree with GB, MEPs get a staffing allowance and that will provide a full time RO, a press officer and full time staff. I manage a department for the leading chemical company in the world. We need more people. All other regions have a full time RO so why cant we? If it needs to be done it will be done, I have the basic skills.

DD – Asks GB the staffing allowance. Told it’s £120k. I can do lots with that money and I will be as generous as possible giving it to branches. GB interjects: The money has to be spent on parliamentary research and staff, OLAF are keeping an eye on our budgets.

JA – With current exchange rates, allowance is more than £120k. I have looked into it, I chair a charity that employs staff, I know about NI and PAYE. I do not want a huge office but an efficient one. Yes of course I have costed it. I am aware of parliamentary rules & we can employ ROs. GB interjects: “That is true.” JA: I need a full time regional office other areas have it i.e. the East Midlands and North-West. Look at Jim Allister’s office in Belfast. The MEP staffing allowance will cover it. I will also employ interns and pay part of their wages out of my own pocket; they will then be able to do UKIP work as I am paying for it. If we have more money to play with we can have more staff.

5. How can you provide reassurance that people will still have jobs without the EU?

DD – This is not a public meeting. We need trade agreements with other countries, the fact that we can not economically manage without Europe is a load of nonsense. We have trade agreements in place with other countries.

JA – We must get the message across better but here we are questioning UKIP members about becoming MEP. We have policies in place to help and DD is correct, but we also have a flat tax policy and we can get minimum wage earners out of tax altogether. UKIP have polices in place. In terms of unemployment we need to reassure the people about the Europhile lies that Jobs depend on the EU, that is rubbish. The EU strangles businesses; we need to get rid of the red tape. We need to get Britain out of the EU. Does that answer your question?

Partially – what about supporting British businesses with subsidies? How can we manage that and cut taxes?

Gerard Batten has done research and shown that total net cost of EU membership is £50-60bn per year. Even after our tax policies, still a large amount remains. It’s already UKIP policy to support certain British industries such as our agriculture, fisheries and post offices.

JS – We are not going to lose jobs as we are trading partners with the EU. We need to communicate to people. There are many UKIP policies in place, but we do need regular leaflets for ordinary people.

GB – Nothing to add, fully answered already. We should save policy for another day, no one is in disagreement on that here.

6. Comments on flood plains, women made to feels as second class citizens, isn’t it fair to say that Godfrey Bloom could be the candidate to lose UKIP the seat?

GB: (Stands up) I have spent more time on sink estates than any other MEP. No one has done more than I have. I am disappointed that you think that. I am constantly in the Grimsby and Scunthorpe papers supporting these people. And your second point it quite wrong; I spend more time in womens’ conferences than any other MEP. I have been right all along. I have been right for 4 years and my ideas have now received wisdom. I was vilified 4 years ago and named a ‘Neanderthal’ but if “I have alienated free-loading skivers and criminals then I am glad.”

Other candidates not given opportunity to answer.

7. (Asked to Godfrey) Would you take any other suggestions on board from the other candidates on how to do business?

GB – If the overwhelming majority feel that they need a full time office I would bow down to that majority, but do not expect me to provide any money for branch projects because it will not be there. DD interjects: a central phone number is a step forward. When I was working for the county council I got stuff for nothing, but that wasn’t politics.

JS – we should all talk to each other and find a good way forward.

JA – the biggest step forward is to have a centralised phone number for people to contact it is very frustrating not being able to get hold of people therefore a full time office can help and that is the biggest weakness in UKIP Y&NL at the moment.

8. Why was there such short notice about the Hustings meetings?

GB – I got mine information through the post the same time you did.

Jane Collins RO answers: Explains procedure etc. We have no centralised office and not many volunteers so these things happen as full time wages are too expensive. I did the best I could do with the deadlines we had.

Other candidates not given opportunity to answer.

9. If you were successful would you move the office from Wressle and if so where would you move it?

JA – That depends on many things so I am not sure yet, perhaps we could have a ballot of members. Many people have told me that they would be happy to travel in Yorkshire to help campaigns if they could get there easily by public transport. You need a good area for an office, I am aware of allowances and we need full time staff in place.

JS – It needs to be central to the region with easy access to everyone and central on transport routes. I agree with JA.

GB – Wressle is central to the entire region. DD interjects: GB is living in cloud cuckoo land, as if Wressle is central. GB: It has a bus and train station and car parks. I would sway if people want that but you would loose other things. I am relaxed about holding a ballot “It’s your party”. City centre offices have significant rates and rents, but if you want it I will do it.

DD – we need a central phone number. Wressle is no good, but I would not employ an office straight away.

__________________
Say no to the EU! We want a true democracy not a false parliament acting as an oligarchy!

ukiplassie

Summaries

GB – I want to reiterate that national radio and TV are the 2 mediums that cut the mustard. For better or worse I’m on the front burner and can get more out of the media than a newcomer because of my experience. Who ever gets it can rely on my complete support throughout the campaign.

JA – I thank everyone for coming here & appreciate spirited debate behind closed doors but must be united in public. Have experience – stood for UKIP 8 times. Media skills – newspapers, radio and TV appearances. I know the issues – hammered government ministers in debate 4 times, co-authored 3 UKIP Local Manifestos and work as Researcher. Will professionalise the Party and donate as much as I can out of wages and allowances. Finally, I’m a younger candidate who’s a teacher. Can attract new kinds of voters – younger voters and Labour voters.

DD – I have enjoyed being here. I am not a newcomer. I know I have the personal vote because of my previous work.

JS – You need skills across the board, I have that. I have success in the media in Bradford and I have organisational skills. I will push forward Young Independence. UKIP needs to appeal to all boards I can do it. You don’t need a stereotypical MEP. I’m free speaking and have media experience and people respect that. I can offer unique skills and generate the youth in the region. I’m the best person for the job and I can change UKIP for the better.

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Say no to the EU! We want a true democracy not a false parliament acting as an oligarchy!

UglyKidInParker

I was there. Mr Bloom turned up late half way through speeches. Meeting had already been delayed to wait for him.
Mattrix is wrong Jason Smith did use crib cards and was competent throughout.
The guy who asked GB his most hostile question later admitted that Jonathan Arnott and Godfrey had tied with Jason trailing a respectable third but still said he he wouldn't vote for GB.
Godfrey had one massively enthusiastic supporter on the front row - apart from that - little support.
DD's poor form is not worthy of further comment.
GBs' mesage was wrong. JA said what had to be said about restructuring the Yorks region and in all fairness to JS he said the same - or rather parrotted what JA had already said.
MY ORDER,
1] Jonathan
2] Jason
3] Godfrey

The reason Jason pips Godfrey is that he spoke good sense but without the presence of Jonathan. Godfreys presence often looks too much like bluster.