to wonder if UKIP is doing some kind od stealth campaign via mumsnet?

[goshhhhhh]

Sorry this is a thread about threads...just seems to me there is something weird going on.....

There are a couple of posters who type almost entirely in sound bites and political rhetoric. I strongly suspect they have an investment in swaying opinion though conversely, their inability to actually debate in a personal way means they are easy to ignore.

It may well be a good thing if it is opening up debate.

YABU

UKIP are the most interesting thing to have happened to UK politices in years. You might not agree with them, but lets face it - they are stirring things up and they have royally pissed off Alex Salmond which is always a good thing in my book

But it's not very subtle & a bit one sided.

I so to think UKIP is subtle

We can pearl clutch and sigh (as Nick and Ed are doing now) or listen and form policies to calm people's fears/concerns both valid and stirred up

I noticed that it was Cameron who said they would listen to the results, Nick and Ed just said they thought the message was wrong!! No no. If they keep this fingers in ears crap we will sleepwalk to a Tory landslide as they will absorb the UKIP voters.

Most of the posting on the threads i have seen have been very anti UKIP, to the point where i think the posters who have admitted voting for them are brave!

I think its good to see some of the myths surrounding their policies dispelled or challenged and Its certainly made me look at them differently over the past few days in both a positive and negative light.

Isnt that the whole point of Mumsnet, to throw a lot of different people into the same conversation and watch them challenge each other or advise and help each other.

YAB a bit U, i've enjoyed reading all of the UKIP threads and feel i've learnt something which is a rare thing in this house!

I've had the exact same thought, OP. They certainly got more publicity on here in the run-up to the election than any other party.

Of course debate is a good thing.

Saturation is however dull, repetative and obvious.

Multiple threads all going 'whoop we're the winners' is like being on an xfactor forum.

Why have they pissed off Alex Salmond? did they do well in Scotland?

I don't think they're interesting - I think they're fascists. Beneath the veneer of respectability lies something rather sinister.

God it would be a fucking boring site if we all thought the same.

I agree entirely that it would be boring & there is a difference between debate & campaigning.

There have been loads more multiple threads - on all sorts of issues in the papers. There always has been and it's got worse post PB.

This of course could be taken to be a post by a different party activist trying to damn UKIP by suggesting there is noway anyone old be a genuine supporter.

If you look for conspiracies, you'll find them. Especially if you come from a background of the only party absolutely known to manipulate.

90% of the UKIP threads are anti UKIP - but I honestly think the sooner ( some ) people realise we live in a democracy & can vote for who ever we want the better. UKIP are now a major force in UK politics & are shaping the policies of the other main parties. - that is a fact & the sooner people accept it the better. & I'm a Labour supporter.

They gained a seat in Scotland which I think a lot of people, especially the SNP, found surprising. The SNP are keen to make people believe that Scotland and England are very political beasts and they focused a lot on 'keep Scotland UKIP free' during the run up to the elections. This result proves that Scotland also has its fair share of conservative Euro sceptics.

Mama I can assure you my parents arnt fascists.

My mother was an evacuee in the war and my grandfather died of his injuries.

Statements like that are very unhelpful as they label people who, in lots of cases, feel ignored/ridiculed and sidelined and are desperately trying to make a point to the main parties.

I really hope they listen and don't keep ignoring or demonising as that way we end up like France, god forbid.

Why have they pissed off Alex Salmond?

They got one of the 6 seats. AS had claimed that the success south of the border highlights a fundamental difference between English and Scottish political attitudes, and is now blaming the BBC for the UKIP winning a seat up here claiming that they have been “beaming in” English coverage of Nigel Farage and corrupting Scottish minds. You think Farage is a nut? Try living here...

Anyway, sorry for my thread hijack

I have long felt that on MN, saying you think UKIP may have a point is like saying that you pierced your baby's ears at birth. So I for one have kept off all the many, many 'You are a loon/misogynistic racist bigot if you like UKIP' threads. It seemed very fashionable to say this. But maybe now those MNers who actually agree with some of what UKIP says are prepared to speak up.

Ha ha good. I think I prefer a pissed off looking Salmond to a triumphant Farrage and that's saying something.

'Conservative euro-sceptic' (see Squoosh, above) is a good description of how I feel.

I don't intend to vote for UKIP in the general election if the Tories get their act together in time and give us the EU referendum that we've been promised for years and i know that other people feel the same.

To dismiss large swathes of the voting public for any reason is a bloody stupid and dangerous thing to do.

To attempt to stifle debate is in itself bigoted and stupid.

Either here or in RL.

UKIP have got a point, if they hadn't. millions of people wouldn't be voting for them. You can't tell me every single UKIP voter is an ignorant fool
who doesn't understand politics ( because of course all Labour voters are educated to degree level, naturally ) people want change & that's what they're voting for. Democracy at work.

Yanbu.

All the parties do it, UKIP just aren't capable of the subtly the others are.

They want to

• greatly increase military spending,
• greatly increase the number of prisons to house people who are sentenced to life for a minor offence
• repeal the Human Rights Act and withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom
• support big business
• close the borders
• blame immigrants for all our problems.
• increase the tax burden of working people
• reduce taxes paid by the wealthy
• maker deeper spending cuts
• hasten the break-up of the NHS
• reduce maternity leave and maternity pay
• prevent same-sex marriage

In Europe, members voted against equal pay for women and against a measure that condemned FGM.

They seem pretty Fascist to me.

Mmm don't recall any subtly about Alistaire Campbell either.

A good PR machine should be targeting and listening to voters. That's called doing a good job.

That's how new labour, and in her day Maggie with Bernard Ingham,won huge landslides.

Labour needs to do a bit of back stabbing and fighting dirty, Ed Balls used to do it all the time for poor old Gordon.

Makes me wonder if he's hoping Ed fails ( he has) and he gets the top job. Slimy bastard.