Thursday October 6 Steven Woolfe MEP turned 49. He spent his birthday in the European parliament, in an altercation with another MEP, collapsed on a bridge and then in hospital as it was reported he was in a life-threatening condition.
Friday he appears to be doing OK but there is a lot of damage limitation and spin underway. The other man involved was initially unnamed but it did not take long for his identity to be revealed. It is the aptly named Mike Hookem MEP from my city Hull. Mr Hokem, 62, is the party’s defence spokesman and a former Royal Marines Commando. Both men are well built but there is an obvious age difference between them. The "altercation" has had mixed reporting. Was it a brawl, a fight, a scuffle or just silliness? Mike Hookem on Sky News Friday gave his side of the story. UKIP MEPs called a clear-the-air meeting Thursday to discuss news that Steven Woolfe was considering switching to the Tory Party. Mr Hookem and others are concerned about electing another new party leader who may then jump ship and Mr Woolfe could easily be elected the new UKIP leader. But as tempers frayed Mr Woolfe allegedly took off his jacket and invited Mr Hookem to take it outside. Hooken denies any punches or slaps happened and describes what happened as an embarrassing scuffle. Denying any fisticuffs he uses a local phrase instead to describe it as "handbags at dawn" saying Woolfe is building the story up. But he confirmed he has received an email from Woolfe from his hospital bed and that the two men plan to shake hands and put the incident behind them. That may not be so easy. Temporary UKIP party leader Nigel Farage has launched an investigation. If either or both men broke party rules they could be removed from the party. [Martin Scultz refers incident involving MEP Steven Woolfe to advisory committee.] How soon would it be before Steven Woolfe joins the Conservatives I wonder if that happens?
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Op-ed: Tuesday 18 days after being elected as the new party leader of UKIP Diane James quit. Enter that proverbial bad penny, boomerang man or saviour of UKIP Nigel Farage who is once more running that political party though this time he claims it will be temporary and until such time as a new party leader is elected.
UKIP are traditionally a one-man party with on political aim. The aim to get the UK out of the European Union and the man is Nigel Farage. UKIP have two MPs, both Tory Party defectors, Douglas Carswell and Neil Hamilton, but Carswell could of course cross the floor of the House of Commons and rejoin his old Conservative pals; I doubt Hamilton could! When BRexit is complete UKIP will have no meaning or purpose. For many of us they never had either. Ironically Farage has a political role as an elected MEP that is Member of the European Union parliament. Still he does not have to worry about finances but that's another story. When Diane James quit she claimed someone on a train had spit on her since becoming party leader and that she did not have the support of some in her party. Mouthy Carole Malone doing the press review on Sky News late Tuesday seemed to think the spitting was OK. She was derisory about Ms James in effect saying she should toughen up. How very odd when Ms Malone has been one of those calling Momentum and Jeremy supporters for alleged, sometimes, non-existent, abuse. But she has quit ahead of her role as leader being formalised so pranksters on social media Tuesday were quick to say Mr Farage has simply had a two-week vacation and is now back at work. She did win the election by a massive majority so who knows what claims of a lack of support are about. "The South East England MEP [James} became the first woman to lead the Eurosceptic party on 16 September, following a leadership election caused by Farage stepping down after the EU referendum." One potential candidate Stephen Woolfe was excluded as he missed the deadline because of “technical problems on the party system” on the day that nominations closed. His supporters may have been part of the problem. Political pundits, Bookies and the mainstream media now seem to think Mr Woolfe is favourite to win the next UKIP leader election but will Farage actually leave this time. He quit after the General election 2015 but quickly returned so perhaps for him and UKIP it will be third time lucky or unlucky depending on your view of Mr Farage. |
British political scene
The next General Election in the UK may not be scheduled any time soon but the British political landscape is changing. With that in mind this blog will concentrate on the political scene but with a left wing perspective. Opinion pieces and news will bring you the stories that the MSM prefer to ignore. Archives
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