Friday, May 01, 2015

The Hustings

I have never been to a hustings before so this was a new departure.
They were held in St John's Church and it was very odd to walk past tables of wine after doing a gig in a church in Manchester the other week, where drinkers weren't allowed into the church at all from the bar area.
The proceedings started with a prayer from the vicar: quite a brave thing to do I thought, and (oddly) a reminder that we are all human beings regardless of our political persuasion.
The candidates had drawn lots to determine in which order they were due to speak.
First up was the Green candidate, who delivered an impassioned declaration of her beliefs.
At heart I am green, but I am also practical; we all believe things but from politicians we need strategies and policies, and I didn't hear any at all unfortunately. From where I stand, the UK is in a dire state. You could put it this way: the world is full of sharks, and saying 'I'm a nice fish, don't eat me!' is not the way to see them off.
Then Mr UKIP got up. He was once the maths tutor for one of my daughters, and used to kiss my hand rather creepily every time he came round. You might wonder how he managed to do this, and so do I; that's what I mean by creepy. People who do that have a plan before the door opens.
We were treated to a description of his multicultural background, not unusual in a Londoner, I have to say. At the point at which he claimed that UKIP was an internationalist party, I had to leave the hustings. The only international engagement that I've seen them make is with far-right (i.e. Fascist) parties in Brussels. I felt sick and left before I heard anyone else.
Sorry others, but I honestly don't think I'd be able to share a platform with a UKIP candidate if I was a politician, which may well be why I'm not one!

No comments: