http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25802437

Crackpot UKIP Councillor now suspended, but I don't know why they bother, it is a party of crackpots and disaffected right-wing, anti-Europe and homophobic Tories.

It's not as if UKIP have a monopoly of slightly wacko councillors. At least they are getting into the habit of removing them, which is more than can be said for the Lib-Dems at the moment.

Where's the usual cries of how "retard" is a horrible slur and those using it commit an unpardonable sin? I guess you're allowed to use it if you're using it to attack someone on the right, and a religious one at that.

Oh, no, Britain...

You're supposed to be the beacon of hope, the intellectually-superior English-speaking country...British sitcoms and Doctor Who told me so, and by God, if I can't trust John Cleese or a man traversing time and space in a mad blue box, who CAN I trust???

:p

Scarily, UKIP will do well at the forthcoming Euro elections (at least second place), despite most people not being able to tell you one of their policies beyond 'UK out the EU'

I don't think it's all that scary. UKIP will do well for several important reasons.

1) Most Brits don't give a damn about the European elections and won't bother voting

2) UKIP has the only well known European policy of any party. Labour tend not to mention it if at all possible, the Tories are both in favour and bitterly against Europe, and the Lib Dems take the unusual route of looking to see what policies are popular with the public and going for the exact opposite.

3) The Euro elections are done using Proportional Representation, in which you vote for the party and not the individuals. This is great for UKIP as it means the voters never have to meet, nor indeed know anything about, the people they're voting for.

Britain doesn't realize how lucky it is that UKIP is its eurosceptic party. Compared to the Front National, Five Star Movement, Golden Dawn, etc. they look and are fantastic. And until the Tories and Labour start listening to the anti-EU feeling in much of the United Kingdom then UKIP will remain a factor.

We get ball back at half time so as long as we csn keep this a one score game to end the half, im confident that we can win

Wrong thread ignore that

I do believe that's Labour's European policy :)

Insightful post octavious, particularly the bit about the Lib-dems.

yes well spoken Octavious.
I remember the original thinking behind the EU,
which was that a common market, or a common economy, & free market reforms,
would over time bring the nations of Europe closer together.
It's going rather well, so far........

Yep, they are all being drug down to the least common denominator's level as those that can have to support the lazy ass bums of those that won't. Socialism at work. I give you the EU in all its short lived failing glory.

In the absence of UKIP the UK would have jumped fully into the single currency. Those chinless wonder public schoolboys with their Oxford PPE degrees and free pass to the upper echelons of the civil service, would have had their usual spineless way. Did anyone catch gravy train Mandleson telling us that we weren't clever enough to vote in a referendum on this whole sorry mess?

"I remember the original thinking behind the EU,
which was that a common market, or a common economy, & free market reforms,
would over time bring the nations of Europe closer together."
- No, this was what Thatcher and her brainless cabinet thought, we are still paying for her arrogance and economic incompetence of the 'economic miracle' she bestowed on the UK

I too remember that one and only referendum - I was very young (!) I didn't really understand what was going on. I do however reasoning that if men of principle(whether you agreed with them on other matters or not) such as Enoch Powell and Tony Benn came together to urges NO vote something was amiss. Bear in mind that in all other matters they absolutely disagreed. Then again there was PM Ted Heath campaigning for a yes. Need I say more?

Sorry for typos, on my phone.

On Thatcher and the spiteful destruction of British industry I absolutely agree. Although I would cut her some slack on the Falklands.

Religious idiots making ridiculous causal assertions? Be still my heart!

That anybody could ever believe this rot is just ridiculous.

"Religious idiots" saith the YJ, who's wise and uniquely nuanced thoughts make him such a special and singular individual he could never, ever be lumped in to a philosophical or political category with others...

@fulhamish - I didn't catch Mandy telling us we weren't clever enough, I was probably watching big brother or some other rubbish at the time. I have some sympathy for his view though, I don't feel as if I am given the whole cost/ benefit analysis impartially and sometime struggle to know if Europe is a good institution overall or not.

The main thing that surprises me is why no one has linked a referendum on the EU to a referendum on the royal family. It has been a while since anyone asked for the people's opinion on how we are governed, many see it as an institution costly and out of touch. We could throw in a question on the House of Lords at the same time. I think some right wing euro sceptics would change their view on the right of the British people to have their say if we also asked about other constitutional issues.

@ Maniac

Mandy (1973, Oxford PPE) was speaking to a very friendly BBC interviewer - Evan Davies (Also PPE at Oxford, I believe). Of course the conversation went very well, why wouldn't it? :-)

As to referenda you are right lets have a vote on the monarchy - a tight one but I think we might stay as we are. And a fully elected upper house - go for it. While we are at it lets go all Swiss and do the capital punishment thing and immigration too. Why not?