Above, Belair House, a country villa built in Adam style leased by Sir Evan Spicer of Spicer’s the paper merchants. As an Old Alleynian (a former pupil of Dulwich College) Nigel Farage will be familiar with Belair Park – a modern house catering for weddings and so forth that was built following the demolition of the earlier Georgian House.
Sir Evan Spicer argued, in a debate on the constitution of a public water authority for London, that as London ratepayers were paying for the water supply their council should have full control of it, rather than share control with the chairmen of outside councils: “Londoners had paid the piper and should choose the tune.” And thus the phrase entered the language.
It has been an irritating few days for Nigel Farage. First the Brussels Brainwashing Commissariat screened “The Farage Factor” Herewith the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04lxvrd/panorama-the-farage-factor Then members of the EU Parliament managed to persuade the Latvian MEP Iveta Grigule to leave the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFDD) group in which UKIP are members. Since her leaving reduced the number to below 25 the group lost its EU funding. This is going to result in UKIP loosing £1 million a year. Naturally, the British Europhile MEPs are delighted. Herewith the article in the Independent newspaper: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nigel-farages-antieu-european-parliament-group-collapses-after-mep-leaves-9799051.html So the question Nigel Farage and UKIP have to ask is this: What do we do now?
There are two possible answers:
1. Form or join a new group with other parties.
2. Do not form or join a new group with other parties.
Clearly Mademoiselle Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French Front National will be hoping that Nigel will pick up the telephone.
If Nigel and his colleagues decide to remain aloof they know what the cost will be: £1,000,000 per annum or thereabouts.
If Nigel and his colleagues decide to restore their income stream by joining The European Alliance for Freedom (EAF) the pan-European political group that the Front National form part of they know what the consequences will be: the Brussels Brainwashing Commissariat and the Tories, the Lib-Dems and Labour and all the Europhile establishment will harangue UKIP relentlessly about it’s “Fascist” and “Neo-Nazi” allies. UKIP spokespeople will be endlessly rebutting allegation after allegation from a political establishment and media that is hostile to it. This in the run up to trying to get Mark Reckless re-elected.
The questions the British Gazette would ask of Nigel are these?
1. How damaging to UKIP’s electoral success will joining the EAF be?
2. Is a £1,000,000 European hand out worth it?
3. Is it not possible to tap one of the patriotic multi millionaires one the shoulder and get them to replace the income stream?
Were UKIP to have nothing to do with a system that was designed with the object of trying to put together a pan-European political structure, it would have the benefit of assisting UKIP to be free of embarrassing bed fellows. The problem is that not being leader of one of these groups will mean that Nigel will not have the opportunity in the chamber to heckle and disrupt the proceedings as entertainingly as he does.
Speaking the Truth unto the Nation
Another insightful post. I would urge UKIP to concentrate on seats at Westminster and Local Councils. The European Parliament is a hostile arena. Nigel Farage has as much chance of really damaging the EU’s legislature as a gladiator would have had in assassinating Caesar in Rome’s Colosseum. Russell Crowe did it but that was fiction. Yes, Nigel will loose the opportunity to heckle our European rulers, but will gain the freedom to take on Cameron and Miliband without having to look over his shoulder to see what some French woman is doing or saying.
What ever else he does he must avoid the Le Pen route.
Well said Jack and the idea of a handout from one of UKIPs big backers would be the easy answer but will any of them be prepared to step up to the plate?
Perhaps, ‘it’s time for all good men (&women) to come to the aid of the party’, I’m not a member but am not averse to giving a donation.
I only caught the end of Panorama but was not at all surprised to see the knives out for Farage, the Clacton win must have unsettled a lot of people!
There is a list in today’s D.Mail (catch it at Mailonline), of the constituencies that will be lost to Labour with the anticipated increase of votes for UKIP and mine is one of them. I had already assumed this but unfortunately it will let in a greedy grasping woman who blotted her copy book the last time round and even managed to elbow out a creditable candidate locally so that she could get her nose back in the Westminster trough once again.