UKIP growing weaker in Wales amid ‘dictatorship’ claims
Farage: The not-so-great dictator?
Oh dear, how sad; never mind.
Over on Google+, an avid UKIP supporter just challenged This Writer with the words, “UKIP in Wales is growing stronger isnt it Mike.” Yr Obdt Srvt dutifully scoured the local newspapers for corroboration but found this instead (in the Brecon and Radnor Express):
“Ousted members of Brecon and Radnorshire’s UKIP branch claimed the party has blown its chances of a general election victory in the constituency.
“The local UKIP committee was suspended earlier this month in a row over the selection of its candidate for this May’s general election.”
The article said UKIP’s Welsh Executive had selected Darran Thomas of Rhayader as its B&R candidate, “having taken the decision out of the hands of local party members”.
It said former UKIP Wales chairman John Pratt claimed the party is run as a “dictatorship” by Nigel Farage.
And it said suspended branch chairman Clive Easton, the original choice as candidate for the upcoming general election, said: “Defeat has been snatched from the jaws of victory. I’m devastated to have all my hard work since 1996 snatched away.”
Barring his political persuasion, Mr Easton seems a decent enough human being. He is the UKIP representative who apologised in the newspapers after This Writer received a poison pen letter from a UKIP supporter in Newtown, Powys – a confused gentleman who, despite being in Wales, signed himself “John Bull”.
If he says UKIP is snatching defeat from victory, then there is good reason to believe him.
Meanwhile, the BBC is suggesting that UKIP has “peaked too soon” in its general election campaign.
That’s a little too close to the Spitting Image portrayal of David Steel and David Owen as the Liberal/SDP alliance. Eagerly awaiting a “surge” in voters, their excitement builds unto the Steel puppet ejaculates: “I’ve surged too soon!”
In UKIP’s case, this seems to be happening now.
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how can UKIP do well in farming country given that EU gives that community the benefits of the common agricultural fund. do they know what they are voting for?
My guess is that they’re counting on the votes of people who don’t know things.
UKIP fans ALWAYS claim that UKIP is growing. There’s no point in trying to convince them that, while that might have been the case a while ago, it hasn’t been at any point since then. Believe me, I’ve tried.
As the Parliamentary Candidate for UKIP in Brecon and Radnor, I can unequivocally tell you that UKIP in Brecon and Radnor IS growing, as I have the Memberships in front of me, which I am adding to all the time.
With regards to the ‘farming’ comment, Stuart Agnew MEP, Farming Spokesman for UKIP is giving a free talk and Q&A session in Brecon TONIGHT (3rd March) to Farmers in B&R to explain EXACTLY how UKIP Farming Policy will benefit Welsh Farmers both financially and by removing legislation.
Mike – cutting and pasting a one dimensional article from the Brecon and Radnor Express hardly makes your case. You appear to be confusing blind plagiarism for political journalism.
Regards
Darran Thomas
UKIP Parliamentary Candidate, Brecon and Radnor.
The story was not about whether UKIP was growing in number, but whether it was growing in strength. As the party in Brecon and Radnorshire is now divided – apparently due to the orders of its Welsh executive, the opinion presented by the article is fair.
You do not seem to understand the terms you are using. My articles do not plagiarise anyone else’s work as the sources are always mentioned and the relevant quotes are never passed off as my own work. The fact that you either didn’t know this or wanted to lie about what I was doing does not suggest good things about your qualifications to be a future MP.