Mark Croucher

No, they don't.

M

Mark Croucher

If, and I say if, they agreed to fill out his forms for him, then this was a private agreement between them, and nothing to do with the party. UKIP is not in the business of using its staff to run around filling in nomination forms, even if the nominee was on telly and used to be famous. Given that that was the case, then they would have been Robin Pages' agents, not UKIPs. As you know, he who does so by an agent does so himself, so if his agents failed to do what he expected, then it is the same as if he failed himself - which he did. When a certain fellow press officer cocked up UKIP's Kent County Council nomination papers for 5 candidates, I didn't run to the returning officer complaining that it 'wasn't my fault' and demanding special privileges denied to other candidates: I knew the rules, I knew the timescale, and collectively UKIP failed to meet them. Misplaced trust in a tosser is not a defence.

Page had already been granted an extension which no other candidate gained, and yet after several months had still failed to complete his papers because he was either ill or working: he's apparently unsure which. He is not an electoral novice, he knows the returning officer is the only one who can vary the rules: he certainly knew he was the one to complain to after the event! You're the barrister, but your assertion that party employees can unilaterally vary the terms of an internal election despite having no authority to do so is patent nonsense: if I can get a receptionist at Natwest to sell me the Natwest Tower for a tenner, you seem to be suggesting that that would be a valid sale, which of course it would not be.

M

Resigned Member

Well its taken Robin Page ten years to wonder whether Nigel Farage is a fit person to lead a political party.Not the sharpest card in the pack our Robin but the tortoise got there in the end.
Surely also interesting are the Farage trusts in the Isle of Man and why should Farage take a sudden interest in the Isle of Man scenery.
As for poor old Robin it was Lloyd George who said'There is no friendship at the top' or in the case of Nigels own interests at the bottom either.

Petrina

I was asked by EU Blues if panellists on Question Time get paid -yes,but not a lot -I was paid £150 .00 plus the BBC paid for my flight and hotel and gave me ,and all the other panellists a good dinner .

Page states that Reeves et al offered to fill his blurb in for him ,they were in postions of authority and appear according to him to have held themselves out as having authority to wave the rules on this particular point ,he had paid the fee and obtained his Police check so it wasn`t as if they were waving all of the rules ,just being helpful in one regard .He was entitled to rely on their offer ,I am happy that in these circs that their behaviour would be seen acting as an agent for the party in this particular regard .

Mark Croucher

As mentioned elsewhere, the £150 is an out of pocket expenses payment, not an appearance fee as you are well aware.

And perhaps Robin is even more naive than he makes out if he believes the mechanics of an election can be waived by a couple of minor functionaries. I'm off to Natwest to find a disillusioned receptionist to sell me the Natwest Tower for a tenner: clearly according to your legal argument I'd have every chance of winning the subsequent court case as long as I believe the receptionist has the authority to sell it. I assume you will represent me as I battle for vacant possession?

Just think how much simpler it would have been for all concerned if he had simply followed the rules like everyone else, filled in his paperwork in the scanty several months allowed, and submitted it to head office like all the other candidates instead of obtaining 2 extensions and still not managing everything on time.

M

B.A.Ware

I can see the point you are trying to make but if the case was how you put it would you not expect the receptionist to be disciplined or dismissed?

Have the people in question been disciplined for acting on behalf of the party without the parties consent?

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We’re not just about Europe.

Petrina

You seem very worried about this payment Mark . The info which came with the cheque said nothing re out of pocket expenses ,I declared it to the tax man as income .

Mark is however correct when he states that other programmes did not pay any fee but simply refunded your travel expenses or provided a taxi .

Obviously a receptionist wouldn`t be in a postion to hold herself out as an agent of the party/company for executive decisions because her remit is so obviously circumscribed. The difference here is that those who allegedly said that they would fill in the bumph for Page were in the sort of administrative position which could easily have provided them with the discretion to make this offer .So if he was misled by them as to their authority to do this ,relied on their assertions and suffered a loss as a result he would be in a postion to ask the courts for a remedy . Hence the fact ( I can only presume ) that Page is trying to get hold of info to support his contention that he was misled and suffered as a result .

Don`t suppose any disciplinary action will follow as the organisation is saying that the offer was never made .

SponPlague

You could ring Mentorn Oxford, the production company, and ask, but as the answer would be from the receptionist, Mark would argue that she wasn't qualified to answer

Keyser Soze

Not being in the slightest bit legally minded,however,can I offer the following?

I believe that if you request an official to do said act and they accept and agree to carry out such,then the official would be clearly in control of carrying out the said act.

Also,if the official offers to do said act and you both agree to this,then,the official is still clearly in control of carrying out the said act.

If this is the way of these things,legally,then at the very least in my opinion,both parties would be contributing to any rule breaches that may occur due to their JOINT action.

Maybe too simplistic but it's the way I would interpret things.

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I ignore cassie and danny.

Niall Warry

Some thoughts on this thread:-

1.£150 an hour is GOOD 'pay' in my books!
2. Was Robin Page too busy or too ill I believe both to be the case.
3. Am I not right that the Returning Officer said the UKIP Euro election/selection process was flawed?
4. I'm lead to believe(allegedly) that the offer of help to Robin Page was made so that his forms could intentionally not be submitted so that a known trouble maker was not on the list? This could be a theory anyway? Finally, looking at other Regions, if it is any consolation to Robin Page, had he been number one candidate I'm sure Nigel would have found a way to get him toppled! Remember Nigel has the right to ignore the selection process if he wants as I recall from an earlier thread.