The latest weekend polling has revealed the UK Independence Party is in the lead in British opinion polling for next month’s elections to the European Parliament. It is a trend not limited to the UK but the scope of imminent success for UKIP is staggering on the British political scale.
YouGov polling shows UKIP with 31%, Labour 28%, and Conservatives on 19%. If UKIP holds on it would be the first time in over a century that a party other than Labour or Conservative has won a national election.
Anticipating the gargantuan political shift that is seemingly increasingly inevitable the afore mentioned Labour and Conservative parties along with the often 20% drawing Liberal Democrats, have formed a cross-party campaign to condemn Nigel Farage led UKIP as racist.
The campaign is sponsored by the all-party Migration Matters Trust. Migration Matters is co-sponsored by the Conservative Nadim Zahawi and by the Liberal Democrat deputy leader in the Lords, Lord Dholakia. It is to be launched this week with former Labour Immigration minister Barbara Roche at the helm.
Roche is a Labour Party and union loyalist and has wasted no time going on the attack saying: "UKIP's campaign needs to be exposed for what it is, a racist campaign. The party is practising what is in effect a form of 'Euracism'. They are deploying the same language and tactics used by openly racist parties like the BNP, but instead of targeting migrants from Africa and Asia they are targeting migrants from within the EU."
The language makes some MPs nervous. Realizing they may be trying to win back some of those same voters in the future, Parliamentarians like Labour’s Jacqui Smith said: "Did we not learn from 'bigotgate' in 2010 that there are many potential and actual Labour voters who feel all the frustrations and insecurities expressed by the Ukip poster campaign? Telling them they are wrong – and worse, closet racists – is unlikely to win their support".
The poster campaign reminds voters that European Union policy is requiring Britain to open its doors to any and all from newly admitted EU members such as Bulgaria and Romania. Clearly there is unease in Britain that its centuries old culture is under threat.
But Roche is unrepentant and continues: "It is no less offensive to say British families should be wary of Romanians moving in next door than it is to say it of Nigerians or Indians. Every day another example of UKIP racism is exposed, and every day Nigel Farage attempts to dismiss it with the same lazy 'few rotten apples' argument. It won't wash.”
UKIP has had to root out a few individuals who have made unwise social media comments. But many voters can find forgiveness when these individuals share the general sentiment of how many Britons are feeling as they watch their traditional way of life disappear in front of their eyes.
The ‘Big Three’ meanwhile continue to be mired in ongoing allegations of corruption and womanizing that most voters are completely cheesed off with. Given the choice between the two the choice is clear – UKIP may not represent everything they agree with but they are like the bloke at the pub to whom they say ‘you know what you’ve got a point.’
The party itself has managed to bridge the gap between merely protesting against immigration excesses and positioning themselves to do something about it. ‘The Big Three’ operate large cumbersome party apparatus that prohibits involvement by newcomers unless they are willing to invest years paying homage to its way of doing things.
Social media upstarts are not tolerated and that is why many have found a home in UKIP. Politically it’s a little bit of the wild-west but it’s a big tent and party leader Nigel Farage has sorted through the lot and brought about a semblance of order.
Compare that to Jonathan Sheppard, founder of Tory Radio (podcasting) in 2005. As he states at the very beginning – “Tory Radio first started in 2005 and was founded by Jonathan Sheppard who felt the grassroots of the Conservative Party needed to hear the voices of the people running and leading the party and acting on its behalf.”
Jonathan’s a very noble guy! At home pretty much in the middle of the Conservative Party he really wanted to be selected to run for election. Many big names in the party graced him with an audio piece for the website but he never advanced far in the party! Why? His own opening statement does him in - the Conservative Party does not want to hear the voices of anyone other than those running and leading the party.
This is a key to the success of UKIP that ‘The Big Three’ haven’t figured out. It’s a ground swell movement that has created leadership as necessary. The traditional parties meanwhile are leadership that holds everyone else at ransom in order to achieve their electoral aims.
