With UKIP being wiped out in the local elections that took place on Thursday 4th May, losing every seat they held, many commentators are saying it’s the death of the party. Which in terms of UKIP as a viable political party with a coherent programme that will attract voters is pretty close to the truth. The point is that if pushed, a lot of UKIP activists wouldn’t give a toss because as far as they’re concerned, they’ve won hands down…

Firstly, they have played a major role in achieving Brexit. As we’re more than a bit ambivalent about the issue: A few thoughts on Brexit… – https://southessexstirrer.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/a-few-thoughts-on-brexit/ we won’t dwell too much on this…

Secondly, they’ve driven the Tories to the position of being a nativist, even more reactionary and right wing party: Local elections: UKIP aren’t dead – they’re in charge – http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2017/05/05/ukip-aren-t-dead-they-re-in-charge Check out the rhetoric from the Tory party conference with the crap about people who see themselves as citizens of the world being derided as ‘citizens of nowhere’.

Thirdly, they’ve had the media feeding out of their hands while they peddle their reactionary crap, knowing that all the while, the Tories are taking note of what they’re saying and absorbing it into their agenda. In other words, UKIP have assumed the role of a massive pressure group, forcing the Tories to adopt many of their ideas.

There’s no reason for UKIP to exist any longer because they’ve done the job they set out to do. We have a Tory party with an agenda heavily influenced by UKIP… The Tories are on course to win the forthcoming election on June 8th and when they form the next government, they will have the forces of the state at their disposal to implement an agenda that’s pretty much been written by UKIP.

A motley crew of twenty far right boneheads were harried and hassled by almost three hundred anti-fascist protesters in Croydon on Saturday 6th May: Huge police presence as pro and anti-immigration groups protest in East Croydon – http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/counter-protests-are-happening-in-croydon-today-over-immigration-and-racism/story-30316396-detail/story.html Which is great but…the fact that only around twenty boneheads were out on the streets tells its own story. Namely that a growing number of racists and reactionaries see Theresa May’s Tories as the ones with the ability to implement their agenda…

We have a huge task in front of us… One that will not involve voting in a Labour government – regular readers of this blog will be aware of our views on the complicity of London Labour councils in social cleansing in the name of urban ‘re-generation’. It’s one that involves going a fair bit further than the ballot box: Lob a spanner in the works and let’s have some real change! – https://southessexstirrer.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/lob-a-spanner-in-the-works-and-lets-have-some-real-change/