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Saturday 24 January 2015

Liberal Democrat defects to UKIP

Curiouser and curiouser! A Liberal Democrat councillor named Diane Horn has defected to UKIP ahead of standing for election to the Snepshed borough and town council elections later this year. She explained her decision to switch to UKIP as arising from her disillusionment with the Liberal Democrats, occasioned by, according to the Loughborough Echo, the fact that “I am no longer sure what the Lib Dems represent.” 

Councillor Horn is not impressed by Nick Clegg and his volte-face over the tuition fees issue. She told the paper that she thought that the Lib Dems are considering some “frightening” measures in connection with the NHS, whereas “UKIP is trying to protect jobs and repair the UK economy and reduce debts.” For her, UKIP’s stance is also closer to her own insofar as she wants “to make sure the people of England are put first.” Leaving the EU therefore holds no fears for her. Councillor Horn has served her local community as an elected representative for nine and a half years, and before her defection, was considering standing down altogether, owing to her disillusionment with her former party. 

Sadly, and predictably, Councillor Horn has been called a ‘racist’ owing to her change of party allegiance. She is not.  

How many more defections might occur? It would, of course, be entering the realms of science fiction to imagine a Lib Dem MP defecting to UKIP, but it will be interesting to see how robust their grassroots membership proves to be in the coming years. Although Councillor Horn’s choice of new party is unlikely to appeal to most Lib Dems, the Greens must surely present a more agreeable home for many of them. It will be interesting to see what impact the seven-way debates have on the relative fortunes of the Greens, the Lib Dems and Labour.

4 comments:

  1. Glad to see you're back. Where have you been if you don't mind my asking?

    Outlaw Mike/Belgium

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mike. Other things in life had to take priority for a time. Although I have posted quite frequently recently, it is unlikely that I will have the time to post as frequently as I did a couple of years back. Keep dropping by though!

      Delete
  2. Anyone who questions immigration is branded racist by the PC brigade who want to stifle all debate on this subject. Stick to your guns, Diane, don't be cowed by the LibLabCon and their cohorts. I was a lifelong Labour supporter ~ never again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's true enough Mark. The 'racist' gibe is employed primarily to personally undermine someone, rather than to identify genuine 'racism'. I'm glad to see that you have left Labour behind. The party bears little resemblance to what its founding members intended.

      Delete

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