SHAME!

Well, in the last post we covered financially bankrupt, so I suppose it was only right to look at morally bankrupt as well. Today, I read the headline

"UKIP Bars Disabled Candidate from Prime Seat"

Could this just be the Independent going on about positive discrimination? No, it turns out that the reason was that the man, a Mr. Jack Biggs, was indeed rejected by UKIP because he was disabled. The local UKIP chairman, Vicki Sharp, wrote the following to Mr. Biggs:

"In view of your being registered disabled you will not be able to stand as a full candidate for Ukip." She went on to say that they would welcome him as a paper candidate (that is, a candidate whose name is on the ballot paper, but is not expected to win or campaign). Paper candidates are usually only used in unwinnable seats, but this was (tragically) a winnable seat for UKIP.

Now, had Nigel Farage, UKIP's leader, had half a brain, he might have said "Yes, this is a disgrace, I apologise on behalf of the party for the awful treatment of Mr. Biggs etc. etc." But he didn't, did he?

No, what he said was:

"He was trying to get us to say that he couldn't be a target candidate and to use that, and to try and blackmail the party into not standing against his daughter, who was a current serving councillor. I don't think he has behaved very honourably."

Honourably? What the hell does Nigel Farage know about honour? Not only does his party reject a candidate on the grounds of disability without so much as a murmer of dissent from him, he then goes and slurs said candidate's name in yet another pathetic attempt to portray UKIP as the long-suffering victims of other people's malice.

Please, could the Electoral Commission and the Courts hurry up and make them pay the £300,000 they owe so we can be rid of this shameful excuse for a political party.