The Labour Party candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Cllr Mick Lerry, has thrown down the gauntlet to his UKIP opponent over that party’s links to the Far Right in Europe.
When media darling Nigel Farage found himself short of numbers for his Eurosceptic bloc in the European Parliament he turned to the right wing Polish Congress of the New Right to give his EDFF group the required number to qualify for committee chairs and increased euro funding.
Senior members of the Congress of the New Right have been accused of racist remarks and statements deeply offensive to women to such an extent that even the French far right Front National won’t work with them. Cllr Mick Lerry is so concerned that he has written the following letter to the UKIP candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset.
Letter to UKIP candidate regarding the EFDD
Letter to Stephen Fitzgerald – UKIP PPC for Bridgwater and west Somerset Constituency
Dear Stephen
I am writing to ask whether you support your party’s new alliance with a party led by a man with despicable views, including questioning the Holocaust.
Your leader has joined with the Polish Congress of the New Right Party in order to preserve the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy grouping in the European Parliament and continue to receive European funding.
As reported in the Guardian on 21st October, their leader, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, declared last July that the minimum wage should be “destroyed” and said that “four million niggers” lost their jobs in the US as a result of President John F Kennedy signing a bill on the minimum wage in 1961.
He has also called for the vote to be taken away from women and claimed that the difference between rape and consensual sex is “very subtle”.
Most offensive and extreme, he has said that Adolf Hitler was “probably not aware that Jews were being exterminated”.
Janusz Korwin-Mikke’s views are so extreme that the National Front in France ruled out forming an alliance with him.
The Polish MEP who has joined UKIP’s European grouping, Robert Iwaszkiewicz, himself reportedly told a newspaper that men hitting their wives can “help them come back down to earth”.
People in Bridgwater and West Somerset Constituency will find it unbelievable that Nigel Farage has aligned UKIP with such repulsive opinions in order to preserve £1m of funding to UKIP’s from the European Parliament.
UKIP are cosying up to individuals with truly unacceptable opinions – opinions which run contrary to the values of British people.
UKIP cannot simultaneously claim to stand up for working people while supporting attitudes such as these. Will you therefore condemn the actions of your party leader in joining with the Congress of the New Right Party? If you will not, you will publicly defend Mr Janusz Korwin-Mikke’s comments with regard to “niggers”, Hitler and rape?
Given the strong public interest in this matter and your response, I am releasing this letter to the media.
Yours sincerely
Mick
Cllr Mick Lerry
Labour PPC for Bridagwater and West Somerset
11th November 2014
Great letter Mick, it will be interesting to see what the right wing press make of this.