Kippered

An entertaining evening courtesy of one of the UEA politics societies who had invited two members of UKIP (the UK Independence Party - a right-leaning bunch which has attracted former members of the British National Party and English Defence League supporters) to speak. Attendance was limited to people who held University ID cards (campus cards) so I got in without any difficulty and a friend got in by - well, she got in.

The meeting took the form of the two UKIP bods speaking for about 30 minutes then the Chair (my friend Nick who is a local teacher, member of We Are Norwich and who will be chair of Norwich Pride in 2015) responding with a few questions to them before inviting questions from the floor.

UEA is in Norwich South and I'm sure I - and others living in Norwich South - will be able to take comfort in the knowledge that UKIP prospective MP Steve Emmens (left of the photo) declared at the UEA meeting on the evening of 10 December:

"I don't care about the world!",
"What, not even a little bit Steve?" asked Nick O'Brien, Chair of the meeting
"No, I care about Norwich South."

And so it went on - did you know that people are freezing in this country because of climate change? And that Eric Masters(right of the photo), Steve Emmen's sidekick, thinks that breastfeeding in public is wrong because small children may see it and be upset?

It was all rather entertaining but I did get a bit fed up of hearing Masters catchphrase 'You're all gonna love this!' time after time. Needless to say, there was very little that we loved.

Word is that Douglas Carswell, the former Tory who is now UKIP's first elected MP (Clacton) is coming to speak at UEA in the new year. I have a feeling he will be less of a comedy act than those two were. I only wish that whoever organises that event will also invite the prospective candidates from the Green Party and Labour in Norwich South to share the platform and that it will be an open meeting.

After the meeting myself, Nick and several other friends and comrades from the so-called 'lairy left' adjourned to the Grad bar for beer, wine and a vigorous attack on a box of chocolates.