David Cameron has certainly put the cat among the UKIP pigeons today with his comments on LBC about UKIP. He said "UKIP is sort of a bunch of ... fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists mostly." As a little aside - and not unrelated to his comments - I wonder if he knows who first used his favourite soundbite catchphrase "We're All in This Together". It was, er, Enoch Powell! Michael Howard made a slightly less inflammatory but similar remark just before the last election, but UKIP will no doubt try to cause as much trouble as they can with this. Cynics may see this as part of the alleged Cameroon strategy to pick a fight with the right, which will demonstrate to those in the centre ground how much the Party has changed. I've constantly said that the mark of success will be if Cameron can attract more support from the centre but also keep the right on board. In the short term, remarks like this might appear to help attract support from the centre, but if it means losing large chunks of support on the right, the long term benefits might not be readily apparent. It is of course too early to judge. For what it's worth, it is true to say that all political parties have their share of fruitcakes and loonies. I'd agree that UKIP probably have more than their fair share, but they still lag behind the LibDems in the loony stakes in my book. As to the accusation of racism, Cameron has pointed out that Alan Sked left UKIP because he said it was being taken over by elements of the far right. From discussions I have seen in the UKIP forum that seems to be borne out. However, in my experience most UKIP supporters just want Britain to remain an independent country. What they fail to realise is that the only way of doing this is to return to voting Conservative. If UKIP hadn't existed at the last election we'd have another 30 Tory MPs now. It's quite possible that their existence could prevent the election of a Tory Government in 2009. A Lab/Lib coalition would mean further European integration. Let's hope UKIP don't have that on their collective conscience in 2009. That's if they have one. Hat tip for graphic to www.scruntybastard.co.uk - well I found it funny, anyway!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
UKIP Lag Behind the LibDems in the Loony Stakes
David Cameron has certainly put the cat among the UKIP pigeons today with his comments on LBC about UKIP. He said "UKIP is sort of a bunch of ... fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists mostly." As a little aside - and not unrelated to his comments - I wonder if he knows who first used his favourite soundbite catchphrase "We're All in This Together". It was, er, Enoch Powell! Michael Howard made a slightly less inflammatory but similar remark just before the last election, but UKIP will no doubt try to cause as much trouble as they can with this. Cynics may see this as part of the alleged Cameroon strategy to pick a fight with the right, which will demonstrate to those in the centre ground how much the Party has changed. I've constantly said that the mark of success will be if Cameron can attract more support from the centre but also keep the right on board. In the short term, remarks like this might appear to help attract support from the centre, but if it means losing large chunks of support on the right, the long term benefits might not be readily apparent. It is of course too early to judge. For what it's worth, it is true to say that all political parties have their share of fruitcakes and loonies. I'd agree that UKIP probably have more than their fair share, but they still lag behind the LibDems in the loony stakes in my book. As to the accusation of racism, Cameron has pointed out that Alan Sked left UKIP because he said it was being taken over by elements of the far right. From discussions I have seen in the UKIP forum that seems to be borne out. However, in my experience most UKIP supporters just want Britain to remain an independent country. What they fail to realise is that the only way of doing this is to return to voting Conservative. If UKIP hadn't existed at the last election we'd have another 30 Tory MPs now. It's quite possible that their existence could prevent the election of a Tory Government in 2009. A Lab/Lib coalition would mean further European integration. Let's hope UKIP don't have that on their collective conscience in 2009. That's if they have one. Hat tip for graphic to www.scruntybastard.co.uk - well I found it funny, anyway!
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11 comments:
this argument that UKIP have cost us seats is annoying.That's democracy and maybe if we hadn't cosied up to the EU,EPPetc then maybe UKIP would not exist.That's our fault for being so gutless.
I have a lot of sympathy for their cause and if Cameron wants a fight with anyone,maybe he should start with TB and New Labour who have cost us three elections and taken the country to the edge socially and financially.
I agree with rigger mortice.
UKIP filled a void created by Tory weakness over Europe. Quoi? ERM for one which I am sure Dave remembers.
"most UKIP supporters just want Britain to remain an independent country"
Surely most UKIP supporters want Britain to become an independent country.
“In the short term, remarks like this might appear to help attract support from the centre, but if it means losing large chunks of support on the right, the long term benefits might not be readily apparent.”
The long term benefits will not just “not be...apparent”, but will not come about at all. And the shorter term consequences will not exactly be positive either.
I get the impression that Liam Fox would quite like to see Britain leave the EU. I also think that DD would probably prefer it if the only alternative was yet further integration. What does DC say to them? If DC appointed them to his shadow cabinet, what does that make DC?
And what will DC do when the Euro Constitution is brought back? If Britain opposes it and the only option is either for Britain to ratify it or to withdraw from the EU, will DC propose withdrawal? And will that make him a loony, racist or fruitcake?
Are the Swiss or Norwegians loonies, fruitcakes or racists because they haven’t joined the EU?
The guy’s answered one question (as badly as you could) and opened up 10 others.
Quote from UKIP site sums it up for me:
If this is the best that the Conservative Party can do – smear those who raise questions of genuine public interest in relation to their funding – then it is easy to see why the electorate’s honeymoon with Mr Cameron’s ‘Blue Labour’ has already come to an end.
“In the meantime, for the traditional parties to attempt to sew up the issue of state funding of political parties simply shows just how far removed they are from the views of the general public.”
Rather a fruitcake than a Loan Ranger seeking silver.....
in my experience most UKIP supporters just want Britain to remain an independent country
Is this what passes for clear thinking among the Tories? When 50% of laws and regulations affecting business originate from Brussels (government figure), in what sense would the UK "remain" independent under the Conservatives?
If I say something nice, why not just accept it as that without being snippy?
this argument that UKIP have cost us seats is annoying
It's also misguided and assumes that every UKIP voter would have voted Conservative otherwise. If you look realistically at the figures, perhaps 12 seats more seats would have been Conservative. Certainly nothing more than that.
The problem with the Tories is they are supposed to be HM Opposition, and so far all Cameron has done is side with Blair.
He said he was against ID cards! He said he would remove Tory MEPs from the EPP!
How about a bit of opposition Dave.
If you believe in FTPT you cannot ethically object to the consequences of UKIP possibly splitting some votes. In any case, while UKIP's leaders are largely Tories many of the voters aren't so it is unlikely to be a significant net drain on Tory votes.
Also on the grounds that being anti-EU is not a left/right issue Cameron does not appearmore moderate with this but just more like Mr Punch.
Hi Iain
This is slipping down your blog but is still a "live" story on the Beeb etc eg Tory MP supporting UKIP - are you going to say any more Best Ian
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