UKIP in Your Region What are its MEPs doing for you?
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GMB Briefing – February 2015
UKIP in Your Region
What are its MEPs doing for you?
Introduction
100 reasons Not to vote UKIP
If ever we needed any proof that UKIP is not a party that’s a friend of trade unions, have a
look at their 100 pledges ahead of May’s general elections. Crucial employment and social
rights and protections are all on their chopping block, from repealing the Agency Workers
Directive to singling out Working Time, and we can only expect the worst with that.
Dangerous anti-migration pledges are also made, with no reference to migrants’ exploitation
by unscrupulous employers, or the backlash British people living abroad will face if similar
rules are applied in other EU Member States.
On the basis of these policies, perhaps it’s time we start asking UKIP exactly what their
intentions are, because it is very clear there’s not going to be much good news for trade
unionists. It’s time for UKIP to start telling us exactly what they stand for.
UKIP post 2014 EU elections
UKIP became the biggest UK political party in the European Parliament after winning 27.5%
of the vote in the 2014 European elections – the first time in over a hundred years that
neither Labour nor the Conservatives have won a nation-wide election.
UKIP now has 24 seats in the European Parliament – up from 13 in the previous mandate,
though only half of those originally elected in 2009 remained 5 years later.
Of these 24, only 7 – less than a third – are women; 18 are new MEPs.
Less than a year after the elections, the MEPs have already seen their first casualty:
Yorkshire MEP Amjad Bashir, who defected to the Tories in January 2015, calling UKIP a
“vanity project for Nigel Farage” and saying that “many of the criticisms made of the party
[including accusations of racism] are true.” Shortly after, UKIP announced Bashir had been
suspended following an investigation into “extremely serious” financial issues.
UKIP and wider partners in the European Parliament
UKIP struggled to form a European Parliament political group after many former members of
its European Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group joined up with French National Front
leader Marine Le Pen instead. However, UKIP managed to cobble just enough MEPs from
other Member States to reform their right-wing and re-named Europe of Freedom and Direct
Democracy (EFDD) group, of which UKIP leader Nigel Farage remains co-President.
This means that regrettably, UKIP will once again be able to benefit from valuable EU
funding, administration and other resources, though clearly they will be under close scrutiny
following outstanding investigations into Farage’s use of Parliamentary allowances.
These will be UKIP’s political bedfellows in the European Parliament for the next 5 years:
- The Five Star Movement (Italy): anti-political party and anti-establishment protest
movement led by former comedian Beppe Grillo. It promotes liberalisation, denounces
1
11/02/2015immigration and LGBT rights and calls for the abolition of trade unions. It is also
becoming increasingly eurosceptic.
- Order and Justice Party (Lithuania): Right-wing, national party, promoting liberalisation
and social conservatism. It is radical and anti-establishment.
- Sweden Democrats (Sweden): Far-right populists and nationalists, who are anti-
immigration and socially conservative.
- Free Citizen’s Party (Czech Republic): Eurosceptic party promoting liberalisation.
- Joëlle Bergeron MEP (France): Elected as a National Front MEP, only to defect a few
days later. Bergeron now sits as an Independent.
- Congress of the New Right Party (Poland)
Stopping at nothing to continue to benefit from EU funding and other resources, following the
departure of their Latvian ally, UKIP enlisted a renegade Polish MEP so as to maintain
European Parliament requirements for each political grouping to have members from at least
seven different Member States. This new Polish MEP has been quoted as defending
domestic violence and belongs to the anti-Semitic, anti-gender equality and anti-disability
rights Congress of the New Right Party.
In December 2014, UKIP set up an EU-wide political party – the Alliance for Direct
Democracy in Europe (ADDE) – and will now benefit from a further £1mn of EU tax-payer
funding.
Farage has also been wooing wealthy City hedge fund investors, according to leaked internal
documents, calling the industry’s money “key” to UKIP’s financial future and political success.
The same documents reveal how UKIP candidates must also be able to impress “large city
donors”.
UKIP – Won’t fight your corner
UKIP are not only anti-EU, they are anti-trade unions, anti-public services, and anti-
employment and health and safety rights. It is clear that UKIP MEPs could have a negative
impact on your job, rights and protections. Do you know what they are up to? Do you feel
they are representing your interests in Europe, or are they just taking the Euros and running?
We think you might want to know more. We’ll be tracking what they’re doing in the European
Parliament, but let us know what they’re doing (or not!) in your region.
All photos © European Parliament
2
11/02/2015East of England
UKIP won 3 out of 7 seats in the East of England, coming first with a 34.5% share of the vote
1. Patrick O’Flynn (new) – Economic spokesman, lead spin doctor and EU elections
campaign strategist
Former chief political commentator and political editor for the Daily
Express, O’Flynn wrote in a 2008 article entitled ‘The time has come for
Muslims to fully adopt the British way of life’ that Muslims have an
“obsession with grievance and victimhood” and that “Muslim urban
ghettos have reintroduced electoral fraud.”
He added: “On an economic level, the impact of Britain’s Muslims is
massively negative. Research shows Muslim communities are typified by
heavy levels of welfare dependency and low levels of wealth creation.”
O’Flynn’s columns were frequently used to attack British Muslims and spread his xenophobic
message – “It was British Muslims who committed mass murder on July 7, 2005” (2007);
“Why should we trust Britain’s Muslims?” (2008).
Whilst at the Daily Express, he also convinced the paper to become the first in Britain to
advocate leaving the EU.
O’Flynn has blamed “limitless” EU migration for UK wage stagnation and unemployment –
ignoring the rogue employers who hire these migrant workers under appalling rates and
conditions no British worker would accept.
Signs of a rift between O’Flynn and Farage have been showing however – he is no longer
UKIP’s Director of Communications, he has described Farage as a “control freak” and the
“dominant figure” within the party, and has attacked the right of the party as “ultra-Tory
libertarian” and “politically completely away with the fairies”.
He is UKIP’s candidate for Cambridge in the 2015 general elections.
EU Parliament Committee: Economic and Monetary Affairs
2. Stuart Agnew
Perennial UKIP general elections candidate, Agnew is a farmer and active
member of the NFU.
He doesn’t believe in man-made global warming.
He lived, worked and served in the army in Zimbabwe, which he still calls
Rhodesia.
He believes that women “don’t have the ambition to go right to the top
because something gets in the way. It’s called a baby”. He stated this in a
European Parliament debate on whether or not to introduce gender quotas on company
boards.
EU Parliament Committee: Agriculture and Rural Development
3
11/02/20153. Tim Aker (new)
Aker called UKIP’s 2010 manifesto “500 pages of junk” – despite being
the advisor to the former head of policy who drafted the document, and
part of the policy team responsible for producing it.
Undeterred, he was then asked to draft the party’s 2015 general election
manifesto. Aker stepped down as Head of Policy and gave up his
manifesto role in January 2015 however, only four months before the
general elections, saying he was too busy and wanted to concentrate on
campaigning instead. UKIP has denied claims he was sacked for not
delivering the new manifesto on time. The manifesto is now due to be unveiled at UKIP’s
spring conference, in February 2015.
Aker won the Aveley and Uplands Council by-election in December 2014, and is being touted
as one of UKIP’s rising stars. However, he is not universally liked within the party, with a
member of UKIP’s executive committee describing him as “harmless enough but thoroughly
lightweight and has done virtually nothing for the party.”
He is the UKIP candidate for Thurrock for the 2015 general elections.
Aker also stirred controversy in November 2013 when he laid a UKIP-emblazoned wreath
during Remembrance Day services in Grays, Thurrock.
Born in 1985, he is UKIP’s youngest MEP. He is also half-Turkish.
EU Parliament Committee: Petitions
4
11/02/2015East Midlands
UKIP won 2 out of 5 seats in the East Midlands, coming first with a 32.9% share of the vote
1. Roger Helmer – UKIP leader in the European Parliament (taking over from Farage, who
now only leads the European Parliament group they belong to), and spokesman on
Energy and Industry
Elected as a Tory MEP in 2009 before defecting to UKIP, Helmer has
supported views of the NHS as a “60 year mistake”.
He is becoming increasingly known for his homophobic views:
He has claimed people choose whether or not to be homosexual like we
might choose different types of tea – “different people may have different
tastes”, and “it is morally acceptable to prefer heterosexuality over
homosexuality, or vice versa.”
He has also said it’s ok for people to find homosexuality “distasteful if not
viscerally repugnant”, and that same-sex marriages should not be treated with the same
respect as marriages between a man and a woman: “If two men can be married, why not
three men? […] Why not a commune? […] How can we deny the same right to two siblings?
Are we to authorise incest?”
And according to him, “‘Homophobia’ is merely a propaganda device designed to denigrate
and stigmatise those holding conventional opinions”.
Helmer has also courted controversy by differentiating between “stranger rape” and date
rape, stating: “Rape is always wrong, but not always equally culpable. […] While in the first
case [‘stranger rape’], the blame is squarely on the perpetrator and does not attach to the
victim, in the second case [date rape] the victim surely shares a part of the responsibility, if
only for establishing reasonable expectations in her boyfriend’s mind.” Helmer believes that
“The young man, in the heat of the moment, is unable to restrain himself and carries on.”
He is a climate-change denier, dismissing “climate alarmism” as “grossly exaggerated”, and
pledging that a UKIP government would scrap legally binding CO2 emissions reduction
targets. He has also defended the UK’s ‘Big Six’ energy companies, claiming they had been
scapegoated and were not to blame for a hike in prices.
He has worked with the extremist, right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council, known
for its strong campaigning in favour of oil producers and against climate change and the
teaching of evolution in schools.
Helmer has insisted what he does in his private life is no one else’s business after having
been caught entering a ‘massage parlour’ whose website features suggestive comments and
images of scantily-clad women and which offers special VIP rooms and services by the hour.
A senior business executive, Helmer came second (with 25% of the vote) in the 2014
Newark by-election.
EU Parliament Committee: Industry, Research and Energy
5
11/02/20152. Margot Parker (new) – Small business spokeswoman
A perennial UKIP candidate since 2010, the Party’s euroscepticism hasn’t
stopped Parker from cashing in – she is Director of Eurocom-Consult, a
European lobbying group offering “advice and information on EU
legislation for industry and businesses”.
Parker also wants to stop workers receiving their correct pay entitlements,
stating that the November 2014 Employment Tribunal’s judgement that
overtime should be included in holiday pay is “simply outrageous”, adding
that “the European Working Time Directive is a wolf in sheep’s clothing for
thousands of businesses.”
She is also against Labour proposals to double paternity leave and increase statutory
payments to match the minimum wage, saying this would “hurt and damage small
businesses”.
EU Parliament Committees: Internal Market and Consumer Protection; Women’s Rights and
Gender Equality
6
11/02/2015London
UKIP won 1 out of 8 seats in London, coming third with a 16.9% share of the vote*
1. Gerard Batten – Founding member of UKIP, sits on the Executive Council. He is UKIP
chief whip in the European Parliament
True to UKIP’s anti-immigration message, long-standing MEP Batten has
stated “Our transport system, roads, health service, schools and public
services are buckling under the unremitting tide of new people”, and has
also called for British Muslims to be required to sign a special ‘charter of
understanding’.
EU Parliament Committee: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
* UKIP Communities spokeswoman and deputy chair, Suzanne Evans, blamed London’s
“more media-savvy and educated” population for UKIP’s lack of support in London in the
European elections!
7
11/02/2015North East
UKIP won 1 out of 3 seats in the North East, coming second with a 29.2% share of the vote
1. Jonathan Arnott (new) – UKIP NEC General Secretary
Arnott was a UKIP candidate for Yorkshire and Humber in previous EU
elections (2004+2009) and for the South Yorkshire Police and Crime
Commissioner elections in 2012.
He was also part-time local elections coordinator for UKIP, working to
increase the party’s number of Councillors.
He has claimed that elected politicians should also continue to hold a
real-world job, and continued part-time as Head of Mathematics at an
independent Sheffield School when made General Secretary of UKIP. It
is unclear whether he will still choose to work part-time now that he has been elected as an
MEP…
EU Parliament Committees: Budget; Budgetary Control
8
11/02/2015North West
UKIP won 3 out of 8 seats in the North West, coming second with a 27.5% share of the vote
1. Paul Nuttall – Deputy Leader and Education, skills and training spokesman (as well as
one of UKIP’s key media spokesmen)
A rising star of UKIP, Nuttall is known both for his sexist comments:
– stating that sexist remarks made by football pundits about a female
referee assistant were just “banter” and that “we all need to get a sense of
humour […] and become a little bit more thick-skinned”;
As well as his virulent anti-immigration stance:
– “The British labour market has already been hit by a deluge of
immigrants, particularly from [Eastern Europe]”, who are “adversely
affecting our labour market and also putting an intolerable strain on our
housing stock, education and health services”.
He is a climate change sceptic, and a member of the Campaign Against Political Correctness
and of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (opposing abortion).
He will stand for UKIP in Bootle at the 2015 general elections.
EU Parliament Committee: Culture and Education (substitute member)
2. Louise Bours (formerly Louise van de Bours) (new) – Health spokeswoman
Former actress whose northern credentials UKIP hopes to harness to
woo working-class votes.
She has previously served as Councillor on Congleton borough and town
councils, and was elected mayor in 2006.
Despite admitting that she has “no experience in health whatsoever”,
Bourse has stated that the vital health and safety EU Working Time
Directive will have a negative impact on patient safety and the training of
new doctors.
Bours has also called to bring back capital punishment as “natural justice”, on the 50th
anniversary of the end of the death penalty in the UK.
EU Parliament Committees: Culture and Education (Substitute for Committee on Women’s
Rights and Gender Equality)
3. Steven Woolfe (new) – Immigration spokesman, Financial Affairs spokesman
Another UKIP MEP the party hopes can woo working-class votes due to
his northern upbringing and ethnicity (his father is mixed-race).
He was UKIP’s candidate for the Greater Manchester Police and Crime
Commissioner elections in 2012, and is UKIP’s parliamentary candidate
for Stockport for the 2015 general elections.
He has said he would like to succeed Farage as UKIP leader, describing
it as “one of the most exciting jobs to do”.
EU Parliament Committee: Economic and Monetary Affairs
9
11/02/2015Scotland
UKIP won 1 out of 6 seats in Scotland, coming fourth with a 10.5% share of the vote
1. David Coburn (new)
Like his boss Farage, Coburn, Scotland’s first-ever UKIP MEP, is a
former City trader.
Though openly gay, Coburn has claimed that gay marriage “breeds
homophobia” and should be banned. He says it only matters to “some
queen who wants to dress up in a bridal frock and dance up the aisle to
the Village People”, and has called same-sex marriage supporters
“equality Nazis”.
He also left foreign students who had specifically travelled to the UK to
attend his London-based language school in the lurch and in extreme financial difficulties
after closing it down from one day to the next – keeping their pre-paid tuition fees.
Coburn is unique amongst Scotland’s MEPs for not having a residence address in Scotland.
Instead, he lives in Kensington, one of the most expensive residential areas in the UK.
He had stated that he would not buy a property in Scotland until after the September 2014
independence referendum, in case the housing market “bombed” after a yes vote, as he
didn’t want “to be left in a negative equity situation”.
He was criticised by other UKIP Scotland candidates for having been parachuted in from
London, thanks to a close friendship with Farage.
During a BBC radio interview ahead of the European elections, Coburn was unable to list any
of the EU policy areas he would like to get rid of.
His taxpayer-funded chief of staff Arthur Thackeray has been linked to the far-right nationalist
English and Scottish Defence Leagues, calling the parties’ supporters “patriots”.
Coburn will stand against former SNP leader Alex Salmond in Gordon, Aberdeenshire, in the
2015 general elections.
EU Parliament Committees: Fisheries (Substitute for Committee on Industry, Research and
Energy)
10
11/02/2015South East
UKIP won 4 out of 10 seats in the South East, coming first with a 32.1% share of the vote
1. Nigel Farage – Leader (and co-President of EU Parliament Europe of Freedom and
Direct Democracy political group)
Farage, who has been a UKIP MEP for 15 years, tries to appeal to voters
as anti-establishment and anti-political elite yet is the embodiment of
everything he claims to stand against: a career politician like those he
criticises and a former City commodities trader who joined UKIP
(defecting from the Tories) to eradicate regulations which he considered
were restricting his ability to make money.
He has been found to have claimed over £50,000 in wrongful expenses
from the European Parliament for an office he was given rent-free, and
has also attempted to set up an off-shore trust fund to avoid paying his fair share of taxes.
When exposed by the press, he claimed the move had only been a “mistake” “because it
cost me money”.
Meanwhile, he has given himself a £60,000 chauffer allowance from UKIP’s annual budget –
whilst trying to pretend he is a man of the people.
Farage has come out against equal rights for women, stating: “If a woman has a client base
and has a child and takes two or three years off work, she is worth far less to the employers
when she comes back than when she goes away”;
As well as against gay marriage: “[There is a] great risk that if gay marriage went through it
could prove to be profoundly illiberal”;
And against immigration, stating he would feel “uncomfortable” if Romanians moved in next
door, though he is married to a German (who he employed up to the elections).
He has also defended a UKIP parliamentary candidate Kerry Smith (who has since been
forced to resign) who used the racist word ‘Chinky’ to describe a Chinese woman. Farage
said Smith “talks and speaks” like a lot of people and claimed that only the “snobbish”
London elite would balk at such a phrase, adding: “If you and your mates were going out for
a Chinese, what do you say you’re going for?”
Handing over leadership of UKIP MEPs (who have some of the poorest attendance records
of the entire European Parliament) to focus on his presidency of UKIP’s European
Parliament political group (see front page), Farage leaves behind an appalling voting record
as legacy. UKIP MEPs have consistently opposed measures on workers’ rights and
protections, on tackling youth unemployment, on gender equality, on greater financial
transparency and on environmental protections.
Despite his offensive posters claiming EU unemployed were after UK workers’ jobs, Farage
failed to turn up to vote to try to strengthen the EU Posted Workers Directive and did nothing
to strengthen control measures. Only Labour MEPs tried to improve this.
Farage saw his personal ratings plummet at the end of 2014, when his statement that
breastfeeding mothers should be asked to “sit in the corner” to avoid offending others,
caused uproar. He also stooped to a new low by trying to blame immigration for being stuck
in traffic on the M4 motorway.
Farage will stand in the South Thanet (Kent) seat in the 2015 general elections – where he
believes he has a “good chance of winning”.
EU Parliament Committee: Conference of Presidents (as head of Political Group)
11
11/02/20152. Janice Atkinson (new) – Author of UKIP welfare policies
Atkinson left the Tory party in 2011 over what she felt was Cameron’s pro-
Europe attitude and lack of support for City bankers.
She has attacked “feckless” families who receive welfare benefits, arguing
most parents cannot afford more than two children, and yet owes over
£2,000 in missed child-support payments. She is currently in dispute with
the Child Support Agency, and has already been taken to court twice after
falling behind with previous payments.
During the 2014 European elections campaign, she called for anyone
“hurling abuse” at UKIP members to be arrested – but just a few days later was caught
repeatedly swearing at Green Party activists.
Atkinson was also caught on camera calling a Thai constituent “ting tong from somewhere”.
She has falsely claimed to have gone to grammar school, has described feminism as
“outdated and sexist” and was the author of a 2013 UKIP report calling for those on long-
term benefits who are addicts or “choose” the benefits lifestyle to receive plastic cards
instead of money to stop them spending it on alcohol, tobacco or satellite television.
She is also linked to the extremist, right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council, known
for its strong campaigning in favour of oil producers and against climate change and the
teaching of evolution in schools.
Atkinson has stated that she will “vote against all legislation” in the European Parliament –
another wasted seat.
Atkinson will contest the Folkestone and Hythe seat for UKIP in the 2015 general elections,
one of the party’s top target seats.
EU Parliament Committee: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (substitute member)
3. Diane James (new) – Justice and Home Affairs spokeswoman
Touted as a potential successor to UKIP leader Farage, James has
stated Romanian migrants put undue pressure on UK services and have
a natural propensity towards crime.
She has also called for a total freeze on all immigration to the UK.
She is a Councillor on Waverley Borough Council, and is UKIP’s 2015
general elections candidate for North West Hampshire.
EU Parliament Committees: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety;
Subcommittee on Security and Defence (substitute member on both)
4. Ray Finch (new) – Fisheries spokesman
Finch is a former UKIP Councillor and Group Leader at Hampshire
County Council, as well as assistant (and fishing buddy) to Nigel Farage.
According to the UKIP Daily website, he has “embarrassed the Hampshire
Labour Party by working with the unions to save dementia care homes” –
though in reality he joined forces with Labour and unions Unite and
Unison to oppose spending cuts from the Tory-led Council.
EU Parliament Committee: Fisheries
12
11/02/2015South West
UKIP won 2 out of 6 seats in the South West, coming first with a 32.3% share of the vote
1. William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth
Re-elected UKIP MEP the Earl of Dartmouth is facing growing questions
about his links and potential financial benefit from plans to build three
300ft wind turbines on Slaithwaite Moor (near Huddersfield), land which
he owned until very recently, when he sold it to a member of the family.
The land owner could earn around £60,000 a year from the wind farm,
and it is Dartmouth’s name which appears on the planning application.
UKIP policy officially opposes the construction of land-based wind farms,
something the Earl of Dartmouth also personally opposed in his 2010
general election leaflet.
The Earl of Dartmouth is a former Tory MEP, who sat in the House of Lords until the Labour
Party removed his (and others) hereditary seat in their 1999 reforms.
EU Parliament Committee: International Trade
2. Julia Reid (new)
Reid was accused of having retweeted a Twitter message from a UKIP
supporter stating that Islam “has no place in the UK [and] needs
banning” – she has denied retweeting, claiming that retweeting is not
necessarily “an endorsement”. Her twitter account has now been
disabled.
She is a Councillor for Calne Town Council and will once more contest
the Chippenham seat in the 2015 general elections.
EU Parliament Committees: Regional Development (Substitute for
Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety)
13
11/02/2015Yorkshire and the Humber
UKIP won 3 out of 6 seats in Yorkshire and the Humber, coming first with a 31.1% share of
the vote
1. Jane Collins (new) – Employment spokeswoman
Former campaign manager for disgraced ex-UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom,
Collins has said she always felt he had been “talking a lot of common
sense” and “took it as a joke” when he called a room full of female
delegates at UKIP’s annual Congress “sluts”. Does this mean she also
agrees with Bloom’s statement that “Public sector jobs […] are taking
money out of the economy and wealth creation. I hope hundreds,
thousands of jobs will be lost”?
Collins is also against Labour proposals to double paternity leave and
increase statutory payments to match the minimum wage, saying this
would be bad for business and “unworkable”.
Collins has come second as UKIP candidate in both the 2011 Barnsley and 2012 Rotherham
by-elections, and will contest the Rotherham seat again in the 2015 general elections.
It was announced in January 2015 that 3 Labour MPs from Rotherham are suing her over
“sickening” and “defamatory” allegations on the extent of their knowledge about the town’s
child-abuse scandal, and criticised UKIP for using such a tragic issue for “party-political
point-scoring”.
EU Parliament Committee: Employment and Social Affairs
2. Amjad Bashir (called Peter by his friends) (new) – Communities spokesman
Despite his tough line on immigration, one of Bashir’s businesses has
allegedly been employing illegal immigrants – the restaurant in question
was raided by immigration officials last year. Bashir is now mounting a
legal challenge against the sanctions and has yet to pay the fines. He has
also kept his shares in the restaurant despite resigning as director.
He campaigns against the supposed costs of EU red-tape, and wants to
scrap crucial rights and protections on Working Time, Temporary Agency
Workers, climate change, and more.
EU Parliament Committees: Internal Market and Consumer Protection; Subcommittee on
Human Rights (Substitute for Committee on Foreign Affairs)
3. Mike Hookem (new) – Defence spokesman
Hookem is UKIP’s Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire regional chair, and a
perennial election candidate.
He has been criticised for stating on BBC radio that he doesn’t plan on
attending any debates in the European Parliament – yet another wasted
vote for a UKIP MEP who won’t be representing you in the EU. But
needless to say he will be pocketing his substantial salary and
allowances. UKIP politicians are showing that you can get money for
nothing – and yet they call those on benefits ‘scroungers’?!
EU Parliament Committees: Security and Defence (Substitute for Committee on Foreign
Affairs and Committee on Fisheries)
14
11/02/2015Wales
UKIP won 1 out of 4 seats in Wales, coming second with a 27.6% share of the vote
1. Nathan Gill (new) – Leader of UKIP in Wales
A former Tory Party member, Gill was PA to former Welsh UKIP MEP
John Bufton. He will stand for UKIP in the Ynys Môn seat in the 2015
general elections.
UKIP’s policy against immigration and claims that migrants take British
jobs did not stopped Gill from employing migrant workers from Eastern
Europe and the Philippines in his family’s residential care business in Hull
(which closed down in 2008). He denies being a hypocrite. Many of the
workers were paid less than £300 a week and kept in bunkhouses as
“temporary accommodation”.
He also cast doubt on how actively he will participate in European Parliament work and
debates, saying the EU elections are “not necessarily about sending people over to Brussels
who are going to have a one hundred per cent attendance record.”
Taking advantage of EU funding seems to be a different story however – instead of making
the much more cost- and travel-efficient journey to Strasbourg by plane, Gill insists on driving
all the way from Wales each month, in order to claim higher expenses.
He is also benefitting from publically-funded EU Parliament ‘office allowances’ for premises
already used by UKIP as campaign bases for their target seats in the 2015 general elections,
despite EU rules stating “the premises must be used solely for the parliamentary activities of
the Member” and that MEP allowances “may not be used to finance any form of European,
national, regional or local electoral campaign.”
He and his family are Mormons.
EU Parliament Committee: Development
15
11/02/2015West Midlands
UKIP won 3 out of 7 seats in the West Midlands, coming first with a 31.5% share of the vote
1. Jill Seymour (new) – Transport spokeswoman
Seymour has been linked to rumours of UKIP charging cash for MEP
seats after her husband donated an undisclosed amount to the party at a
rally last year. Seymour says the donation was the “cost of a car” – but
what kind of car would that be? Seymour seems like the kind of person
who would rather drive a Bentley than a Fiat.
Seymour is standing as UKIP’s candidate for the Wrekin constituency
seat in the 2015 general elections.
She is a former Councillor, with a farming background.
EU Parliament Committee: Transport and Tourism
2. Jim (James) Carver (new)
Carver is a small businessman whose family firm designs and sells
umbrellas for bookmakers at racecourses. Has been a UKIP party
member since 1996, in which time he has “stood for election on a number
of occasions [including at 3 general elections] as well as performing
countless internal roles”, according to his website.
He has a Romany gypsy background.
EU Parliament Committee: Foreign Affairs
3. Bill Etheridge (new)
This newly elected UKIP MEP was booted out of the Tory Party for
posing with a homemade gollywog doll on Facebook. Claiming his “right
to express his views” was being stifled by the Tories, he defected to
UKIP, which didn’t seem at all bothered about his racist tendencies.
Etheridge then posed with the dolls again, this time on the cover of his
book ‘Britain – a post political correctness society’. He has stated he finds
it “bizarre” that these “loveable rag dolls” – a relic from minstrel-era
colonial racism – have caused such offence and that people think they
have “racist tendencies”.
He sparked controversy again this summer by telling UKIP’s youth wing conference that
Adolph Hitler was a good public speaker and an example to follow.
Etheridge is also linked to the extremist, right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council,
known for its strong campaigning in favour of oil producers and against climate change and
the teaching of evolution in schools.
He is chair of the Dudley/Halesowen UKIP branch, a Councillor in Sedgley, and the Black
Country spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness.
He is UKIP’s candidate for Dudley North for the 2015 general elections.
EU Parliament Committee: Regional Development
16
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