Husting

Speech at hustings

Because I am deeply involved in a by-election, I cannot get to this conference. This presentation is brief. The full text is on the forum, in my campaign thread. I want new NEC members to get a better briefing than I did. Part of that better briefing will be the NEC Guide, which I wrote. On the NEC I do some of the detail work. I checked the constitution and highlighted dozens of improvements --- including re-instatement of "preserving the integrity of the UK". Each month I check the minutes. In January I suggested the solution to the problem of Regional Representation, which was quickly adopted. I have identified how the NEC makes mistakes. One of the symptoms of a mistake is a unanimous vote. To avoid unanimous votes, I have calmly challenged: the draft constitution, Union for the Future, countryside policy, all proposals to adjust candidate lists centrally, the Subscriber database, and any plan to change the party name or logo. As a protection against a possible major mistake, I checked the selection of the new database and took up references on Dataware. They were the best references I have ever seen. I champion newspapers on the NEC. We must distribute newspapers to many more households. We probably need a national edition. I am a great supporter of Assessment and Training. I am chasing candidates to apply for assessment throughout the South East, and maybe Wales. Concerning MEP selection, the Centre has control of assessments. After that we should leave it to the regions to sequence the list. I do however see an unsolved problem --- that regional organisers get unfair exposure to the members. I would like to see all MEPs adopting Westminster seats and fighting them till they win. I want this to be a requirement of the assessment process. I come from a family of barristers and judges. This upbringing has left me absolutely clear about right and wrong. I am shocked at what I see. Banks are amoral. The police have gone downhill. Every piece of financial advice given in return for commission payments has been wrong. Personal pensions may be valueless. Blair ignored the million who marched against the Iraq war. And in prosperous times we have run up debt. Only a UKIP government will clear this mess. It will be hard work. It will not be worth the bother if we allow UKIP to be corrupted along the way. I am ambitious for the party. I believe that it is in UKIP's interest that I remain on the NEC.