BBC close to breaking law over UKIP

The BBC's lack of coverage for UKIP at the Noriwch North by-election verged on breaking electoral law for broadcasters, says a respected political commentator.

Under the headline 'UKIP ridiculed for going against the BBC's authorised vision of Europe' the East Anglian Daily Times respected political editor Graham Dines wrote:

UKIP'S coverage at the hands of the BBC came close to breaching election law for broadcasters in the run-up to last week's Norwich North by-election. In effect, the BBC decided to airbrush out of the equation the political party that had done so well in the European Union elections that voters in Norwich were giving serious consideration to their manifesto.

Last week, BBC East organised a debate between the "leading candidates" in the by-election - Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat, and the Greens.(Watch the debate here). I understand that UKIP was so furious that there was a real possibility of an injunction being sought. In the end, the debate went ahead without UKIP, who were mollified by having a filmed insert into the programme.

Just why the BBC decided that the Greens were more meritworthy than UKIP is not difficult to discern. It's all down to the unpalatable policy of quitting the EU.UKIP goes against the authorised version of Britain's relationship with Europe and therefore should be ridiculed - but there again, the Greens are not hysterically pro-Europe and have serious doubts about the creeping EU superstate.

No, the BBC cannot bear the thought there there are perhaps millions of Brits who want nothing more to do with Europe. If the UKIP vision of withdrawal from the EU ever became a reality, the BBC would have to do what it doesn't like doing and stand up for Britain.

The BBC's editorial line should be one of neutrality. It has no mandate to be partisan. But it so likes the Orwellian nightmare - two legs good, four legs better - that it is prepared to risk its reputation for objective reporting.

UKIP had the last laugh, finishing fourth in the by-election with 11.8% of the vote and only 800 behind the Liberal Democrats. Even so, unless there is electoral reform in Westminster elections, UKIP will be hard pressed to get any MPs under first-past-the-post.

As a political party, UKIP is not fashionable. My own personal opinion of the party and Europe is irrelevant - until the UK holds a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon (which for my sins I have read, as well as the European Constitution, and while there are some differences, the two are fundamentally the same document), then UKIP is there to be counted and not ignored by the Guardianista left.

Record UKIP by-election, despite BBC

UKIP's historic by-election result is a cause for celebration by party supporters, says UKIP Leader Nigel Farage.

"Everyone worked extremely hard for an excellent result and we congratulate our candidate Glenn Tingle, a real local guy, who has shown by the massive support he's received in Norwich North that the British people really do identify with the UK Independence Party and what it stands for."

Glenn's huge popularity saw UKIP record the biggest percentage gain of the top five contenders, surging a record 9.5% this time around to poll 4,068 votes, representing nearly 12% of the total cast.

A delighted Glenn said: "This result shows that we are major league – bring on the General Election!"

But UKIP'S best-ever by-election performance in Norwich North has been soured by the BBC's stubborn refusal to give the party's result the recognition it deserves.

The result could have been even better had the BBC not refused to give Glenn Tingle and UKIP the airtime it deserved, preferring to allow a minor party such as the Greens on television panels and radio discussions.

Nigel Farage is furious at the snub.

He said: "There is a clear bias in the BBC against the UK Independence Party and this result shows that they are wrong in freezing us out of key political television and radio programmes."

"We've shown in Norwich North that we are a major player on the UK political scene and that our performance in the European Elections, where we recorded the second highest percentage of vote among all the parties, was no fluke.

"We have arrived and the people have shown that they agree with our politics. If the BBC doesn't like that, well tough. What it does mean is that the left-leaning programme producers who dole out the air time will be forced to give us parity with the three other major parties.

"I personally will be taking this to the highest echelons of the BBC and finding out who decided we were not to be part of the Norwich North coverage and what is to be done about it.

"This situation, where one of this country's major political parties is simply ignored, should never happen again.

"If the BBC bosses spent less time working out their expense claims and more time listening to the people of Great Britain, they would realise that UKIP is experiencing a continuing swing in support that all the other parties would die for.

"With a General Election due at any time, we will demand that the BBC afford UKIP the same broadcast rights as the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems.

"We'll be looking at what needs to be done to make the BBC sit up and take notice, because so far, our complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

"Maybe they'll listen if their funding is threatened? We'll look at the prospect of a mass refusal to pay the licence fee if that's what it takes.
It's already on the agenda for debate at our annual conference in September."

LABOUR RUNNING SCARED FROM THE PEOPLE OF GLASGOW NORTH EAST

’24 HOURS LEFT TO MOVE THE WRIT’

SNP Glasgow North East by-election candidate, David Kerr, has hit out at the Labour Party after it once again failed to move the writ calling the Glasgow North East by-election.

Westminster rules mean that, unless the Labour Party move the writ tomorrow (Tuesday), Glasgow North East will be without an MP for another four months.

It is now 62 days since the former MP, Speaker Michael Martin announced he was standing down but still no by-election date has been set.

In contrast, Labour MP Iain Gibson resigned his Norwich North seat on 5th June 2009 and the by-election will be held this Thursday – 48 days later.

In 2008, in the neighbouring constituency of Glasgow East, the by-election was held on July 24th – just 26 days after David Marshall stood down.

Commenting, Mr Kerr said:

“Labour are running scared of voters in Glasgow North East.

“It is utter hypocrisy to call a short by-election in Norwich North on the basis that the constituents cannot be without an MP for an extended period of time but then inflict exactly that fate on Glasgow North East.

“As the threat of closure looms over the Port Dundas distillery now, more than ever, Glasgow North East needs an MP who will speak up for their best interests. With this delay, Labour are putting Gordon’s job before Glasgow’s jobs and that is absolutely unacceptable.”

Ex-Labour candidate Peter Tatchell says now is the time to vote Green

International human rights campaigner and writer Peter Tatchell will be in Norwich on Wednesday and Thursday, July 15th and 16th, in support of the Green Party candidate in the Norwich North by-election, Rupert Read.

Peter Tatchell is a former Labour activist who ran as a Labour Party parliamentary candidate in London. He is now a member of the Green Party. In 2007, he was selected as the prospective Green Parliamentary candidate in Oxford East for the next general election.

Tatchell won widespread respect for his two attempts to carry out a citizen's arrest on Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, on charges of torture and other human rights abuses. He was co-founder of OutRage!, the gay rights campaign group, and drew more international headlines when he was beaten up in Moscow on a gay rights march. He was named Campaigner of the Year 2009 by The Observer.

Peter Tatchell said:

"As the MP for Norwich North, Rupert Read would be an intelligent, passionate, unshakeable defender of liberty, justice, peace and the environment. He knows a better world is possible and he will work with real commitment to achieve it. In these troubled times we need more politicians like Rupert. That's why I am supporting his campaign to be elected as Green MP for Norwich North."

We need a ‘public bank not private casinos' says Green candidate

The Green candidate for the Norwich North by-election called today for a nationalised, democratically controlled, "people's bank" to make finance accessible and keep borrowing cheap.

Dr Rupert Read, a university lecturer and Norwich city councilor, argues that banks must be "public banks, rather than private casinos." We need "one powerful, substantially nationalized bank forever."

Response to Conservative Party policy revelations

Dr Read's calls for a "Bank of Britain" come in response to the Conservatives saying they would seek to considerably increase the power of the Bank of England so as to effectively replace the FSA.

Dr Read says: "The Tories' plans for the Bank of England are a hopeless bodge," and that what the Conservative party proposes is "an undemocratic behemoth, a mere strengthened artefact of the City that has so fully failed us." Read argues that a strengthened Bank of England only makes sense if the bank is "democratically controlled," not if it is still "hand in glove with the financial system."

Low risk banking has the answer

Read points out that "the credit unions, the mutuals, the ethical banks: in virtually every case, have sailed through the crisis." Read says that we must build on the ethical/mutual sector's success to build a low risk banking system designed to serve the people for the future.

A Green Vision

"A Green vision of a healthy financial sector is of a large and powerful state-owned bank ‘setting the tone' for the ‘financial market', the remutualisation of the former building societies, and a flourishing network of mutual banks, co-ops, ethical banks, and credit unions, across the country," says Read.

Jean Lambert visits Norwich North

The latest high-profile visitor to the Norwich North by-election campaign is Jean Lambert MEP, who will be in the city tomorrow (Tuesday) in support of Rupert Read, the Green Party candidate in the election on July 23rd.

Jean Lambert is the Green Party spokesperson on social affairs. She has represented the London area as a Green member of the European Parliament for ten years. She was named MEP 2005 for her work on justice and human rights.

Jean Lambert said: "As voters are rejecting the main parties, I'm very happy to be visiting Norwich to discuss the issues of the day ahead of the by-election in this Green stronghold."

Jean and Rupert will have the issues of access to healthcare and pensions high on their agenda.

- Jean has played a key role in the EU parliament in keeping national health services public and will be keen to hear about health services in the Norwich area.

- With 24% of people in the Norwich North constituency aged 60 or over, the issue of pensions will also be highly relevant. The Green Party is calling for a basic state pension of £165 a week.

Newsnight: Greens could push Labour into 3rd place in Norwich North

Newsnight's Michael Crick last night spelled out Labour's nightmare scenario in the Norwich North by-election:that there is a chance "that they [Labour] might come third behind the Greens."

Michael Crick pointed out that "the Greens are Strong in Norwich," already having a strong base in Norwich South and having gone from fourth to first place in a couple of divisions in Norwich North since the last county elections. The Greens have thirteen city councillors in Norwich, where they outpolled all comers in this year's county and European elections. They also have seven county councillors in the Norwich city area, a gain of five this year.

Liberal Democrats "might be leapfrogged and come fourth behind the Greens"

Earlier in the report Michael Crick accused the Liberal democrats of running a very negative campaign against Green Party candidate and local city councillor Dr Rupert Read. Michael Crick pointed out that the Liberal Democrats "might even be leapfrogged and become fourth choice for voters behind the Greens."

Norwich Greens are pursuing their campaign "calmly and systematically without over-egging their chances," according to a source close to their campaign HQ. The Green vote has not hitherto been as high in the Norwich North constituency as in Norwich South.

But in the first opinion poll of the campaign - albeit on a relatively small sample - the Greens were on 14%, just behind the LibDems on 15%. Labour was still in second place on 30% but this was down 15 points from the previous general election.
The Green Party has been seen to be doing well off the back of the Labour Party's current difficulties, said Michael Crick. He remarked that it was an "omen perhaps that Labour's campaign HQ is next to a graveyard."

Key by-election called - Green Party leader visits Norwich North

The leader of the Green Party, Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, will be in Norwich today and tomorrow (Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 1 July) to campaign in the Norwich North by-election.

In the 2009 European elections, the Green Party secured more votes than any other party in the Norwich City Council area, gaining 25% of the vote. Local councillor and university teacher Dr Rupert Read, who narrowly missed election to the European Parliament this month, has been selected as the party's candidate for Norwich North.

Rupert Read said today:

“After the gloom of the economic downturn and the scandal surrounding MPs expenses, which has sullied all three main parties, the Greens are offering a fresh new approach.

“For the first time ever, the national spotlight will be on the Green Party in a byelection campaign and our prospects are being taken extremely seriously. The big three parties hav

e everything to lose. The Green Party has everything to gain.”

Caroline Lucas' schedule for the day includes a visit to an NHS walk-in centre threatened with closure.

Can Corrigan Brothers do an Obama in UK Election

From the US Presidential Election to the UK 'S Norwich North Bye Election

Last year their song took the world by storm. The Corrigan Brothers "There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama" was an international hit and hs reached almost six million youtube hits. Several academics have claimed that the song greatly contributed to President Obama's inauguration, many claiming that it "internationalises" him. President Obama showed his thanks by inviting the Irish Brothers to play at three inauguration events in Washington DC last January. The Brothers have received two messages of thanks from Obama and the President loves the song. On Saint Patrick's day last, Irish Prime Minister presented President Obama a copy of the song in the White House.

Now the Corrigan Brothers are involved in an election campaighn in the UK . Craig Murray is a Scottish dissident, human rightsactivist, writer, and former British Ambassador. He iscurrently Rector of the University of Dundee and anHonorary Research Fellow at the University of LancasterSchool of Law.He is also an independent candidate in the upcoming Norwich North By Election and has requested the Corrigan Brother's "MP Expenses Song" as his campaign song.

The Corrigan Brothers were delighted to oblige and will perform the song with Chris on the capaign trail. Ger Corrigan lead singer with Corrigan Brothers said, "We are delighted to assist a man of Craig's integrity and allow him exclusive permission to use our song, having followed the shame of the expenses scandal closely we feel that Craig represents the only real alternative to the greed and embarassment we have witnessed recently". Ger Corrigan went on to say "The last guy that we wrote a song for went on to become President of the United States and invited us to his inauguration. We hope to be there for Craig's inauguration once he succeeds in Norwich North".