One of the real joys of living in the UK, especially around election time, is the plethora of smaller parties that a parliamentary system encourages. So given the near success the SNP & Plaid Cymru had the other day in attempting to force the government into opening an independent enquiry into the causes and execution of the invasion of Iraq I think this would time to have a look about to see what the smaller parties in Britain are up to.
Let's start with the UK Independence Party (UKIP). UKIP primary focus is on getting the UK out of Europe presumably by cutting the channel tunnel in two. Despite generally being seen as a one trick pony. They are not, however, frightened of taking controversial stands on other issues and they have demonstrated this only this week when, in the wake of the issuance of the Stern report, their leader, Nigel Farage, equated climate change science with witchcraft. Maybe he was just trying to get in the Halloween spirit.
On to the British National Party (BNP) - also known as the "Nazis who like to pretend they aren't Party". It is not unusual for columnists to endorse parties but it is rather rarer the other way around. This did not stop the head of the BNP, Nick Griffin, from endorsing the Daily Mail's loveable Melanie Phillips as capable of "rational, intelligent thought". Clearly Mr. Griffin has never read Ms. Phillips's column. (I should note that "Melanie Phillips"+islamophobe nets over 500 hits on Google!)
Elsewhere, in a move that is sure to yield results, George Galloway of the Respect Coalition has demanded that Tony Blair be held to account on Iraq. Those of you outside the UK who didn't have a chance to see Mr. Galloway dressing up as a cat on Celebrity Big Brother have missed a television classic.
Any survey of British politics would not be complete without the inclusion of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and their charismatic leader the Rt. Rev. Ian Paisley. There are signs however that Dr. Paisley may be suffering from late onset dementia. The man who's website cheerfully informs us that the Pope is the Antichrist recently sat down to have tea with the head Catholic Church in Ireland. Undoubtedly they just had a wee chat about the projected outcome of the next Old Firm match. I'll bet the term "fenian" didn't come up once!
Last but not least we leave with news that an official of the Monster Raving Looney Party in North Kent has been sentenced to an eighteen month community service order for hitting his partner. This sort of thing would never have happened if only Screaming Lord Sutch were still alive!
Let's start with the UK Independence Party (UKIP). UKIP primary focus is on getting the UK out of Europe presumably by cutting the channel tunnel in two. Despite generally being seen as a one trick pony. They are not, however, frightened of taking controversial stands on other issues and they have demonstrated this only this week when, in the wake of the issuance of the Stern report, their leader, Nigel Farage, equated climate change science with witchcraft. Maybe he was just trying to get in the Halloween spirit.
On to the British National Party (BNP) - also known as the "Nazis who like to pretend they aren't Party". It is not unusual for columnists to endorse parties but it is rather rarer the other way around. This did not stop the head of the BNP, Nick Griffin, from endorsing the Daily Mail's loveable Melanie Phillips as capable of "rational, intelligent thought". Clearly Mr. Griffin has never read Ms. Phillips's column. (I should note that "Melanie Phillips"+islamophobe nets over 500 hits on Google!)
Elsewhere, in a move that is sure to yield results, George Galloway of the Respect Coalition has demanded that Tony Blair be held to account on Iraq. Those of you outside the UK who didn't have a chance to see Mr. Galloway dressing up as a cat on Celebrity Big Brother have missed a television classic.
Any survey of British politics would not be complete without the inclusion of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and their charismatic leader the Rt. Rev. Ian Paisley. There are signs however that Dr. Paisley may be suffering from late onset dementia. The man who's website cheerfully informs us that the Pope is the Antichrist recently sat down to have tea with the head Catholic Church in Ireland. Undoubtedly they just had a wee chat about the projected outcome of the next Old Firm match. I'll bet the term "fenian" didn't come up once!
Last but not least we leave with news that an official of the Monster Raving Looney Party in North Kent has been sentenced to an eighteen month community service order for hitting his partner. This sort of thing would never have happened if only Screaming Lord Sutch were still alive!
1 comment:
I must correct your statement on UKIP. We do not want to be out of Europe so there is no need to cut the Chunnel in two. We want to be out of the European Union which is a totally different thing. We want a free trade policy with European countries, which is what we thought we signed up for in the 1975 referendum. We have never been a one policy party: Just check our 2005 General Election manifesto. It is just unfortunate that some commentators pick out our main (but not only) policy to dwell on. Fortunately, this is something that is changing given our announcements on tax policy and the Stern green paper.
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