Saturday, January 06, 2007

UKIP Faces Electoral Commission Fine

The Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 requires that parties with a gross income or expenditure of £250,000 or less (and their accounting units with a gross income or expenditure in excess of £25,000 and below 250,000) submit an annual statement of accounts to The Electoral Commission by 31 March and for more than that sum by 7 July.

The deadline for submitting audited accounts was 7 July 2006. UKIP failed to meet it and were given an extension.

According to the West Brom Blog "As of Friday 5th January 2007 the accounts have not been published to the Electoral Commission. Failure to submit accounts within 1 year can result in a £5,000 fine and is a criminal offence under UK electoral law (Political Parties Elections & Referendums Act 2000)"."

If this is true, we might well ask when UKIP do intend to submit accounts and what deadline have they been given by the Electoral Commission. Anyone care to enlighten us?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The thought that the Electoral Commission would do anything about it is for folk who believe in father xmas. There must be dozens of Labour associations that have not filed.

Maybe it needs the bloggers to start bringing pressure? So keep it up Iain.

Several of UKIP's NEC resigned last year over various matters including the "non-accounts".

Surprising that this matter was not mentioned in today's Telegraph which seems to have been taken over by pro-ukip anti-tory articles. Did hefferlump edit it?

Anonymous said...

Why can't they do things properly like Cons,Labs and Libdems?

Anonymous said...

They are clearly covering up all the donations they have revieved from European donors...

Anonymous said...

One matter UKIP hammer the EU on is not submitting accounts. Ironic?

Anonymous said...

Dave like policy statement called for methinks.

Anonymous said...

Because Cons, Lab and LDs are real political parties with, you know, MPs?

And ukip is a joke. See their biggest donor caught today hiring cheap Polish workers to fill his supermarket?

I have a suggestion for their new name: "The Shambles Party"

Anonymous said...

UKIP have a growing reputation for irresponsibility - especially where it comes to tax payers money.

They run an Ashford Call Centre - which raised big bucks and recruited many members during the 2004 European Parliament Elections - however this call centre has now become a burden on UKIP and every £1 donated - 85 pence is swallowed up by the call centres expenses. Anybody donating via this route will find only 15 pence of every £1 they give actually going to UKIP.

During last years Bromley by election people donating to the UKIP campaign found their money being paid onto a UKIP MEPs private credit card.

And we have the 250,000 euros of EU money given to UKIP to launch a campaign to collect 2 million signatures for a petition on Britain leaving the EU. After finding the petition forms too small to write your name and address on and after an abysmal number of signatures collected the petition was quietly abandoned.

And now we have the fiasco regarding UKIPs accounts.

How can anybody have any confidence in UKIP when they can’t even keep their own house in order.

PS Ashley Moat UKIP MEP had the whip taken away from him after it emerged he was facing trial for Housing Benefit fraud. He tried to claim immunity as an MEP - rather hypocriticly trying to use EU institutions to stop his impending trial - anybody know how this is proceeding?

Anonymous said...

HF, LOL.
In fact they don't have a leg to stand on when criticising other parties funding, until they have submitted their own accounts for the perusal of the Electoral Commission.

wonkotsane said...

Bearing in mind that the main 3 parties have all been investigated in the cash for peerages investigation and are all on the brink of bankruptcy, does the phrase "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" apply?

Anonymous said...

The Electoral Commission let North Norfolk's Tories off the hook for breaking the law by failing to declare a donation - at the time you were their candidate :-) - so surely you're not wanting one law for your colleagues in North Norfolk and another law for UKIP...

Devil's Kitchen said...

Here is what I know at present.

Anon said: "They run an Ashford Call Centre..."

No, they ran an Ashford Call Centre which was shut down because of the huge running costs. The accounts were submitted to, and signed off by, independent auditors.

Re: the Electoral Commission. Because they recently changed Treasurers (in September), and because of the delay in the Ashford section of the accounts (they had to be audited: see above), UKIP asked the Electoral Commission for an extension.

I don't know when this extension runs out, but I shall find out. However, I believe that the accounts -- or the bulk of them -- have been submitted and are currently being audited by the EC; however, the EC does not publish the results until audit is completed. However, again, I shall checked this.

DK

Anonymous said...

As Iain gave me as the source of the story, although I gained the story through another site, I think I should add what I know.

Accounts were supposed to be into the EC in May 06 - an UKIP were given extension. It is an offence for accounts not to be handed in after 1 year from the end of 2005. The EC are supposed to post a copy as soon as they can after receiving the accounts. They have not, so some have come to the conclusion that UKIP has not handed in its accounts, which as a year has passed since the end of 05, would be a criminal offence.

That is all i know, angry UKIPers stop emailing me.

Anonymous said...

Unfotunatley UKIP are nothing more than a bunch of bitter vote splitters.

It is often said that a vote for UKIP is a vote for Labour or the Liberal Democrats.

UKIP activists and supporters deny this and rubbish this suggestion.

Perhaps Conservatives should take time and see what UKIP are saying about fighting Conservatives:

http://www.ukiphome.com/comments.asp?sid=735

“We should be working now, in every possible seat where our votes could result in a defeat for a Conservative candidate.

This will help Labour and the LibDems this one time”

and

“If we do this, then for one more Labour term, there will be the real chance of a Tory split”

and on the Epping Forest Borough Council by election Grange Hill ward 14 December 2006:

http://www.democracyforum.co.uk/about15916-0-asc-70.html

“…By winning this seat the Tories gained control of the Council which they were denied by our standing in another ward in May,when the long term incumbent and Eastern Regional Assembly member for Theydon Bois ward was ousted by 23 votes.UKIP took 136 votes having never stood there before.Had we had the notice of the Grange Hill by election in time we WOULD have stood and I’m confident that we would have denied the Tories success.”

And on the Basingstoke By election where the Conservatives Gained overall control of the council:-

http://www.democracyforum.co.uk/about16603-0-asc-0.html

"As UKIP could split the vote and lose the Tories this seat and its overall majority, and shock Cons, it is strategically important."

and...

"The Tories are desperately worried about losing control there. This is exactly the type of situation where UKIP can give them a black eye."

"UKIP should be identifying similar situations up and down the country and sending in "flying squad" task forces to set up opposition. Meanwhile members on the ground should monitor Tory discontent, seeing if they can persuade Tory malcontents to make that vital switch."

"UKIP has to show that it can manipulate the Tories to suit the ends of the patriotic movement. Remember all the time that they're traitorous scum so don't hesitate to double cross them if necessary."

"I know these Tories. They're grasping unintelligent fools. Take them for all you can get."

...and on a forthcoming by election:-

http://www.democracyforum.co.uk/post-158720.html&highlight=#158720

"Yes the tories are the real enemy. We must examine all the seats that are up next May and decide which seats, our intervention, will allow UKIP candidates to split the tory vote. We must put all our resources in handing victory to Labour or Liberal Democrat candidates. We must aim to make the Conservatives lose seats and lose control of Councils. This should be the aim of UKIP next May."

"Yes indeed - UKIP must destroy these Tories wherever we find them. We must locate their most vulnerable seats and go out of our way to split the Conservative vote. We must ensure we get Labour and Liberal Democrats Councillors elected. By losing Tories control of Councils we will cause shock waves all the way to Cameron’s door. These shock waves will reverberate around the Conservative party and cause them to split in half. Thos loyal euro-sceptic Conservatives will come flocking to UKIP their natural home. This must be the tactic adopted by every UKIP branch up and down the country. Destroy the Tories. Destroy them all."

I think these comments show what UKIPs game really is. Not to campaign to get Britain to withdraw from the EU.

Oh no - their aim is to defeat Conservative candidates and get Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates to win. Their long term aim is to split the Conservatives. What a pathetic waste of space and a waste of good votes. They are betraying everybody who votes for them.

They are nothing more than a bunch of bitter vote splitters.

Le Cosquer Holidays Dot Com said...

It would appear you are all discussing some anonymous posting on a site from another anonymous poster!!!

also quoting some postings from an anonymous UKIP representive who may not be UKIP???

Are you all for real, personaly I think the owner of the BLOG should find out the truth fisrt....

Devil's Kitchen said...

r b lee,

"I am beginning to despair of the DK, normally the most foul-mouthed blogger in the land. I think he may be in love, though that is not how he puts it."

Is that in the same way that NuLabour said that "a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote for the Conservatives"?

"Unfotunatley UKIP are nothing more than a bunch of bitter vote splitters."

Yes, that's right, because they stand for precisely the same things as the Tories do, don't they? Shall we have a look?

Tories | UKIP

1) Pro-EU | Anti-EU

2) Believe government spending is at the right level | Believe that government spending is too high

3) Don't believe in tax simplification | Believe in the Flat Tax and are investigating the CBI

4) Support state funding of parties | Don't support state funding of parties

5) Don't support any change in education process | Support privatisation of schools and funding via a voucher system

6) Support Green Taxes supported by extremely dodgy science | Don't support Green Taxes (and believe that CO2 emissions do not cause global warming to any great extent) and support the funding of new technologies

7) Don't support free trade (since they are pro-EU, they cannot) | Support entirely free trade with everyone (including Europe)

8) Support hug-a-hoodie policies | Support prisonworks.org

Need I go on? Would you like to tell me, precisely, to what degree UKIP are simply "vote-splitters"? I would call them a distinct party with a distinct agenda, wouldn't you?

By the way, the correct answer there is "yes".

DK

P.S. UKIP Home is not endorsed by UKIP and nor does it have the ear of the leadership.

UKIP@HOME said...

Such naughty people these UKIP types.