UKIP in Scotland?

[Sylar]

Apologies if this has been discussed in the other political threads but I can't be bothered trawling them all.

How genuine a 'threat' are UKIP in Scotland?

Down here, they're a growing party without a doubt. The sentiment of anti-immigration continues to grow in the home counties and increasingly, I hear people saying they're the party to 'shake up the establishment'.

My impression is that, by contrast, they're not likely to garner much support in Scotland. There isn't anywhere near the same rate of immigration into Scotland as there is in the south east and the last time he was in Edinburgh, Farage was chased out of town...

I'm aware that, by proxy, the failure of Labour in Scotland might well result in a rise in UKIP within the wider UK but are they really likely to garner any great degree of support within Scotland itself?

[NAE NOOKIE]

They will get some support, but not enough to make a dent IMO.

Farage paints himself as anti establishment, but from here all we see is another posh boy who has a public school education and worked in 'the city' in the 80s ... another nob who thinks the market should drive everything in a devil take the hindmost kind of way. If he has dirty mags under his bed they are probably full of pictures of Margaret Thatcher or Oswald Mosley.

He also appeals to the growing mindset in England that all the countries ills can be laid at the door if immigration and the EU in general. Scotland by and large does not appear to buy into that in any significant way.

Like the other pea in his pod Boris Johnson he exudes a sort of man of the people bumbling charm which can be easy to like and quite disarming ............ fall for it at your peril.

[Phil D. Rolls]

I think there are plenty of people here that subscribe to UKIPs simplistic common sense approach. They tend to be scattered around though, and won't impact on any election soon.

They have come out with enough anti Scottish stuff for any opponent to take them down quite easily.

[Stranraer]

I sincerely doubt they'll make any gains at all in Scotland. Their vote will inevitable increase but that's to be expected with the amount of bitter feelings towards the EU and the amount of coverage they enjoy.

I remember attending a local debate in 2010 and the UKIP candidate didn't even bother to show up. I think he received 400 votes or something.

[Sir David Gray]

Sadly there doesn't seem to be much support for them in national elections up here.

At the last General Election in 2010, they only got 0.7% of the vote in Scotland, whereas in England it was 3.5%.

England has a lot of different issues with regards to immigration etc that we generally don't have in Scotland and whilst that's certainly not their only policy, they are the one party around just now that is prepared to put forward a sensible argument with regards to how to handle these sort of topics.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Sadly there doesn't seem to be much support for them in national elections up here.

At the last General Election in 2010, they only got 0.7% of the vote in Scotland, whereas in England it was 3.5%.

England has a lot of different issues with regards to immigration etc that we generally don't have in Scotland and whilst that's certainly not their only policy, they are the one party around just now that is prepared to put forward a sensible argument with regards to how to handle these sort of topics.

I don't think their arguments are sensible in that they are usually shot down in flames as having no substance.

[Moulin Yarns]

Sadly there doesn't seem to be much support for them in national elections up here.

At the last General Election in 2010, they only got 0.7% of the vote in Scotland, whereas in England it was 3.5%.

England has a lot of different issues with regards to immigration etc that we generally don't have in Scotland and whilst that's certainly not their only policy, they are the one party around just now that is prepared to put forward a sensible argument with regards to how to handle these sort of topics.



:rolleyes:

[NAE NOOKIE]

Sadly there doesn't seem to be much support for them in national elections up here.

At the last General Election in 2010, they only got 0.7% of the vote in Scotland, whereas in England it was 3.5%.

England has a lot of different issues with regards to immigration etc that we generally don't have in Scotland and whilst that's certainly not their only policy, they are the one party around just now that is prepared to put forward a sensible argument with regards to how to handle these sort of topics.

That depends on your point of view I suppose. If you feel Scotland is in need of a right wing party who appeal to lowest common denominator politics and are prepared to get into bed with Holocaust deniers in order to save their funding at the European parliament then fair enough.

Farage was on the Daily Politics and said "we need to form alliances to compete ( in Brussels ) but not at any price" He said they were not in alliance with the Polish KNP as a party, but only with this one KNP MEP. I suppose some folk might see the difference, but I'm stumped. I wonder what Nigel's definition of "any price" is.

They want to remove "government interference in peoples lives" and allow people to be "self reliant" .... To some folk that looks like more personal freedom, what it actually means is a move towards a society where the powerful are allowed to persecute minorities and the weak and disadvantaged and where the view that these people are a drain on society is allowed to flourish.

They want to get rid of European arrest warrants .... Because lets face it, theres no way a Brit could expect justice from Johnny Foreigner.

A return to the Grammar School system ..... if they mean the old GS system, another Devil take the hindmost policy.

They are huge fans of the free market of course .......... remind me again how allowing an unchecked greed fuelled free for all worked out before.

They also appear to be fans of Fracking too .... just in case the Greens thought they were being left out.

[heretoday]

UKIP have got a Scottish MEP have they not? That's probably on a proportional representation basis but still it shows there are folk north of the border who don't fancy the EU and don't like the thought of loads of East Europeans settling in their neighbourhood.

There has always been a feeling that we Scots are generally leftish and more welcoming towards foreigners but if we were in charge of our own affairs things might look a bit different.

Personally, I see UKIP as a one issue party who contain no people of substance below Farage himself and at general election time their candidates will be shown up as a ragbag bunch without a coherent policy.

At least I hope so.

[Stranraer]

That depends on your point of view I suppose. If you feel Scotland is in need of a right wing party who appeal to lowest common denominator politics and are prepared to get into bed with Holocaust deniers in order to save their funding at the European parliament then fair enough.

Farage was on the Daily Politics and said "we need to form alliances to compete ( in Brussels ) but not at any price" He said they were not in alliance with the Polish KNP as a party, but only with this one KNP MEP. I suppose some folk might see the difference, but I'm stumped. I wonder what Nigel's definition of "any price" is.

They want to remove "government interference in peoples lives" and allow people to be "self reliant" .... To some folk that looks like more personal freedom, what it actually means is a move towards a society where the powerful are allowed to persecute minorities and the weak and disadvantaged and where the view that these people are a drain on society is allowed to flourish.

They want to get rid of European arrest warrants .... Because lets face it, theres no way a Brit could expect justice from Johnny Foreigner.

A return to the Grammar School system ..... if they mean the old GS system, another Devil take the hindmost policy.

They are huge fans of the free market of course .......... remind me again how allowing an unchecked greed fuelled free for all worked out before.

They also appear to be fans of Fracking too .... just in case the Greens thought they were being left out.

And apparently it was official UKIP policy to scrap the Scottish Parliament up until the last election? Can anyone confirm this?

Thankfully they will start their Scottish campaign with 0 MP's and end it with 0 MP's. They could have 5 or 6 in England after the General Election.

[judas]

Apologies if this has been discussed in the other political threads but I can't be bothered trawling them all.

How genuine a 'threat' are UKIP in Scotland?

Down here, they're a growing party without a doubt. The sentiment of anti-immigration continues to grow in the home counties and increasingly, I hear people saying they're the party to 'shake up the establishment'.

My impression is that, by contrast, they're not likely to garner much support in Scotland. There isn't anywhere near the same rate of immigration into Scotland as there is in the south east and the last time he was in Edinburgh, Farage was chased out of town...

I'm aware that, by proxy, the failure of Labour in Scotland might well result in a rise in UKIP within the wider UK but are they really likely to garner any great degree of support within Scotland itself?

UKIPs high tide is nearing, but the media hates them and, for me, that means they have little future.

As for their presence in Scotland, don't make me laugh.

[Sylar]

And apparently it was official UKIP policy to scrap the Scottish Parliament up until the last election? Can anyone confirm this?

Thankfully they will start their Scottish campaign with 0 MP's and end it with 0 MP's. They could have 5 or 6 in England after the General Election.

I certainly won't be surprised if our county (East Hants) returns a UKIP MP - there appears to be a lot of 'UKIP'll sort em' out' mentality around here just now.

Tory or UKIP are the two front-runners down here with Labour being a lost cause and nobody else genuine contenders...looks like I'll be spoiling my ballot paper come May!

[Stranraer]

I certainly won't be surprised if our county (East Hants) returns a UKIP MP - there appears to be a lot of 'UKIP'll sort em' out' mentality around here just now.

Tory or UKIP are the two front-runners down here with Labour being a lost cause and nobody else genuine contenders...looks like I'll be spoiling my ballot paper come May!

Will there be no independents standing in your area? I know when I was in Ireland it was surprising to see how well independent politicians do but then it's through the PR system of voting.

[Stranraer]

I certainly won't be surprised if our county (East Hants) returns a UKIP MP - there appears to be a lot of 'UKIP'll sort em' out' mentality around here just now.

Tory or UKIP are the two front-runners down here with Labour being a lost cause and nobody else genuine contenders...looks like I'll be spoiling my ballot paper come May!

...Just had a look at the way your constituency voted in 2010! I wonder where the Liberal vote will go?

[CB_NO3]

UKIPs high tide is nearing, but the media hates them and, for me, that means they have little future.

As for their presence in Scotland, don't make me laugh.
Ill second that. More chance of the tories thriving in Scotland before UKIP. They wont get close to a seat in Scotland IMO.

[Future17]

UKIP have got a Scottish MEP have they not? That's probably on a proportional representation basis but still it shows there are folk north of the border who don't fancy the EU and don't like the thought of loads of East Europeans settling in their neighbourhood.

There has always been a feeling that we Scots are generally leftish and more welcoming towards foreigners but if we were in charge of our own affairs things might look a bit different.

Personally, I see UKIP as a one issue party who contain no people of substance below Farage himself and at general election time their candidates will be shown up as a ragbag bunch without a coherent policy.

At least I hope so.

Aye, David Coburn. He's a *****. He spent his entire election night rehearsing quotes from the UKIP handbook, including constantly referring to the SNP as "the Scottish Country Dance Party". :rolleyes:

[TRC]

Don't know if anyone followed the Swedish election but the Swedish equivalent of UKIP (SD) have managed to get seats in the Parliament their leader is as unpalatable as Farage. But its the same issue as someone pointed out with the disharmony associated with immigrants mostly asylum seekers. His speech after the 'win' was painfully constructed. There are a lot of people in the area I live in, that support them. They have yet to make any major moves in the Parliament yet however.

[HiBremian]

http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/10/27/ukip-greens-and-new-politics-protest/

Interesting YouGov comparison of UKIP and Green supporters by age, reading habits, former political allegiances and, ahem, educational achievement ;-)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Stranraer]

The latest Britain-wide poll has UKIP on 19%. Interestingly Labour are down 5% and on even terms with the Tories.

[Moulin Yarns]

The latest Britain-wide poll has UKIP on 19%. Interestingly Labour are down 5% and on even terms with the Tories.

Between them, UKIP and BNP stood at 41 UK parlaimentary seats in 2010. All but one of them lost their deposits, and long may it continue.

Unfortunately the Green Party didn't fair much better, standing at 20 seats and losing their deposit in all but one, that being Robin Harper.

[HappyAsHellas]

Parties such as UKIP will always tend to flourish when times are bad, as for some people it seems like someone has an answer to the problems. In Greece, the Golden Dawn party still poll 10% of the voters even although most of their politicians are in jail awaiting trial for being part of a nazi organisation. If you water down their problems compared to ours, then the watered down version of GD appears to be UKIP.
A bit like religion I suppose, it flourishes where there is poverty/and/or ignorance.

[Stranraer]

Parties such as UKIP will always tend to flourish when times are bad, as for some people it seems like someone has an answer to the problems. In Greece, the Golden Dawn party still poll 10% of the voters even although most of their politicians are in jail awaiting trial for being part of a nazi organisation. If you water down their problems compared to ours, then the watered down version of GD appears to be UKIP.
A bit like religion I suppose, it flourishes where there is poverty/and/or ignorance.

The BNP won 2 seats in the European Elections of 2009 and it was a flash in the pan. I sincerely hope UKIP are as well but given that they are extremely likely to go into the GE with 2 MP's I have a horrible feeling they are here to stay for a while.

[HappyAsHellas]

Whilst I would normally consider the Tory party in disarray somewhat amusing, it is a bit more troublesome this time with Farage and friends coming out of the shadows. On the other side I can't believe that anyone would vote for a party that had the Hamiltons as members.
A nightmare scenario would be Boris leading the Tories with Farage as junior partner in the next coalition government. Heaven forbid....

[Phil D. Rolls]

Parties such as UKIP will always tend to flourish when times are bad, as for some people it seems like someone has an answer to the problems. In Greece, the Golden Dawn party still poll 10% of the voters even although most of their politicians are in jail awaiting trial for being part of a nazi organisation. If you water down their problems compared to ours, then the watered down version of GD appears to be UKIP.
A bit like religion I suppose, it flourishes where there is poverty/and/or ignorance.

And smugness.

[Golden Bear]

UKIP polled 140,000 Scottish votes at the last European election and I'm not convinced that attitudes in Scotland are so very different from those south of the Border.

[Moulin Yarns]

UKIP polled 140,000 Scottish votes at the last European election and I'm not convinced that attitudes in Scotland are so very different from those south of the Border.

At the last general election they lost their deposit in 27 of the 28 seats they contested in Scotland.

By comparison they didn't lose their deposit in over 98 seats down south.

I think that does show a different attitude north and south of the border.

[marinello59]

At the last general election they lost their deposit in 27 of the 28 seats they contested in Scotland.

By comparison they didn't lose their deposit in over 98 seats down south.

I think that does show a different attitude north and south of the border.

No, it shows we have a different party of protest up here in the SNP.

[Phil D. Rolls]

No, it shows we have a different party of protest up here in the SNP.

:hmmm: at what point does a party of protest become party of the establishment? Is it after one majority government or two? :greengrin

[Stranraer]

No, it shows we have a different party of protest up here in the SNP.

You are joking right? The SNP haven't been a protest party since 2007 anyway...

[Pretty Boy]

No, it shows we have a different party of protest up here in the SNP.

Not sure the SNP can be considered a party of protest anymore. There 1st minority government election success was perhaps a protest victory but the Labour vote held up well in the last Westminster election yet collapsed in favour of the SNP at Holyrood. I think a great number of people actually see the SNP as a viable alternative as opposed to a protest.

[Colr]

Apologies if this has been discussed in the other political threads but I can't be bothered trawling them all.

How genuine a 'threat' are UKIP in Scotland?

Down here, they're a growing party without a doubt. The sentiment of anti-immigration continues to grow in the home counties and increasingly, I hear people saying they're the party to 'shake up the establishment'.

My impression is that, by contrast, they're not likely to garner much support in Scotland. There isn't anywhere near the same rate of immigration into Scotland as there is in the south east and the last time he was in Edinburgh, Farage was chased out of town...

I'm aware that, by proxy, the failure of Labour in Scotland might well result in a rise in UKIP within the wider UK but are they really likely to garner any great degree of support within Scotland itself?

UKIP are moving massively for the blue collar vote. The SNP have that sown up in Scotland so UKIP will make little impact north of the border.

[marinello59]

Not sure the SNP can be considered a party of protest anymore. There 1st minority government election success was perhaps a protest victory but the Labour vote held up well in the last Westminster election yet collapsed in favour of the SNP at Holyrood. I think a great number of people actually see the SNP as a viable alternative as opposed to a protest.

I think we are both right here. :greengrin
The SNP has proved very adept at being all things to all people and Alex Salmond portrayed himself and his party as being outside the political establishment in much the same way that Farage does. It's a nonsense of course because in Scotland they now are the establishment party at Holyrood. I am not suggesting that Salmond shares any views with Farage but they do push some of the same buttons for people.

[degenerated]

Spotted this on Twitter which made me chuckle http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/31/1009c195cd6ced543dc49d56ac48b37c.jpg

[Phil D. Rolls]

Spotted this on Twitter which made me chuckle http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/31/1009c195cd6ced543dc49d56ac48b37c.jpg

P:faf:

[Moulin Yarns]

Hi guys, I'm not sure on everbodies views on Immigration, but thought you might like to know that David Cameron is looking for some public opinion on the subject.

:greengrin

http://immigration.conservatives.com/

[over the line]

Hi guys, I'm not sure on everbodies views on Immigration, but thought you might like to know that David Cameron is looking for some public opinion on the subject.

:greengrin

http://immigration.conservatives.com/

Is that real?

If so, how pointless is that? Who is going to disagree with closing bogus colleges, deporting foreign criminals and stopping benefit tourism? How many people are going to tick "strongly disagree", to deporting foreign criminals? What pointless questions.

Is it me, or is politics getting weirder!?!?!?

[Stranraer]

Hi guys, I'm not sure on everbodies views on Immigration, but thought you might like to know that David Cameron is looking for some public opinion on the subject.

:greengrin

http://immigration.conservatives.com/

That's my day sorted :greengrin He failed on his promises to keep the numbers down this should be fun.

[SHODAN]

Spotted this on Twitter which made me chuckle http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/31/1009c195cd6ced543dc49d56ac48b37c.jpg

He's white, Anglo-Saxon and comes from an English speaking country. In their eyes he's not a "proper" foreigner.

[Phil D. Rolls]

He's white, Anglo-Saxon and comes from an English speaking country. In their eyes he's not a "proper" foreigner.

Hmmm, Carnie is a Newhaven name - might confuse them a bit more.

[over the line]

Looks like UKIP are going to get their second MP in the south east of England. How many seats do you all think they will get in the GE and what effect will it have?

[Stax]

Looks like UKIP are going to get their second MP in the south east of England. How many seats do you all think they will get in the GE and what effect will it have?
The effect it has had on me is one of sadness that we had the chance to distance ourselves from this sh**.

[over the line]

The effect it has had on me is one of sadness that we had the chance to distance ourselves from this sh**.

Yes fair enough, but that didn't happen, so any UKIP success will have an effect on all of us. I personally don't want UKIP to govern the country, but I do like the way they are making the established parties squirm and get their act together.

[Hibrandenburg]

Another step towards being dragged out of Europe. Democracy eh!

[Pretty Boy]

I really just don't get the appeal of UKIP at all. Can someone explain it to me?

Farage doesn't strike me as an 'ordinary bloke' at all. He comes accross as a xenophobic, arrogant buffoon. Every policy seems designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator at best and pure fantasy at worst.

Legalise handguns
A free market NHS
English the only language permitted on trains.
All British residents to receive free poi t of entry care on the NHS (with a qualifier saying this only applies if you have lived here for 5 years)
Repeal the Climate Change Act
Repeal the Human Rights Act
Official documents only published in English, Welsh and Gaelic
Reinstate smoking in pubs and clubs


Do people seriously believe crap like this? It's populist rabble rousing at it's most obvious and sadly it looks to be working.

[Hibrandenburg]

I really just don't get the appeal of UKIP at all. Can someone explain it to me?

Farage doesn't strike me as an 'ordinary bloke' at all. He comes accross as a xenophobic, arrogant buffoon. Every policy seems designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator at best and pure fantasy at worst.

Legalise handguns
A free market NHS
English the only language permitted on trains.
All British residents to receive free poi t of entry care on the NHS (with a qualifier saying this only applies if you have lived here for 5 years)
Repeal the Climate Change Act
Repeal the Human Rights Act
Official documents only published in English, Welsh and Gaelic
Reinstate smoking in pubs and clubs


Do people seriously believe crap like this? It's populist rabble rousing at it's most obvious and sadly it looks to be working.

I think you're making the same mistake that I made in the run up to the referendum, you're over estimating the intelligence of the electorate. :duck:

[Mon Dieu4]

To be honest I think there are a few of factors in this, one is with the two seats they have won it was down to the candidate already being known to the electorate as it was already their seat, also the turn out was 50%, the Rochester seat will likely go back to the Tories in the GE when more people can be bothered to actually vote.

When it gets to the sharp end of the stick and the real campaign for the GE kicks in hopefully people will see that UKIP just make up their policies or lack of them as they go along, just constantly blaming immigration isn't going to cut it, I honestly can't believe there are people in this day and age who fall for their absolute nonsense and think they are even credible.

I don't think they will get as nearly as many seats as they or the media seem to think, all their successes have been in European and By elections with a low turn out, they will get 4 or 5 if they are really really lucky when the masses turn out, it's still the SNP that all other parties should be worried about or trying to cosy up to as I can see them having the most seats outside the Tories and Labour in the GE since the Lib Dems have totally lost the trust, with it looking like a hung parliament then could mean that the SNP hold all the power, here's hoping any way:cb

[Mikey09]

I really just don't get the appeal of UKIP at all. Can someone explain it to me?

Farage doesn't strike me as an 'ordinary bloke' at all. He comes accross as a xenophobic, arrogant buffoon. Every policy seems designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator at best and pure fantasy at worst.

Legalise handguns
A free market NHS
English the only language permitted on trains.
All British residents to receive free poi t of entry care on the NHS (with a qualifier saying this only applies if you have lived here for 5 years)
Repeal the Climate Change Act
Repeal the Human Rights Act
Official documents only published in English, Welsh and Gaelic
Reinstate smoking in pubs and clubs


Do people seriously believe crap like this? It's populist rabble rousing at it's most obvious and sadly it looks to be working.


The scary thing for me PB is a lot of Engerlanders DO believe crap like this.... It appeals to the caveman nature of these Neanderthals. But more frighteningly it seems to be spreading.... Scary that they even have there foot in the door.

[lord bunberry]

The scary thing for me PB is a lot of Engerlanders DO believe crap like this.... It appeals to the caveman nature of these Neanderthals. But more frighteningly it seems to be spreading.... Scary that they even have there foot in the door.

It's more than just the cavemen neanderthals now though, there's well educated people starting to be sucked into this, also lots of older people are being fooled into voting ukip as they think they offer a ticket back to the Britain of their youth. Every time I see one of three main parties representatives on TV talking about ukip they are dissmisive and talk about them as if they're clueless idiots. The fact is that ukip are appealing to a large section of voters down south who feel alienated by Westminster politics. Unless things change ukip are going to have some say in how the next government is formed, which should be a worry to us all.

[(((Fergus)))]

He's white, Anglo-Saxon and comes from an English speaking country. In their eyes he's not a "proper" foreigner.

What is your point? Are you saying that all people originating from outside the UK are equally foreign, culturally, to the UK?

[The_Todd]

Sadly there doesn't seem to be much support for them in national elections up here.

At the last General Election in 2010, they only got 0.7% of the vote in Scotland, whereas in England it was 3.5%.

England has a lot of different issues with regards to immigration etc that we generally don't have in Scotland and whilst that's certainly not their only policy, they are the one party around just now that is prepared to put forward a sensible argument with regards to how to handle these sort of topics.

I must have missed these "sensible" policies.

[degenerated]

I think you're making the same mistake that I made in the run up to the referendum, you're over estimating the intelligence of the electorate. :duck:
There's no place for Rochester in an independent Scotland :agree:

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Its a bit disconcerting that UKIP can put a Mr Men character up for the vote in a by-election and he manages to win! :-)

[hibsbollah]

What is your point? Are you saying that all people originating from outside the UK are equally foreign, culturally, to the UK?

I think his point is is that the anti foreigner rhetoric pedalled by UKIP is based on racism. Which is evidenced by the relatively relaxed attitude they take to Irish, Canadians, Aussies, Americans et al working to this country. This is usually not described as 'swamping'. (Although it should be of interest to Hibs fans that the Cowgate irish of the mid to late Nineteenth century might sympathise with today's brown skinned immigrants who suffer prejudice).

[Stranraer]

Shock horror, the people of a conservative constituency elect a right wing politician!:confused:

[hibbiedon]

I can see them gathering a lot of the unionist vote now that the red Tories are in such a mess, so unfortunately we could end up with several of them as msp's

[lord bunberry]

I can see them gathering a lot of the unionist vote now that the red Tories are in such a mess, so unfortunately we could end up with several of them as msp's

Do ukip have candidates for the Scottish Parliament?

[SHODAN]

What is your point? Are you saying that all people originating from outside the UK are equally foreign, culturally, to the UK?

As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, foreigner: "A person born in or coming from a country other than one's own". Culture - the objective relativity of that word notwithstanding - has absolutely nothing to do with it.

So yes, they are all equally foreign.

[Phil D. Rolls]

The scary thing for me PB is a lot of Engerlanders DO believe crap like this.... It appeals to the caveman nature of these Neanderthals. But more frighteningly it seems to be spreading.... Scary that they even have there foot in the door.

Perish the thought that anyone in Scotland would stoop to blind, xenophobic, generalities. :greengrin

Don't let the fascists hide in the coralle they are building for themselves. They are neanderathal inadequates, but the English don't have a monopoly on that.

[PeeJay]

Interesting to read today in "Der Spiegel" that Putin has allegedly lent not 9 million, but rather 40 million euros to Le Pen's Front National in France with speculation rife that UKIP is also being courted by Putin ... all part of Putin's plan to support right-wing populist parties in Europe it seems, thereby helping to destabilise the EU ...

While, from a right-wing populist POV, it's alright to castigate foreigners, it seems it's also OK to take their money ...

Whatever wing dictator Putin is currently camped in, it seems his and his country's never-ending supposed battle against the fascists in the west - particularly in the Ukraine - is being shown up for what it is - nothing more than populist manipulation. Why anybody outside Russia should fall for it is beyond me ...

[Pretty Boy]

Oops. Let the mask slip a bit here chaps....

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/ukip-mistakes-cathedral-for-a-27686/

[over the line]

Oops. Let the mask slip a bit here chaps....

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/ukip-mistakes-cathedral-for-a-27686/

To be fair, I've never seen that building before in my life and it does look a bit like a mosque, or at least its an unusual design for a Catholic cathedral isn't it? I suggest this isn't the worst gaff UKIP have ever, or will ever make.

[Pretty Boy]

To be fair, I've never seen that building before in my life and it does look a bit like a mosque, or at least its an unusual design for a Catholic cathedral isn't it? I suggest this isn't the worst gaff UKIP have ever, or will ever make.

If you're going to make a statement from an official Twitter account I'd say it's best to fact check first. I don't really see what relevance it would have if a Mosque was pictured or otherwise tbh.

It is unusual for a Catholic Church granted, neo Byzantine architecture is far more associated with Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

[Hibbyradge]

The point is, why did the UKIP tube take exception to where the BBC was holding its poll?

[over the line]

If you're going to make a statement from an official Twitter account I'd say it's best to fact check first. I don't really see what relevance it would have if a Mosque was pictured or otherwise tbh.

It is unusual for a Catholic Church granted, neo Byzantine architecture is far more associated with Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

I agree its a bit embarrassing for the individual, but on the grand scale of things its nothing really is it. They probably should have done their homework, I mean even I sometimes check stuff before I post on here! (Only sometimes!).

I suppose the relevance would have been that if it had of been a mosque, any poll about UKIP would likely have not gone in their favour would it? It would be a bit like trying to sell Hibs shirts outside Tyncastle wouldn't it?

[over the line]

The point is, why did the UKIP tube take exception to where the BBC was holding its poll?

If it had have been a mosque, UKIP would have been about as popular as a bacon butty (or sprouts with bacon ;) ) wouldn't they?

[CB_NO3]

This will be on UKIPs agenda next week no doubt.

http://news.sky.com/story/1383350/britains-most-popular-boys-name-mohammed

[HappyAsHellas]

This fails to take into consideration that the parents are not allowed to call their children whatever name they like. It has to be an islamic name, so you wont get a muslim called Fred or Bill. Hence the over use of a couple of names. When I worked in Saudi and you called out Mohammed to a fellow worker, half the world turned round to see what you wanted.

[Pretty Boy]

I see Nick Griffin has thrown his support behind UKIP.

Probably not the most welcome news they have ever had.

[The_Todd]

This will be on UKIPs agenda next week no doubt.

http://news.sky.com/story/1383350/britains-most-popular-boys-name-mohammed

Deconstructed nicely here http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/dec/01/muhammad-not-most-popular-boys-name-in-britain