press release from the office of Richard Corbett MEP

11 October 2004

Corbett and BE expose UKIP's darkest secrets

Pro-European lobby group Britain in Europe will tomorrow be publishing a controversial report entitled '25 things you didn't know when you voted for UKIP'.

Written by Richard Corbett, an expert on the European Parliament and an MEP in Yorkshire, the document is to be  launched tomorrow (Tuesday 12 October) at a press conference in Brussels. It is already available in the UK.

The cornerstone of Corbett's report is an analysis of current and recent links between UKIP and other extreme-right groups, including the BNP, the National Front and the New Britain Party.

But the document also highlights UKIP's pronouncements on subjects ranging from immigration ("bleating blacks and Asians. why don't they stop whining and get a life?"), to women's rights ("No self-respecting businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age"), to terrorism (the UK's position in the EU is analogous to Chechnya's position in  Russia ), to gay rights ("I don't want to campaign around gays. I don't think they do a lot for society").

And it investigates the dubious histories of many of UKIP's leading activists, as well as the appalling record of UKIP's MEPs in the European Parliament.

Richard Corbett said:

"It's been common knowledge for months that there's more motivating the UK Independence Party than they are prepared to admit. But this is the first time that a single document has brought together strands of evidence from dozens of sources, each carefully referenced and double-checked.

"The views expressed by UKIP's representatives range from the sickening, to the risible, to the downright bizarre. This report exposes them for what they truly are."

T he report is  available on the internet: http://www.britainineurope.org.uk/.ten/articles/theres-something-about-ukip

Notes for editors

The press conference will be held at 11h00 CET (10am UK time) on 12 October 2004 in the European Parliament building, Brussels.

More information

Contact Toby Wardman, Press & Communications Officer for Richard Corbett MEP

phone 0113 245 8987

e-mail toby@richardcorbett.org.uk