Toby Young, a north London journalist best known for launching a Free School in his area, has begun the New Year by reviving his desperate idea for a pact between his declining and dispirited Conservative party and the rising and increasingly confident UKIP.
As the Bible says: ‘As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly’.
Toby’s terms for the deal – he calls it his ‘Country Before Party‘ vote swapping scheme – are not exactly mouth-wateringly attractive to UKIP supporters. Essentially, he is proposing that to stop Ed Miliband becoming Prime Minister (which he sees as the ultimate disaster), UKIP should stand aside in seats where so-called Conservative Eurosceptics are standing, and give such stalwarts a clear run at seeing off Labour.
So what, in return, would UKIP get out of such a scheme? Here Toby’s feet start to execute a soft shoe shuffle, and the sales spiel gets as vague as a rep trying to sell sand in the Sahara.
Apparently, UKIP would get two things from the deal: 1) The promise of a 2017 in/out referendum. 2) ‘a few’ MPs.
Ah, that promise of a referendum. Would that be the same ‘cast-iron guarantee’ solemnly promised (and then promptly reneged on) by old Cast Iron Dave himself? Yes, the very same. So we know how much that particular promise is worth.
And those ‘few seats’ where Conservative voters would pledge themselves to vote UKIP, where would they be now? Ah, Toby only mentions one: Eastleigh.
The same Eastleigh where UKIP’s excellent candidate Diane James pushed the Conservatives into an ignominious third place in last February’s by-election. So does that mean the Conservatives will chuck in the towel there and not stand?
No, our Toby is in no position to guarantee that. No wonder then, that his scheme has received a virtually unanimous giant raspberry from almost every comment on the threads where he has set out his proposals.
The truth is that Toby’s grand scheme is not worth the paper that its not written on, and is just a symptom of the increasing state of panic gripping Cameron’s pseudo-Conservatives as they begin to grasp the nature of UKIP’s challenge to the rule of LibLabCon.
There might have been a time, long ago, when UKIP supporters would have entertained such an unofficial pact. Those were the days when some of the more trusting souls among us believed that there was such a thing as Conservative Euroscepticism. But the scales have long since fallen from our eyes.
Even the meanest intelligence now knows that the Conservative party’s leadership are craven cowards who have sold out our independence, sovereignty and existence as a free nation to an increasingly oppressive unelected foreign power. And that the mass of Conservative MPs – including so-called Eurosceptics – are too gutless to remove this corrupt Cameron clique which is leading them into the abyss.
The choice between Miliband and Cameron is akin to death by cyanide or death by arsenic; both are toxic for Britain. Increasing numbers of people realise that UKIP is the only alternative to their putrid politics and that any sort of pact with the parties of death would be like embracing a corpse.
Sorry Toby: it’s no deal. We are out to destroy you, not to marry you.
We have already settled this matter in the Bath and North East Somerset branch. Our members voted decisively against any electoral pact with the Conservatives. Jacob Rees-Mogg MP has proposed such a pact. He appears to be Eurosceptic. However if he will not join our Party it is our duty to stand our candidate against him. He may well be in for a nasty (for him) surprise in 2015.
Cameron – a man so incredibly vain that he has put forward his hairdresser for an MBE.- for services to bald patches and hair colouring. He needs to go.Definitely no deal.
I cannot see what could be offered that would be in the interests of UKIP under the current conservative leadership. Quite how Cameron can keep a straight face when he has opened the door to millions of unskilled immigrants I don’t know – philosophically he’s not compatible with true conservatism, or UKIP.
Unfortunately for the Conservatives it’s too late for 2015 – they will learn a big (and obvious) lesson and can change from there on.
Ian has the best plan. hold branch votes and let them decide. I suspect that would kill off the idea. Of course no one can tell people how to vote, or know which way they do. I suspect we will get quite a few “secret” Tory votes this time round, maybe Labour ones too. There seems to be a big difference between the Polls and actual votes cast in by-elections, where we do much better. The penny has clearly dropped in Tory circles now and they are getting desperate. After May they should be in complete panic,Tally Ho.
If UKIP are not at the very least part of a governing coalition post May 2015, with some unassailable red lines favouring British interests and the British people, I truly believe it will be too late, and that the countries, ours, and especially our children’s futures, will be dire indeed.
I’d much rather see the eurosceptic Tories (if there are any- and, if they are, why are they still IN the Tories?) stand aside for UKIP candidates. If Toby believes this is a good idea (notice how he wants US to stand aside for THEM) then fine. If not, then it’s an obvious ploy whereby UKIP would be the losers. The Bible also says in Proverbs 26:5
“Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”
On the Isle of Wight we held a vote (reported earlier) as to whether we (I) should stand aside in 2015 for Eurosceptic Conservative MP (an oxymoron if ever there was one) Andrew Turner. The votes cast were Stand Aside 1, Do not stand aside 106, Abstentions 2. I urge every branch to hold a similar ballot, and we can send a crystal clear message to the Conservatives, UKIP will fight in 2015, and fight to win.