UKIP News Review

National News

Derek Clark MEP reveals to the Express (two front pages in two days, well done team) a great junket to Tenerife on the part of MEPs from all the establishment parties.

In Europe sucked in by Europe it seems guys. The ACP trip to the Canaries is a vital use of yyour time this close to an election. And yes they are discussing Climate Change, Bananas and EU control of imigration,

Derek points out the hypocrisy,

Critics last night branded it “hypocritical” to fly delegations thousands of miles – creating some 200 tons in carbon emissions – to discuss saving the planet. UKIP Euro-MP Derek Clark said: “MEPs from all three establishment parties are off on a junket with taxpayers’ cash, pouring tons of carbon into the atmosphere.”

Simon Hoggart in the Guardian is suprisingly kind about Farage's book,

Compared with Ukip, the Labour party is as placid as a Buddhist ashram. I have been, somewhat to my surprise, greatly enjoying Fighting Bull, the memoirs of Nigel Farage, until recently Ukip's leader. The book is very funny, often written in sulphuric acid, mostly when describing his colleagues, such as the hilarious Robert Kilroy-Silk. His descriptions of the self-indulgent, atrophied, bureaucracy-crazed, gourmandising, feeble and febrile workings of the European parliament are terrific. And I liked his account of arriving there:

"My first live media interview was with Phil Hornby of Meridian TV. 'Well, Nigel,' he said, 'you said you'd do it and you've done it. From now on it's going to be endless lunches, lavish dinners, and champagne receptions. Will you be corrupted by the lifestyle?'

"'No,' I told him with a shrug and a grin. 'I've always lived like that.' "

I finished the book on the train yesterday and will post my own review shortly.

The International Business Times flags up Lord Pearson's response to the Budget.

Elsewhere
Stuart Agnew's comments about Egg production make the Farmer's Weekly. An expert view on a serious subject.

Other stuff

Janet Daley pulls her hair out in the Telegraph, pointing to George Osborne's dire performance on the Today program.

What became clear was that the Tories simply were not willing to enunciate any clear, concise distinction between their approach to the economic crisis and that of the Government. Talking in vague terms of energy and vision (time for a change) cuts no ice against the proposition that Labour clearly intends to put at the centre of its election campaign: we are the grown-up, responsible team who have seen you through this crisis - so the last thing you want is change for its own sake. If the Conservatives cannot even describe the basic philosophical shift they have in mind, and make a persuasive case for it, why should anyone choose to take a chance on them?

Good qustion Janet, and one to which your commentors seem only too willing to supply an answer.

For th final word, I go back to the Express, this time their editorial
"The cost of belonging to the EU is too high" it states,

Proposals, backed by France and Germany, to create an “economic government of the EU” headed by the unelected European President Herman Van Rompuy are extremely alarming.

At worst they will result in the final removal of sovereignty from all EU member nations. At best they will prove that any country joining the euro must cede control over its tax and spending policy as well as its interest and exchange rates.

This will come as no surprise to those who always understood that a single currency could not possibly work without a single, all-powerful government at its heart.

In any event, this new package of powers for Brussels shows that the price demanded of EU members in terms of the loss of national democratic accountability is being raised yet again.

Britain already pays a heavy financial price for its membership and the benefits bestowed by belonging are increasingly hard to identify. So an awkward question that none of the so-called “mainstream” parties wishes to address is raised: wouldn’t it be better to leave?

As The Express knows only too well only one party offers any hope of that and that is UKIP.