EU Referendum


UKIP: mocking the afflicted


27/11/2014



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One shouldn't mock the afflicted, but we're happy to make the exception when the Ukip Muppets are out and about. Here we have the intellectually challenged Jonathan Arnott, Ukip's EU budget spokesman, wailing in the Daily Express about the reste à liquider reported yesterday by the dismal Daily Telegraph.

Clearly, without the first idea of what he is talking about, wrongly referring to the RAL as a "shortfall", he blathers in typical UKIP style: "We've known for a while that the European Union is struggling to stick to its spending limits but no one expected that the shortfall would be so high".

Then, in an almost comedic intervention, his wailing goes into high pitch as he asks: "How can a black hole as much as £259 billion possibly have gone unnoticed by the political establishment?"

The poor little lamb is so all at sea here that we should have sympathy for him. Probably the only person in the "political establishment" not to have noticed the RAL story is Jonathan Arnott. Not least, a statement on the RAL is published every year in July, in the Consolidated Accounts, as here in 2012 and here in 2013. And then there is this year's supplementary report, published on 13 November. 

The current concern with the way RAL was increasing, however, stems from a report of the European Parliament in May 2012 and then, of course, the issue was raised by Booker (pictured below) last year. If Mr Arnott couldn't cope with official documents, there was even a story with a picture for him. As usual, though, UKIP went AWOL.

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That all of this activity should escape the notice of UKIP is not at all surprising, though. Not once has the party shown any capacity for understanding EU politics, but the intellectual fog cloaking their spokespersons is wondrous to behold - even if it's closer to smog then fog.

Their saving grace, however, is that the London hacks are equally challenged, and when it comes to the Express, it and UKIP are such strangers to anything approximating the truth that these two were made for each other. "Blind leading the blind", doesn't begin to describe it.

The big joke, though, is Farage's suggestion that Owen Paterson should join UKIP. Why would any self-respecting person want to join his train-wreck of a party? The description "thick" would actually be a compliment for some of his mouth-breathing members, elevating stupidity to an art form.