Saturday, November 01, 2014

Ukip runs into further trouble in Lutterworth

Photo of Lutterworth by Stephen Mckay

Last month the Ukip East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer performed the remarkable feat of discovering a massage parlour in Lutterworth.

Now comes news, thanks to the Leicester Mercury, that the party has been banned from setting up a stall in the town because of a 15th-century royal charter.

The paper quotes Ukip's branch secretary as saying:
"It’s ridiculous. This 15th century royal charter is being waved around as a reason we can’t set up a stall. We’re being told we can’t set one up within 6.2 miles of the town centre because of a centuries old law.
"All we want to is set up a table and in my view this is just a politically motivated move by a Tory who is worried about losing her seat to UKIP. She is trying to suppress UKIP."
Odd. You would think this is just the sort of British tradition the party would want to uphold.

3 comments:

Malcolm Noble said...

Hey come on, this is a political party wanting to give out leaflets! Whether we agree with EU membership or not, I do wonder if we are crossing a line when we stifle very ordinary political campaigning like this. We need to be a little bit careful

Jonathan Calder said...

Yes, you do wonder if this rule is consistently applied.

Frank Little said...

There is a similar charter applying to Neath Market. It is occasionally waived, but strangely never in favour of people associated with parties in opposition to Labour.