UKIP is my favorite British political party (I used to be a committed Tory fan but too many compromises on Europe for my liking and UKIP is more libertarian and non-racist!) but this week’s news is intriguing:
A foster family lost their three foster children because it was revealed they are members of UKIP. Yes, that’s right: The United Kingdom Independence Party! Here’s a report from the Sun:
The mum, of Rotherham, South Yorks, said: “We would not have taken these children on if we’d been racist.”
She told how they bought Christmas presents for the two girls and boy snatched from their care.
Council officials removed the children following an anonymous tip-off that the couple were UKIP members.
They acted amid fears that the white pair’s political affiliations meant that they were racists.
But the devastated fosterers hit back — and claimed the COUNCIL acted in a racist manner.
They also told how the festive gifts they bought for the children lay unopened in an upstairs room.
Fighting back tears the mum, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: “They just came in and took the kids away.
“We want them back but that would cause them more disturbance. We just want them happy.
“Their presents are upstairs, some of them wrapped. They won’t get to open them. That’s the most heartbreaking thing of all.”
In a low-turnout by-election with big protest vote potential, the fostering decision by a Labour council could just be the kind of issue UKIP might use to pull off an upset. It’s still much more likely that Labour will win, of course. UKIP is notoriously crap at the ground game of fighting elections. But if I was them, I’d pile everything I have, and more, into Rotherham.
We’ve been phoning voters in Rotherham all weekend. This is not a scientific survey, but look what people told us:
Voting Labour………………………..36%
Voting Conservative……………….0% (1 person)
Voting UKIP……………………………25%
Would consider voting UKIP…..26%
We have 4 days to persuade the people of Rotherham to do something extraordinary, by voting for liberty, voting for freedom of speech – voting for UKIP.
The secret talks were disclosed by Ukip’s Treasurer Stuart Wheeler, the spread betting millionaire who used to be a major donor to the Conservatives, donating £5million to the party during the 2001 general election.
Mr Wheeler admitted that he had been privately courting disaffected Tory MPs to see if they might be tempted into switching sides.
He told The Daily Telegraph: “I have had lunch secretly if you like, in a completely confidential way, with eight different Tory MPs.”
