Egypt4u

For many years we used to receive a Country Life calendar for Christmas from DH's great-aunt. It was full of beautiful photos of rural villages etc. as you can imagine, and not a face to be seen that wasn't white! My problem with it was that most of us can't afford to live in such idyllic surroundings so most of the photos went straight over my head! I'm not a very political animal but the UKIP sounds very much like the BNP, and I always wondered how many of them live in high-rise flats or two up, two down terraced houses?

I didn't think I mentioned corruption Jay? However it was just a bit of a leg pull and, as I said to Choccy, if we were 20 years younger Portugal could sound very appealing.

We are also going to a Vintage and Classic car and motor bike event in two weeks in Faversham. They have commercials on the Saturday and private vehicles on Sunday. It would be pushing my luck too far to want to go on both days

RS, Horus has outlined the reasons for the appeal of UKIP. I DO agree that on first impression they can look a bit like BNP or ENP but I think they are gaining far more support than those two minor extremist parties. Cameron has PROMISED a referendum on 'IN or OUT' of Europe but I am sure it will not be a simple yes no option. There will be conditions and I am afraid I do not trust or even like him or his chronies. And the same applies to the other parties.

Where are all the STATESMEN and LEADERS these days???

Usually, when times get hard and people start to suffer, they start looking for a scapegoat. Then the 'way out' parties start listening to the mutterings and mumblings of the public and exploit what they hear. They then present themselves to the public as the party that can and will fix those problems if they get in! I'm very wary of these parties.

No way they will 'Get In' RS. They will certainly get more representation in local government and I think their EU representation will increase.
Next year I DO expect them to get the odd seat in parliament. But all this will do is shake up the main parties and make them re-think their policies and how they apply them.
They (the main parties) are LOST at the moment. Lost touch with people, lost a grip on law and order, lost a grip on immigration, lost a grip on education, and I think they should GET LOST.
We are being stifled by the petty rules and regulations that come out of Strasbourg and Brussels.
We need at the very least a re-negotiation of the terms of our membership and we need some strong leaders at the top. I am not convinced that we should come out of Europe but I DO believe that we should have far more autonomy.

Grandad has summed up my own thoughts and views exactly, but to some degree you are right inasmuch as people do look for scapegoats, but I think that these issues go beyond that. It is the fact that a huge majority in this country do not like the way it is going with open door immigration and bureaucracy from Brussels. Most people just feel that they have no voice because all political parties sing the same tune, a tune that is not the one most others are singing. Also if you now take a good hard look at our present day politicians you will see that the majority all come from a privileged class that in the main have never held a real job or had to get by as Mr & Mrs average has to. They do not live in inner cities and have to see them decline as large areas become Balkanised because of out of control immigration. While you and I are paying in the region of 30% more on our energy bills to cover ‘Green’ taxes and renewable energy, they are the people with big share portfolios, landowners and inherited family wealth that is gaining from all of it.

I would agree with you that UKIP does attract more than its share of fringe types and that includes a few really right wing characters, but to be fair overall they are nothing like the BNP or English League who have downright racist policies. A lot of people confuse the parties aims of looking after the British people first as being a racist statement, but I would say it is not, rather an attempt to redress the balance and put our country and the people who live here (including legitimate immigrants) over and above the rights of anyone who just wants to come here because they can or because someone in Brussels says that they can.

They do talk a lot of sense if you actually listen to them and of course the other parties and the establishment want you to be fearful of them because they are a threat to their own survival. For the only time in my lifetime we seem to have the opportunity of putting those politicians to the test and doing what the people want and not what they think is good for us. UKIP have little or no chance of being in government in the foreseeable future, but if it shakes them up out of their complacency then it can only be a good thing IMO. Just for the record I am not against immigration per se, I just want to see it regulated better and not just an open door, if we need immigrants then do what any sensible country would do and that is to allow in only those that you need like Australia does and in that way they assimilate and don’t form little enclaves as happens now in this country. Be bold like Australia is and say “if you come here you assimilate into our culture, if you don’t want to, then don’t come or go back home” and who can really argue with that?

The same with the EU, we had one vote on that and it was “Do you want to be part of a trading block in Europe” and the answer was “Yes” it was never asked if you wanted to give up most of your sovereignty to an un-elected body that is so corrupted it could not get it’s own accounts passed off for goodness knows how long now. Or did you want to pay in huge amounts of money so that inefficient French farmers could dip their hands in the till, or that food prices would be artificially higher by creating food mountains, or your fishing industry destroyed, the list is endless. We used to trade within the commonwealth and the only reason our current trade is so high with Europe is that we let those markets go, all this bunk about them putting tariffs on us if we left is bunkum, we buy more from them than we sell to them, we put in more money into the EU than we claim back, so who has the whip hand in any negotiations? But having said all that I would vote to continue our membership, but it must be renegotiated on our terms.

That's a very considered post, Horus!

Thank you RS

Ruby Slippers wrote:That's a very considered post, Horus!

Here Here! You have a much better way with words Horus....ever thought of being a politician? I think we both have the same sentiments...you are so much better at expressing them Mrs G is always telling me I am too bullish

Mrs G is always telling me I am too bullish

And Mrs H was always saying that I sounded like Victor Meldrew

Interesting comments from all (will re-read it more thoroughly before commenting)