Be More Like Lib Dems say UKIP !
Thanks to an anonymous contributor to my blog for this tip off ! This letter remains unpublished, but it is amusing to see opponents imitating us. Pity UKIP locally have no discernible policy differences with the Tory mayor and their lead candidate - Susie Colley - has a slim electoral platform that can be summed up as 'I'd be a really good councillor and I hate the Lib Dems' !
Text of Letter to Herald Express 310706 below :
UKIP just bang on about Europe – so why should anybody vote for them come local election time? This is the question posed on 15 May 2006 to UKIP's own online 'Democracy Forum' The suggested answer was to emulate the Lib Dems and adopt a 'community politics' based approach.
To apply this in practice it is suggested that UKIP members buy no less than 6 recommended guides from the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors to give their activists the skills to be more like the Lib Dems ! Has Susie Colley placed her order yet ?!
I should warn UKIP members though that an inability to talk about subjects other than Europe will limit the effectiveness of the suggested publications !
Barrie Wood
Torquay.
posted by Barrie Wood at 10:40 am
3 Comments:
Poor old UKIP, they don't half come in for a lot of stick. The problem is that all the sour uncles and aunts you've ever come across got together and formed a political party. Is it any wonder their politics are based on saying 'no' rather than anything else. Three cheers for them if they actually start formulating some kind of policy. Then we might start to see the loose association of self interest that makes up the membership disintergrate.
10:36 pm BST
Lets have a policy of
-Closing Public Toilets
-Increasing Allowances
-Having NCP Killing Local Trade
-Having a Coucillor who isnt living in the area but still claiming his allowance
-Talk aboy cutting down Palm Trees
-Employing consultant apon consultant
So sorry I forget the Lib Dems all ready have these - AND MORE
5:07 pm BST
Well actually it is the TORY mayor that seeks to spend 75K on outside consultants, but as ever opponents like you sit on your hands and offer no criticism.
And how many Palm Trees have been cut down ? Media froth you should have sensibly ignored.
As for allowances they remain barely at the median level for a unitary authority. As a [LD] council candidate this year should I be financially penalised for seeking to hold public office? Do YOU envisage Torbay Council as a place only for the professional and retired classes which would be the result of minimal allowances?
As it was, I was opposed to the increases being increased in the manner they were. I was also one of those who argued vociferously for Cllr Harris to leave the Lib Dem fold, which he has done for many months now. Do keep up !
Speaking of allowances I see you don't criticise the near £60K a year salary of Tory mayor Nick Bye. Why is this ?
Do you / did you support :
Closure of St. Kilda's / Dunboyne Care Homes - despite 7,000 + signatures on petitions opposing the closure
The casino bid - supported principally by Messrs Morgan ( Torbay TDA - unelected), M Wood (Tory PPC - rejected by the voters in '05) and Nick Bye (Mayor - elected on a narrow vote share with no mandate for radical change), but crucially not the people of the bay ! Where is the popular support for the casino ?
Removal of Devonwide bus passes for senior citizens with virtually no consultation / debate.
The uncertain future of Oldway Mansion / The Pavilion et al ? What have you to say on this ?
So you approve too of the ego-stroking publicity stunts of Mayor Bye ? You, like the mayor perhaps, see Torbay as a 'parking paradise' ?
So far we've had media stories showing the mayor in parking attendants uniform, hard hat at Astra Zeneca, athletics gear supporting a 'Get fit' campaign and so on. He should forget the panto dame approach to politics and show political leadership and build a better relationship with councillors.
Why is it he cannot on most occasions manage to get even the support of the former Tories of the Torbay Group or the independent [but right-wing) Cllr Oxley for most of his proposals ?
Do you think a 'programme' of 'a cleaner, safer, more prosperous bay' adds up to political 'vision". Who could be opposed to this ? Who is in favour of a dirty, crime-ridden, poverty stricken bay ? It's vacuous nonsense from Bye of course. He promised nothing and is delivering pretty much that !
Finally, thank you for your Suzy Colley style 'analysis' - what a pity you have to hide behind the cloak of anonanimity !!
11:18 am BST
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