The latest digest of crimes etc by the establishment parties - 2 days worth!!

Our original plan was to publish a digest of criminality, electoral fraud, arrests and convictions of
councillors from the establishment parties every 3 or 4 days. It seems like it's been a busy week this week, and as there are a whole load of them since we published our last list on Wednesday, we thought we'd bring you up to date earlier than planned - it makes our task easier too!

This list covers yesterday's (the 15th May) and today's press reports only. The breakdown is:

Tories - 2 on firearms offences, 1 for falsely claiming to be a barrister, 1 drink driving ban, 1 disqualified for benefits fraud, 1 cronyism over pub license breach, 1 accused of sexist remarks

Labour - 1 banned from office for bullying, 1 cronyism delaying prosecution for benefits fraud, 1 electoral fraud allegation, 5 resignations over racism claims, 2 resignations over homophobia claims, 1 facing investigation into homophobic remarks

Lib Dem - 2 on benefits fraud charges

Take a look, and see how many of these you can spot on Hope not Hate's website, or in the national media!

Tory councillor in Chingford to be sentenced today over firearms charges
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/11217704.Gun_offence_Tory_to_be_sentenced_today/

Tory councillor resigns from party over firearms conviction in Somerset
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Conservative-councillor-Tim-Marter-resigns-ban/story-21098133-detail/story.html

'Independent' councillor - whose wife is a Labour county councillor - has disqualification for bullying reduced to 18 months
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/flintshire-councillor-banned-bullying-disqualification-7127671

Labour councillor has case adjourned until safely after the election after her own (Labour controlled) council makes shambles of court paperwork in Thurrock
http://www.yourthurrock.com/2014/05/16/councillors-shambolic-case-adjourned-until-october/

Former Lib Dem councillor now standing as independent charged with benefits fraud in Kingston
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/kingstonnews/11216830.Kingston_councillor_charged_with_benefit_fraud_will_face_polls_before_court/

Conservative councillor arrested over false barrister claims in Guildford
http://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/local-news/1285174/exclusive-guildford-councillor-speaks-to-eagle-following-her-arrest/

Lib Dem councillor convicted of benefit fraud charges forced of council committees after refusing to resign in Tiverton
http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Fraudster-councillor-Tiverton-forced-committees/story-21101893-detail/story.html

Conservative councillor receives one year ban for drink driving in Skegness
http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Conservative-councillor-handed-ban-drink-driving/story-21093349-detail/story.html

Police launch electoral fraud investigation into Labour councillor in Slough over intimidation relating to postal votes
http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/slough/articles/2014/05/15/100278-police-launch-election-fraud-probe-after-allegations-a-slough-labour-candidate-intimidated-a-resident-into-filling-out-her-postal-vote-/

Conservative candidate disqualified after £30k benefits fraud conviction comes to light in Enfield
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/conservative-candidate-guilty-of-cheating-london-council-in-30000-benefits-scam-9375335.html

5 Labour councillors resign from party in Middlesbrough citing racism of local Labour Party among other complaints
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/five-middlesbrough-councillors-resign-labour-7080454

Tory council accused of turning blind eye to license breaches at pub owned by Tory councillor during function on behalf of Tory mayor in Crayford
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/11207456.Bexley_Council_accused_of__whitewash__on_investigation_into_strippers_at_Crayford_pub/?ref=var_0

SNP activists claims Tory councillor made sexist remarks (but nobody else heard) in Berwickshire
http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/local-headlines/tory-in-indy-sexist-claim-1-3411729#.U3R80R4ieDw.twitter

Labour councillor faces investigation over homophobic remarks directed at gay rival in Liverpool
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-liberal-councillor-steve-radford-7122909

More resignations from Labour Party in Thanet following leader's resignation over homophobia claims earlier this week
http://www.thanetgazette.co.uk/Labour-leader-hits-deputy-leader-resigns/story-21093241-detail/story.html

And so the dirty tricks start early in Newark

With the selection of Roger Helmer MEP as UKIP's parliamentary candidate for the Newark by-election caused by the resignation of Patrick Mercer, it was only a question of time before the dirty tricks started in a desperate attempt to halt UKIP's rise.

And so it has proved.

An account supposedly belonging to UKIP Newark on Twitter posted the following just minutes after Hope not Hate started posting their own internet memes on Helmer: 

 



Interestingly, the UKIP Newark account above was set up on the 2nd June 2013. Patrick Mercer resigned the Conservative whip on the 31st May 2013 after being caught taking bribes to ask parliamentary questions.




The first tweet, on 2nd June last year

It would have been clear as the Mercer scandal broke that he would ultimately have to resign - the question was only one of how long he would hold on. It was equally clear that in the event of a by-election, UKIP would be a significant force, and several newspaper reports at the time comment on this coming as it did after UKIP's success in the Eastleigh by-election and the local elections in May. The account was used for 6 days, and then not touched again until the 29th April when Mercer announced his resignation from Parliament.

As UKIP Director of Communications Patrick O'Flynn said earlier, the account does not belong to UKIP in Newark -

Despite this, the @UKIPNewark account has continued the pretence that it is an official one, with the following tweet being posted half an hour ago:

 



Who is responsible? Who can tell? It could be the Tories - certainly they would have the most to gain from halting the UKIP insurgency, but all of the establishment parties are in more or less the same boat. And then we have Hope not Hate, who already maintain a vast array of fake accounts and who used them to great effect in the run up to last year's local elections.

Whoever it was, we can be sure that it won't go away quickly. With Roger Helmer being a former Conservative MEP for the region which includes Newark, he is well known across the area and, in a constituency with a huge Tory majority, stands to give the Tories a run for their money with the by-election coming just days after what is expected to be a huge victory for UKIP in the European elections. For the establishment parties and their paid monkeys at Hope not Hate, it is imperative that UKIP does not gain it's first by-election victory and a toe-hold at Westminster. To them, it is a case of 'après Roger, le deluge' - if he can overturn a 16,000 Tory majority, then no seat is safe next May.

Mock outrage over UKIP wreath, despite it being supplied by the RBL

More outright dishonesty on Hope not Hate's pages this evening as they repost a Plymouth Herald article attacking UKIP for using a remembrance wreath with the party logo in the centre. It reads in part:

The offending UKIP wreath -
as supplied by the RBL

They (UKIP) are seeking to hijack a national day of remembrance for narrow party political ends, said Cllr Ian Bowyer, Conservative group leader on Plymouth City Council.

And council leader Tudor Evans said the wreath was in very bad taste.... We have always made Remembrance Day an apolitical event. We'd be happy to leave the wreath there but the logo has to come off. Propaganda in this way is not at all the right thing in a military city which has seen a lot of war deaths."

But UKIP defended their action, saying the wreath was supplied by the event organisers, the Royal British Legion.

 Quite why Hope not Hate should care is beyond me. They began the run-in to Remembrance Sunday by posting their support for the University of London Union, a student body which decided to commemorate those who died for their freedoms by not officially attending any Remembrance event. It was only when the vast majority of subscribers who commented on their article did so negatively that they belatedly added the 'red poppy' icon to the Hope not Hate logo.

Below the word for word repost on Nick Lowles blog is the single comment allowed on the story, a sycophantic rant by someone allegedly called 'Brett Sparkes':

The not offending Labour wreath -
as supplied by the RBL

'That is what was sent to me' Do they take us for idiots? Are they trying to blame the Royal British Legion? This is a party which has put up candidates who were formerly BNP members and now they have the cheek to try to make a political statement from the remembrance of those who fought for freedom, many against those fascists who would fit quite happily with the BNP and its more 'respectable' cousin.

There are several things to say to that.

To deal with the matter at hand first - the wreath. To show you what they look like, I've attached a picture to the left. Oh, sorry, that's the Labour one. Who attacked the UKIP wreath for being in poor taste for having a logo on it.  The Labour party whose local Council leader Tudor Evans said "We have always made Remembrance Day an apolitical event. We'd be happy to leave the wreath there but the logo has to come off. Propaganda in this way is not at all the right thing".

So do the Tories use them too? Of course they do, although I do not know if they used one in Plymouth. In fairness one of their agents had the following to say on the subject:

A not offending either Conservative
wreath - as supplied by RBL

"Over the weekend, the Royal British Legion circulated a form for organisations to order Remembrance Day wreaths. This has prompted a number of enquiries from members asking about the type of wreath they should purchase.

Last year, there was considerable coverage in the national press when UKIP and the BNP laid wreaths with their Party logo printed in the middle. Upon investigation, it transpired that the Royal British Legion at Aylesford, who manufacture the wreaths, offer them for sale with various logos (including political parties) being printed on them. Clearly, therefore, the British Legion find this appropriate or it would not be offered.

Notwithstanding the above, my personal view is that politically branded wreaths for Remembrance Day are inappropriate. Not only does it run the risk of us being accused of politicising Remembrance Day, but I believe the majority of people simply do not want to see political logos emblazoned across wreaths laid at memorials."
span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This from a blog by Andrew Kennedy, Conservative Party agent for Tonbridge and Malling, and for once we have a Conservative talking sense.  I wouldn't normally link to the page, and I'm loathe to praise a Tory, but it is well written and I can't disagree with what he says. I'd agree the UKIP logo looks pretty tacky, but its the RBL which makes them like that.

We have dealt with Sparkes' other allegation - that UKIP stand former BNP members - many times before. While UKIP prevents former BNP members from joining, Labour held on to power in several places in informal coalition with the BNP - Burnley springs to mind - and have several ex-BNP defectors sitting as councillors.

So, once again, Hope not Hate has its facts wrong, and its supporters continue to blindly spout slogans more appropriate to their own party than UKIP. Why are we not surprised?