Tuesday, May 03, 2005

UKIP Dirty Tricks

Donor pays Bed-and-breakfast charges
for UKIP’s ‘Get Kilroy’ Campaign in Erewash


John Whittaker MEP - the man who is standing for 8 seats
in the North West - tells UKIP workers to campaign against Kilroy in Erewash, rather than campaign in their own areas

A VERITAS sympathiser in the U.K. Independence Party’s North-West Region has leaked, to VERITAS, an internal e-mail from their North-West MEP, John Whittaker. Mr. Whittaker sent his e-mail, which refers to a donor offering to pay for bed-and-breakfast for UKIP workers willing to campaign against Robert Kilroy-Silk, to all UKIP members in the North-West. The e-mail was leaked this afternoon to Mr Kilroy-Silk’s Researcher.

The e-mail form John Whittaker states:

“While I know you are all busy doing what you can in your home patches,
there is another call on our time. I am trying to gather support for the
UKIP campaign in Erewash constituency (between Derby and Nottingham) where Kilroy is standing. I do think this is important and shall be spending time there myself. If any of you, or members, family etc. could help with the usual leafleting - canvassing - general campaigning activities, please get in touch with me (07752 643946) A donor has promised to pay for B&B for any who stay over”.

The targeting of VERITAS candidates in this way has been a feature of UKIP’s strategy in this General Election. Rather than field a candidate in several Hertfordshire seats where neither UKIP nor VERITAS is standing, UKIP deliberately fielded a candidate - Hertfordshire man John Felgate - in the Essex constituency of Harlow against VERITAS candidate Tony Bennett. A similar pattern occurred in Staffordshire as soon as VERITAS announced its candidates in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. UKIP immediately put up candidates against VERITAS but not in several other constituencies in the area. As soon as Robert Kilroy-Silk announced - in February - that he was contesting Erewash, UKIP responded immediately by fielding its Regional Organiser, Geoffrey Kingscott, against him.

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