Should UKIP give a toss about the outlook or 'dodgy' views of potential voters? None of the other parties does

'Can I count on your vote at next week's election sir?'

'Yes you can'.

'Fantastic, thank you.'

'I should perhaps point out that I'm a serial killer, wife-beater and child molester though..'

'Oh dear. Still, I can count on your vote though right?'

'Yes'

'Great.'

Politicians don't give a toss really, about your views, just that they get your tick in the box come election day.  Obviously they have a stance (nationally and locally) that's designed to appeal to the greatest numbers of voters in order to maximise their chance of being elected, but people voting for a candidate and a party and, perhaps most importantly a Prime Minister, are effectively supporting and 'following' a party, not deciding what it stands for.

So to say that UKIP attracts racist voters and therefore it is a racist party is just mad. Actually it's worse than that. It is lazy journalism and, it seems to me, a sinister approach being taken by the MSM (Main Stream Media), politicians and the rest of the 'establishment' as they fear the rise of a party that seems to connect much better than they are doing, with real people.

Yes parties try to pander to populist views. The NHS is either a great British institution, envy of the world or a mess that's killing people. Immigration is a good thing. Yes it is. No question. But are completely open borders when our welfare state pays much more than other countries' whose people can come here and claim immediately and send child benefit home a good thing? Where does this money come from if not the British taxpayer?

Dave talks about doing what's right for Britain and British people. Is that racist? Gordon Brown (texture like sun) talked about 'British jobs for British people'. Is that racist? When did patriotism become racist? You care about your family, community, town, city, nation, probably in that order of priority. Many people who have migrated here and settled here (I'm of Irish decent - first generation) are proud of their choice, proud of their country. Is supporting your national football or cricket team racist? Off you jolly well fuck with that notion.

The great thing is that real people seem to be seeing through all this guff and that the snide protestations coming out of the establishment is actually fueling the momentum that UKIP is enjoying. Think about that for a second or two. It must make the likes of Migration Matters' media advisor and 'freelance' journalist (are those two things compatible?) Dan Hodges furious. And that is just delicious.

I am not a 'Kipper but I do demand that legitimate parties are allowed to be heard and to get their views, policies and messages across, to be discussed and for the voter to decide, not to be told how to think by the media.  There is far too much of that 'being told what to believe' going on these days and I sincerely hope that what is happening in the polls now, reflects the fact that many others are also coming to the same realisation and seeing through this bollocks.

We all know that politicians have their own agenda and interests and indeed that the MSM titles all come at this with their own agenda and slant too. But what they have been doing and trying to do to UKIP recently has been nothing short of scandalous.

Of course when you become a credible party, one that could wield some real power in the country you will come under greater scrutiny from the media and quite right too. And if you cannot stand up to that then maybe you're not fit for the job. But the recent media treatment of UKIP has not been objective, rational or fair. It has not considered the policies on offer but tried instead to smear the party's members and supporters at every opportunity. As Farage calls it: 'playing the man not the ball'. And he's right.

Here's Peter Oborne's piece on this very subject yesterday. It's good, worth a read. And he's a credible journalist rather than a slightly dodgy agenda-driven one like many of those who have been trying to smear UKIP in recent days and weeks. 

Their campaigns will no doubt continue, indeed intensify in the next few days, but hold your ground. UKIP could well be a credible political force after next week's Euro elections: I hope it is, because that will force the establishment to re-think its stance. It might force Ed Miliband to offer a referendum too. It might signal the end of the Lib Dems as a credible force in UK politics. It might even make Dave think harder about trying to 'do a deal' with UKIP in order to unite the right.

What it will also do is shine the spotlight much more brightly on our membership of the EU - and believe me the establishment will absolutely hate that. They have been trying for years - decades - to play down the EU and its malign - and growing - unelected influence over our lives. The 'straight bananas' stuff was carefully designed to make us switch off so that they could sneak though the real issues they wanted to address.

How often do you hear the likes of Clarke, Mandelson and Clegg say, 'it's not a major issue, people don't care, it's not high on the list of people's concerns'? But in the next breath that our leaving would be 'a disaster for British jobs'? So it is important then?

If we remain within the federalist EU structure we will lose our ability to govern ourselves, to be a globally important nation state. It is as simple as that. The EU's vision is for a 'United States of Europe'. That's not speculation but it's publicly stated aim. That would mean a central defense force whose committments would be decided not in our national interests but by 27 other countries, including Spain, with whom we dispute Gibraltar.  It would also, as night follows day, mean losing the pound.

It would also mean the laws that effect our daily lives, forever, would be being made by people for whom we did not vote and can't vote out if we don't like what they're doing. And who have probably never heard of the place in which you live, let alone understand your issues. That's pretty fundamental in my book.

It's time all this was discussed, in the open and that we had a say on it. Hold your ground next week. It's about our existence as a nation state.

Thanks for reading.