Thursday 7 January 2016

UKIP: The Wheels Come Off?

I didn't particularly want to write another piece about UKIP as this blog prefers to concentrate on campaigning trying to exit from the EU - we have much bigger fish to fry. However following on from our piece regarding the Mail on Sunday headlines, we note an understandable determination of the legacy media this week to probe further Farage's "claims".

The Mirror reports that Farage's car was not part of a widely publicised recall:
A Volvo spokesman later said: "I can confirm that Mr Farage’s car was not part of that recall, so no such work was required."
The Mirror was following up the story and despite clearing Farage of ignoring a possible recall the story as published by the Mail still has significant question marks hanging over it. With this in mind we see that the Times reports (I quote a substantial part of it as it's behind a paywall):
[Farage's] version was challenged by the prosecution service in Dunkirk, which said that a police report said it was an accident and made no mention of sabotage. A spokesman said that prosecutors would have started a criminal investigation if there had been any suspicion of foul play. They did not.

Farage, who was not hurt, said that he chose not to file a lawsuit following the crash. The prosecution service in Boulogne-sur-Mer said: “In France, prosecutors can investigate even without the victim’s agreement.”

The Ukip leader said that the mechanic called to repair the car had told him that the nuts had been unscrewed deliberately.

Philippe Marquis, a garage owner, told Libération that he had said nothing of the sort. He told the newspaper that the nuts were loose but that he believed that this was because of shoddy repair work. He added that he had been unable to communicate with Mr Farage because neither spoke the other’s language: “We only spoke with our hands.”
Farage's account is now being directly contradicted by reports in the Times.

And it's no surprise there is scrutiny. To make an accusation of an assassination attempt is a very serious charge. One that should not be made without substantial evidence. That the French police failed to investigate and Farage never made an official compliant calls into significant doubts over the claim.

However oddities of the story could also be due to the case that UKIP has now split in two, albeit unofficially, so reports of "Farage assassination" may reflect that split and may not be what they seem.

Not that it matters anymore. If we are to win an EU referendum it's going to be the people who matter, not the internal politics of a party supposedly dedicated to EU exit.

We have more pressing issues to deal with...

Hattip for image scribblingsfromseaham

 

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