VOTE 2014: The polls in the local elections open on Thursday morning. Inside Croydon invited leading figures of the local political parties to outline why our loyal reader should consider voting for them. PETER STAVELEY makes the case for UKIP
UKIP leader Nigel Farage was expected to make a special appearance in Croydon to support his party’s candidates in the local and European elections
UKIP is fielding one to three candidates in every ward in Croydon and the total of 42 far exceeds the number put up by our party at previous elections. The fact that the majority of these candidates are “ordinary people” standing for the first time reflects the rapid rise in support for the party at large.
These are people who are fed up with politics for politics’ sake and the petty political point-scoring that goes on between the major parties which is a direct result of them being populated with career politicians with no experience of life outside the political arena.
Locally, UKIP is campaigning on a “Bring back common sense” platform which includes the re-introduction of greater democracy locally with the abolition of the cabinet system of running the council and restoration of the more inclusive committee system. One aim of this is to achieve greater transparency of council decisions.
UKIP’s policies are aimed at boosting the retail economy of the town, both in the centre and in localities and to this end they advocate lower car parking charges with free short-term parking for local shops.
Other borough-wide policies include a clamp-down on anti-social behaviour, with more police presence on the streets, strengthening measures against fly-tipping, improvements to public transport and opposing inappropriate development while recognising the need for new housing on suitable (non-Green Belt) sites.
However, the main strength of UKIP’s campaign is at the most local level, where UKIP councillors will pay close attention to the needs and opinions of residents in their wards. Voters can be assured that their wishes will be acted upon for, unlike the other main parties, UKIP councillors are not subject to a “whip” that means UKIP councillors are free to vote as they see fit (and as their electors want them to) without any fear of reprisals.
Winston McKenzie: UKIP candidate in South Norwood
Out on the streets, UKIP candidates and campaigners have been astonished and very encouraged by the goodwill they have received. In all corners of the borough, from the most affluent to the more deprived areas, reaction has been positive. This support has come from long-standing Labour supporters as much as Conservative ones and UKIP’s presence has also led to new interest in the election from many people who have not felt inclined to vote at all before.
A sad exception to this goodwill has been a so-called anti-fascist party whose representatives have sought to use physical force rather than constructive debate to challenge UKIP and this has even resulted in assaults on party campaigners. They have also defaced billboards in Croydon which are part of the national campaign. UKIP recognises that, notwithstanding the great support it is enjoying, not everyone will agree with its policies but there can be no place in British politics at any level for violence and vandalism.
As ever, though, the vast majority of decent, law-abiding people will condemn such action and UKIP’s prospective councillors are enjoying the excellent reaction to the political breath of fresh air that the party is bringing to the local council elections.
- Peter Staveley is the chairman of UKIP in Croydon Central and Croydon South. He is standing as a local election candidate in Addiscombe
Inside Croydon’s recent coverage of the local elections:
- Policy analysis 1: The incinerator
- Policy analysis 2: Hammersfield
- ADDISCOMBE: Labour looking vulnerable to Barwell’s push
- Council CEO parrots Tory party line in official press releases
- Conservatives snub hustings as sham candidates exposed
- Threat of UKIP forces Tories to press the panic button
- Council allowances and local politicians’ secret consensus
- The list of candidates for the May 22 local elections
Coming to Croydon
- David Lean Cinema: The Rocket, May 22
- Songs From The Ledge, Spread Eagle Theatre, May 23
- Greek Myths: stories and mask-making, May 27
- Howard Marks: Scholar, Smuggler, Prisoner, Scribe, May 29
- David Lean Cinema: Dallas Buyers Club, May 29
- Tales from Ancient Greece, Upper Norwood Library, May 29
- Upper Norwood Library Book Club, May 31
- Stitch Pitch quilting workshop, Upper Norwood Library, June 2
- Croydon Tech City “summit”, June 6
- An Improvised Murder, Spread Eagle Theatre, June 7
- Lakes Playground Action Group fun day, June 14
- Elm Tree Cottage garden open day, June 15
- Norwood Society Talk: The Concrete Church, June 19
- Classic Car Show at Purley Rotary Fields, June 22
- Crystal Palace Overground Festival, June 26-29
- Warnings to the Curious, Spread Eagle Theatre, June 27
- South Norwood Allotments open day, June 28
- Fragile, Spread Eagle Theatre, July 24-26
- Elm Tree Cottage garden open day, Aug 10
- Norwood Society Talk: War Memorials, Sep 18
- Norwood Society Talk: From Fire Station to Theatre, Oct 16
- Norwood Society Talk: Lambeth’s Archives, Nov 20
Inside Croydon: Croydon’s only independent news source, based in the heart of the borough: 72,342 average monthly page views (Jan-Mar 2014)
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Interesting housing policy. Vote UKIP, because its more important for the wealthy to have some green space than it is for the poor to have homes.
Prometheus…….don’t you value ‘green space’. Would you rather live in a world of concrete? Come on…….your argument is untenable & slightly ludicrous. What about green fields and parks for your children to play in……………or would they get their exercise traveling up and down in high rise elevators! UKIP want to preserve green spaces for us all……
Yes I value green space so here’s the plan. We’ll build 10,000 homes on South Croydon’s golf courses, and offer the houses to people of Croydon north. We’ll take the grass and trees from the golf courses and use it to create new parks in the north of the borough, in the places where people vacated their homes to move to the south. That way, everyone in Croydon can enjoy an equal amount of green space.
I’m being facetious in case it isn’t obvious, but the point is that protecting huge amounts of green space in a few wealthy areas while poorer areas are starved of it and some people go homeless just isn’t acceptable. Your policies are vile.
I have to say that up until you called us vile……I was engaged in your argument!
I’m voting UKIP on May 22nd……Thursday…
I called your policies vile. There’s plenty of evidence that your party members are vile elsewhere on the internet.
Kristian, let’s get some fair prospective on these issues. You take a look atbthis link….with many reports on the various misdemeanors of the other party candidates & you come back to me. Before you do, don’t forget to consider all the Members of Parliament that have had to reign – 4 went to prison. 1 Tory MP resigned a couple of weeks ago for taking cash for questions. Here is the link:
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=72729211
You come back to me & tell me you have read all about these various cases in the papers………..you won’t be able to because the papers were too busy ‘mining’ for muck on UKIP! We have something like 1800 candidates and a fraction of 1% have said some unpleasant things………get some prespective – & while you are at it, tell me exactly what UKIP “policies” you find offensive?
Yours in anticipation………..Kirk
These ones
http://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/ukip-tweet.png
Kristian, please look at the UKIP 2014 manifesto before judging UKIP. Also, please read the 2015 manifesto……..published around September, before you dam us. Honestly, there are so many good people campaigning for Britain to leave the EU.
Vote UKIP on May 22nd……..tomorrow!
You just don’t seem to get it. People are flocking to UKIP because it provides them some form of legitimisation of their racism and a scapegoat for their problems. “Hey don’t worry, we are UKIP and your problems are caused by migrant workers, get rid of them and we’re sorted!” That must be so comforting to hear, and aren’t migrant workers an easy target around the world? I’m not sure there’s any group that is quite as demonised today as migrant workers.
There’s no intelligent debate to be had about our place in Europe with UKIP. That’s a subtle conversation to be had, that requires in-depth knowledge of the subject and a hell of a lot of statistics and statistical fervour in their analysis.
No, UKIP can pretend to be something it’s not, but all it is is a far-right political party. Perhaps you studied in school what happened last time a far-right anti-Europe party came to power? I’m sorry but I won’t validate UKIP by discussing policy in an intellectual fashion. When the next generation asks me, “Did you speak up when UKIP were rising?”, I want to be able to say, “Yes, I shouted about the danger from the rooftops”.
So here you go, I adapted a poem for you.
First they came for the Romanians, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not Romanian.
Then they came for the Polish, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not Polish.
Then they came for the Bulgarians, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not Bulgarian.
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak for me
Make the most of it Peter and Winston: your 15 minutes of fame is imminent.
By the time of the General Election you will no longer be relevant as the people of Croydon decide on their next government.
In the intervening year we may see you holding the balance of power in the Council Chamber and we will come to understand that since each of your members votes individually it will be impossible to manage the council. Like herding cats.
No doubt you will fall out with each other, making things even more chaotic, and there will be the odd crackpot pronouncement from some of your more eccentric members.
At least as local representatives you will have no influence on our membership of the European Union, or on immigration – two of Nigel Farage’s most devisive areas.
And in four years time, when the people of Croydon are thoroughly fed up with the inertia you have wrought in council business, you will disappear unmourned from the chamber like a morning mist over Lloyd Park.
UKIP isn’t a political party. It’s a frame of mind (and a very unpleasant one, at that).
David Callam is spot-on when he says UKIP will be irrelevant come the General Election. This is because people know the difference between registering a protest and electing a credible, coherent government.
Remember the 2009 Euro election? UKIP came second. Yet in the subsequent (2010) General Election their vote collapsed to 3% and they won zero seats.
History has a habit of repeating itself.
“UKIP isn’t a political party”
If only that were true