UKIP is shifting further to the right, reversing a ban on former members of nazi groups, to include more ‘like minded people’, but the party has been in crisis for some time. Tony Peters follows its decline
UKIP has moved significantly to the right in recent months with the lifting of a long-standing ban on former members of fascist and nazi groups joining the party. The move appears to have set off something of a crisis in the party, with several high-level resignations ensuing.
UKIP’s rule book for many years contained a clause banning former members of certain proscribed parties or organisations from joining. These included Britain First, the British National Party, the English Defence League and the National Front. Former UKIP party leader Nigel Farage frequently cited this ban as evidence that UKIP was not an extremist party.
However, at a meeting of the UKIP national executive committee (NEC)on 15 April, this all changed. By a unanimous vote, the list of banned extreme right groups was removed completely and replaced with a list of proscribed left-wing groups, including Antifa, Hope Not Hate, Left Unity, Extinction Rebellion and Stop The Oil (sic). (Hope Not Hate was, in fact, already the subject of a ban voted through by the 2013 UKIP conference).
UKIP thus flung open its doors to fascists and neo-nazis, who are now free to join. Party leader Ben Walker described the decision as ‘… a swing to now exclude the ‘Extreme Left’ as opposed to like-minded, free-thinking people of the right…’
One in, one out The lift on the ban on extremists has seen Ann Marie Waters (left) back in the fold as justice spokesperson, while Patricia Bryant has been the first of many to part ways with UKIP
A few days later UKIP announced that former far-right For Britain leader Ann Marie Waters, was rejoining and would immediately be appointed its justice spokesperson.
The NEC decision was followed fairly quickly by the resignation of NEC member and agriculture spokesperson, Patricia Bryant. Talk within UKIP was that she had gone as a direct result of the ban being lifted, though she has denied this to Searchlight, insisting it was because she no longer wanted to ‘traipse’ up to London once a month for NEC meetings when she could be riding her horse. Bryant is known, also, to have questioned whether Waters rejoining ‘is supposed to be good news?’
She was, however, followed by East and West Midlands organiser Ryan Fisher and East Midlands Chair John Laing. The post of West Midlands chair had been vacant for a while, so these departures left the entire Midlands organisation without any officers. Then, only a few days later, the entire list of regional officers was removed from the party website, suggesting that the number of vacancies had now become an embarrassment.
Unsavoury
Lifting the nazi ban is part of a long term rightward shift by the former anti-EU party which foundered after the Brexit referendum. It was damaged by the departure of Nigel Farage in 2018, and the subsequent launch of his Brexit Party, now called Reform UK and led by Richard Tice.
Farage left UKIP, he said, in protest at the appointment of Tommy Robinson as a UKIP adviser on ‘rape gangs’ by former UKIP leader Gerard Batten and support for the appointment from the UKIP NEC. Batten also allowed notorious conspiracy theorists to join up. In 2021, current UKIP leader Neil Hamilton and chairman Ben Walker attended the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) conference on Family Policy in Dresden.
But the party is in crisis. Branches are moribund across the country, and it is being outflanked by Tice and Reform UK. UKIP desperately needs to find numbers somewhere: membership that only four years ago stood at around 30,000 has collapsed. Internal sources say that members are now counted in hundreds not thousands. In the recent local elections, the party lost all its remaining local council seats.
UKIP is desperate to arrest its decline and is touting around for similar thinking groups to link up with. Recently appointed deputy leader Rebecca Jane has been deputed to enter talks with these and other right-wing outfits, with a view to unification.
The prize would be Reform UK. Many UKIP activists loathe Tice, but would give anything to get into serious unity talks with him. All overtures so far have been rebuffed, and Jane’s efforts are coming to little. Laurence Fox of Reclaim strung her along for a while, then blew any agreement out of the water by standing against her in Uxbridge. Reform UK and Reclaim have now agreed a non-aggression pact so they don’t fight each other in by-elections, but UKIP has been excluded. There is now much moaning internally about Jane’s fitness for the role. Her grasp of politics is slim, and she seems to believe that her ‘personality’ will woo over the likes of Tice and Fox. But they do not appear to be as easily impressed as the party chairman, whose idea it was to assign her to this task. Sacked Tory MP Andrew Bridgen’s decision to join Reclaim was seen as a massive failure on her part.
Fox, of course, has ample funding from multimillionaire Jeremy Hosking so is not to be tempted, at this stage at least, even by the harvest of legacies that have been left to UKIP in the wills of elderly members and that they hope to reap. That may not be so straightforward as it seems, though. A recent court case featuring a bequest of around £180,000 to UKIP saw the deceased’s family arguing that circumstances in relation to UKIP have changed so significantly since his death that the bequest was no longer appropriate. The judge agreed and UKIP left the court empty handed, except for a bill for costs. There was much subsequent recrimination at top level.
The recent by-elections have also drawn unwelcome attention to those who now control the party. Deputy leader Jane has a colourful past as founder of a ‘Lady Detective Agency’ that specialised in entrapping suspected wayward husbands. She also admitted to sending topless pictures of herself to ex-footballer Michael Owen (at his request) only a couple of years ago.
Then, a charity she has been running for the past 18 months came under scrutiny from the Charity Commission, although the commission decided to take no further action. Added to that, her party chairman Ben Walker was branded a ‘rogue builder’ after being convicted for a string of serious breaches of building regulations in 2019.
Her recently appointed election agent is Geoff Courtenay, who was thrown out of the Conservative Party for inappropriate Facebook posts. In 2014, he argued that using words like ‘Paki’ or ‘Chinky’ were ‘no more than calling a Sandwich a “sarnie” ’.
As for UKIP ‘leader’ Hamilton, where do we begin? There’s so much to say and not enough space to say it. Perhaps new and curious readers should just begin here:
Good read. U.K.I.P. in recent years is good only for laughing at, a home for people with mental problems, as its leader whose mugshot is above remarked on 8th Jan on Mark Dolan’s show on G.B. News.
U.K.I.P. gives the impression of being a political party in order to successfully collect legacies, as was suggested on 24th Jun by the ex- Daily Express Editor, Patrick O’Flynn, in his column in The Spectator. Mr O’Flynn read Economics at Cambridge (King’s) and was an M.E.P. for U.K.I.P. and, after the party first lurched into extremism, for the SDP.
Another political journalist, a lady from The Guardian who commented on one of Searchlight’s earlier U.K.I.P. articles, noted that the Electoral Commission confirmed the party has surprisingly not declared any receipts at all since September 2021. The party’s published guidance to donors about their Last Wills and Testaments is to write into them that the estate trustees must accept the directions of the U.K.I.P. treasurer, a post held for three years by a retired used-car salesman. One supposes that could mean, make the payment to whom he directs, in the manner he directs. One can be sure everything is above-board under his gimlet eye.
Bryant is another person worth looking at. Her day-time job could surprise you, Official Secrets Act, national security clearance, whatnot. By now they must know about U.K.I.P.
I was told what eventually got to Bryant were risk-assessments about exposure on the financials, more so than the three if not more politically-clueless, pretty young ornaments brought on to the party payroll, or off it, by the Chairman, to fill U.K.I.P.’s top jobs and needs.
As must come as no surprise to Bryant, her excuse for resigning from the U.K.I.P. Executive, that she was fed up with “traipsing up to London” from afar for meetings, fails the smell test.
Someone helpfully scheduled attendance at all U.K.I.P. Executive Committee meetings since 2019. There were eighteen of these from Bryant first attending in 2021 till she was terminated at Company’s House this 9th Jun.
She “traipsed up to London” for only two of these eighteen – 2022 (May, Dec).
Ten of them Bryant attended from home, using Zoom – 2021 (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov), 2022 (Jan, Jul, Sep).
She skipped the other six – 2021 (Jun, Jul), 2022 (Mar, Oct), 2023 (Feb and, without mention or apologies, Apr, but it could be she had already resigned).
Bryant’s “traipsing up to London” excuse is rubbish, and she must have known this would be found out. She might as well have said, she was too busy doing her nails. Was she trying to discreetly get a message across about the nature of U.K.I.P.? To give her credit, neither she nor Miss Jane took part in the unanimous April vote to throw open U.K.I.P’s doors to nazis, fascists and other “like-minded” souls.
The ones who did, as minuted, were “Ben Walker, Donald Mackay, Pat Mountain, John Poynton, Janice Mackay, Gary Johnson, Ian Garbutt (seconder), Jordan Gaskell, Neil Hamilton, Miss Treasure Okwu, Jamie Baker, Jack Thomson (proposer)”
At the latest meeting, 2023 Jun, for which there are minutes Miss Jane did not attend, nor did the treasurer.
Now that there’s to be another by-election in Hamilton (West) and Rutherglen, and likely the Pincher one in Staffordshire, I am looking forward to your next installment about U.K.I.P.’s circus, to see who among its clowns will contest these elections.
!!
U.K.I.P. in recent years is good only for laughing at, a home for people with mental problems, as its leader whose mugshot is above remarked on 8th Jan on Mark Dolan’s show on G.B. News.
U.K.I.P. gives the impression of being a political party in order to successfully collect legacies, as was suggested on 24th Jun by the ex- Daily Express Editor, Patrick O’Flynn, in his column in The Spectator. Mr O’Flynn read Economics at Cambridge (King’s) and was an M.E.P. for U.K.I.P. and, after the party first lurched into extremism, for the SDP.
Another political journalist, a lady from The Guardian who commented on one of Searchlight’s earlier U.K.I.P. articles, noted that the Electoral Commission confirmed the party has surprisingly not declared any receipts at all since September 2021. The party’s published guidance to donors about their Last Wills and Testaments is to write into them that the estate trustees must accept the directions of the U.K.I.P. treasurer, a post held for three years by a retired used-car salesman. One supposes that could mean, make the payment to whom he directs, in the manner he directs. One can be sure everything is above-board under his gimlet eye.
Bryant is another person worth looking at. Her day-time job could surprise you, Official Secrets Act, national security clearance, whatnot. By now they must know about U.K.I.P.
I was told what eventually got to Bryant were risk-assessments about exposure on the financials, more so than the three if not more politically-clueless, pretty young ornaments brought on to the party payroll, or off it, by the Chairman, to fill U.K.I.P.’s top jobs and needs.
As must come as no surprise to Bryant, her excuse for resigning from the U.K.I.P. Executive, that she was fed up with “traipsing up to London” from afar for meetings, fails the smell test.
Someone helpfully scheduled attendance at all U.K.I.P. Executive Committee meetings since 2019. There were eighteen of these from Bryant first attending in 2021 till she was terminated at Company’s House this 9th Jun.
She “traipsed up to London” for only two of these eighteen – 2022 (May, Dec).
Ten of them Bryant attended from home, using Zoom – 2021 (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov), 2022 (Jan, Jul, Sep).
She skipped the other six – 2021 (Jun, Jul), 2022 (Mar, Oct), 2023 (Feb and, without mention or apologies, Apr, but it could be she had already resigned).
Bryant’s “traipsing up to London” excuse is rubbish, and she must have known this would be found out. She might as well have said, she was too busy doing her nails. Was she trying to discreetly get a message across about the nature of U.K.I.P.? To give her credit, neither she nor Miss Jane took part in the unanimous April vote to throw open U.K.I.P’s doors to nazis, fascists and other “like-minded” souls.
The ones who did, as minuted, were “Ben Walker, Donald Mackay, Pat Mountain, John Poynton, Janice Mackay, Gary Johnson, Ian Garbutt (seconder), Jordan Gaskell, Neil Hamilton, Miss Treasure Okwu, Jamie Baker, Jack Thomson (proposer)”
At the latest meeting, 2023 Jun, for which there are minutes Miss Jane did not attend, nor did the treasurer.
Now that there’s to be another by-election in Hamilton (West) and Rutherglen, and likely the Pincher one in Staffordshire, I am looking forward to your next installment about U.K.I.P.’s circus, to see who among its clowns will contest these elections.
!
U.K.I.P. in recent years is good only for laughing at, a home for people with mental problems, as its leader whose mugshot is above remarked on 8th Jan on Mark Dolan’s show on G.B. News.
U.K.I.P. gives the impression of being a political party in order to successfully collect legacies, as was suggested on 24th Jun by the ex- Daily Express Editor, Patrick O’Flynn, in his column in The Spectator. Mr O’Flynn read Economics at Cambridge (King’s) and was an M.E.P. for U.K.I.P. and, after the party first lurched into extremism, for the SDP.
Another political journalist, a lady from The Guardian who commented on one of Searchlight’s earlier U.K.I.P. articles, noted that the Electoral Commission confirmed the party has surprisingly not declared any receipts at all since September 2021. The party’s published guidance to donors about their Last Wills and Testaments is to write into them that the estate trustees must accept the directions of the U.K.I.P. treasurer, a post held for three years by a retired used-car salesman. One supposes that could mean, make the payment to whom he directs, in the manner he directs. One can be sure everything is above-board under his gimlet eye.
Bryant is another person worth looking at. Her day-time job could surprise you, Official Secrets Act, national security clearance, whatnot. By now they must know about U.K.I.P.
I was told what eventually got to Bryant were risk-assessments about exposure on the financials, more so than the three if not more politically-clueless, pretty young ornaments brought on to the party payroll, or off it, by the Chairman, to fill U.K.I.P.’s top jobs and needs.
As must come as no surprise to Bryant, her excuse for resigning from the U.K.I.P. Executive, that she was fed up with “traipsing up to London” from afar for meetings, fails the smell test.
Someone helpfully scheduled attendance at all U.K.I.P. Executive Committee meetings since 2019. There were eighteen of these from Bryant first attending in 2021 till she was terminated at Company’s House this 9th Jun.
She “traipsed up to London” for only two of these eighteen – 2022 (May, Dec).
Ten of them Bryant attended from home, using Zoom – 2021 (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov), 2022 (Jan, Jul, Sep).
She skipped the other six – 2021 (Jun, Jul), 2022 (Mar, Oct), 2023 (Feb and, without mention or apologies, Apr, but it could be she had already resigned).
Bryant’s “traipsing up to London” excuse is rubbish, and she must have known this would be found out. She might as well have said, she was too busy doing her nails. Was she trying to discreetly get a message across about the nature of U.K.I.P.? To give her credit, neither she nor Miss Jane took part in the unanimous April vote to throw open U.K.I.P’s doors to nazis, fascists and other “like-minded” souls.
The ones who did, as minuted, were “Ben Walker, Donald Mackay, Pat Mountain, John Poynton, Janice Mackay, Gary Johnson, Ian Garbutt (seconder), Jordan Gaskell, Neil Hamilton, Miss Treasure Okwu, Jamie Baker, Jack Thomson (proposer)”
At the latest meeting, 2023 Jun, for which there are minutes Miss Jane did not attend, nor did the treasurer.
Now that there’s to be another by-election in Hamilton (West) and Rutherglen, and likely the Pincher one in Staffordshire, I am looking forward to your next installment about U.K.I.P.’s circus, to see who among its clowns will contest these elections.
Bryant doubled-down in her response to https://www.searchlightmagazine.com/2023/06/ukip-fallout-starts-after-nazi-ban-scrapped
“You have made no attempt to verify your ascertain in this rubbish article. It contains not one grain of truth about my resignation from the NEC. It is disgraceful that you publish these lies. – Pat Bryant, 13 June 2023 at 14:54”
Is she attempting to justify her own “traipsing” excuse, when U.K.I.P.’s own, published, meeting minutes show it to be insupportable?
Trying to find the source of what else you quoted, I eventually found a phrase in a whats-app group where I lurk, if only for entertainment.
Bryant wrote on 18 April 2023 at 16:20, in response to a call by another since-resigned U.K.I.P. region chairman to broadcast the video https://youtu.be/X5eeT36K_04 announcing Waters’ return to the party,
“Really. Is that supposed to be good news?”
No retraction or explanation from her followed.
Her appointment was shown as terminated seven weeks later, but since she didn’t attend or tender apologies for the 15 April national meeting, it’s likely she’d already quit.
On 6 May she followed up with this ringing endorsement of the party’s fresh inexperienced pretty young female rulership, “It is hard to gain members without an active, clued up Leadership Team supporting the foot soldiers – we seem to be going round in circles” (9:33) and “When people like me who have been in and around the party since Noah was a boy become demotivated surely someone should be asking questions – not accusing them of leading a coup and isolating them. I don’t understand what is happening to us. Why can we not debate things anymore without attracting (internally) abuse and vilification? Surely debate is what politics is about. Where is our Leadership? Who is making the decisions to bring in new people and appoint them – some of which are useless and some disappear over night? WE really do need to sit around the table and sort out our direction of travel and our methods of refreshing the party. Otherwise we might as well give up and go weed the garden” (10:21) and “our leadership is lethargic which is unhelpful in motivating people.” (10:44) and “”I honestly think it is time that we stopped playing the came set out by the legacy parties” (10:55).
But it is U.K.I.P. which is the ultimate Legacies party. Didn’t Mr O’Flynn write it exists only to collect them for the uninformed? I think Bryant reveals the level of her enthusiasm about Jane, the visible leader, promoted over her head.
On 12 June at 16:50, the day before she insulted this magazine, Bryant added to abuse of other right-wingerss with “Fox is a rat.”, which might represent U.K.I.P.’s idea of promoting unity on the Right.
In the light of these, you could demand an apology from Bryant for her unreasonable and less-than-truthful public disparagement of Searchlight, with a copy to both her employers. Or, like so many, laugh merrily at these clowns traipsing across the bog region of the political landscape.