I made a choice to vote for UKIP because they were the only decent option for me. UKIP ended up having a terrible election and finished rather far down the pecking order for the south west constituency I reside in, but unlike a large percentage of remain supporters, I respect the electoral process and can use UKIP's recent loss as valuable experience.
UKIP is a party of British values in a valueless Britain, while that's the reason the party is despised by many, it's the reason I will remain a supporter. In a country where we are told what we shouldn't think, say, see, or do, I believe we need an opposition to ask what gives these rich, entitled politicians the power to decide these things for working class people? The answer seems to be their phoney moral high ground, I don't see that as a qualifier for their entitlement.
For me, voting for The Brexit Party was out of the question during this election. I couldn't bring my self to support the man who threw his previous supporters under the bus by calling them 'racist, skinhead thugs'. Granted, this is something he had to do for his new child to gain the acceptance it now has across the country, it was a means to earn media exposure, he needed that as the leader of 'The People's Army'. Nigel is the original Brexiteer, and one must admire the desire he has to see his vision through, all be it trampling on others to get a desired political outcome.
I attended two of Carl Benjamin /UKIP's' Anti Fascist Parades' as he titled them. Firstly I was present at the Plymouth event and secondly in Totnes. These events were also the first time I came face to face with ANTIFA, the violent vigilantes who protect the public from thinking freely, they are also listed as a terrorist organisation in the U.S.
I was excited to attend these events because in my everyday life there aren't many people who are interested in politics at all, especially not people my age. I was wondering what kind of people would turn up, given the image of UKIP (and Carl Benjamin) that is portrayed in the media. Upon my arrival, there were probably around 150 people, of which 50 were protestors. Protestors with their faces covered and megaphones in hand, shouting and calling Carl a 'Nazi' and a 'Fascist'. I was thinking to myself "I wonder if they can see the blatant irony in what they are doing" but obviously they didn't.
The protestors and local news reporters were only present for around half an hour or so. I would assume this was just so they could get their "Twitter Rapist Carl Benjamin's Rally met by protestors" headline. Once the commotion was over, there were some great conversations about how we can re-house the homeless in Plymouth, the poor treatment of British veterans and the redemption of one present survivor who endured a vicious sexual assault. The people at this event came to support and debate. They were very respectful, polite and honest people. I was surprised, not one pair of doc martins or suspenders in sight.
I was proud to be a part of this great event where people were allowed to speak freely without being judged or looked down upon for their opinions (after the first half an hour). I was later made aware that Carl would be in Tones doing the same thing tomorrow. Immediately, I made my mind up to go because I wanted to show support for the candidate I was planning on voting for and to hear more discussions from different perspectives. I thought it would be the same as it had been today, so why not? I couldn't have been more wrong.
My stepdad drove my mum and me to Totnes in his company work van that he uses for installations, this is clear as the company he works for is detailed on the van, along with the company's phone number. At the time I wore a Make America Great Again hat that I'd bought my mum in jest for Christmas. I shouldn't have to justify why I wore an item of clothing, but I will for the sake of this story. I wore the MAGA hat because, to me, it's a symbol of confidence in my own beliefs and one alternative to walking around in an oversized dress with the EU flag printed on it (yes there was actually a 60-year-old man walking about in such attire, he was also wielding a megaphone, surprise, surprise!).
Once we arrived, I bought a ticket for the car park and noticed some people, I'd only seen them at a glance, they looked like regular pedestrians to me at the time. It took a five-minute walk to get to where the rally was being held, and it already seemed to be kicking off. Carl's team were setting up the area where people come and discuss issues with him over microphones, immediately some courageous activists walked over and dumped manure over this space and then walked off. Multiple people were filming on their phones and hurling abuse at Carl and his supporters.
There were probably 30 people present at this point with 10 protestors. I joked about it for a second with a few people I'd recognised from the day before. After twenty minutes of the commotion I suddenly heard chanting from behind, I turned, and the whole market space was surrounded by dozens of middle class, white protestors wielding rainbow picket signs and chanting in unison "no hate, no fear, fascists are not welcome here". I could not help but break into laughter, it was genuinely hilarious. They made their way to Carl and wanted nothing more but to ruin the event for the supporters. He also got hit with a milkshake but carried on after a change of shirt. I respected their right to protest, but they don't have the right to halt the discussions I knew this event would bring.
One woman who I later learned was a teacher from a local school, stood in front of me without saying a word and just filmed me on her phone for two minutes. I assumed it was because of the naughty hat that I shouldn't have been wearing, but maybe not, maybe she just wanted a cheeky vid of the undeniable sex symbol that I am? Anyway, the majority of protestors had exhausted their usual half-an-hour-stamina and soon moved on because of course, they don't want to listen to us working class folk.
Some great discussions ensued about climate change, integration, classism and the radicalisation of the left to name a few. Once again there were some wonderful people present who I am very grateful to have met, also a surprising amount of people of my age group, a few I stayed in contact with after the rally. I feel like the perception of people who'd attend these rallies are meathead football hooligans' tattooed to their eyeballs', but it's not true. I saw single mothers, young and old, outcasts of society and people who felt unrepresented.
My stepdad had to go back to his van during the commotion as he doesn't really cope well in these kinds of heavy populated situations. We had to leave the event early because when he got back to his van, he discovered that all four tyres had been slashed. Anyone who says this was a coincidence is incredibly foolish, this also happened to the van Carl's team was using later on that day; I found out via social media. If I had to guess why this was done, I'd say it was probably because when I arrived at the car park, they saw that saucy red hat I was wearing.
Is there anything that far leftists hate more than working class people? As I previously wrote, you could clearly tell the van was for home installations. Darn those patriots who want to talk about the issues facing their communities! If they won't listen to our compelling chants calling them fascists lets just ruin their professions instead!
It's understandable though, it's not like any of them can hold their own in a debate or ever see things from another point of view. I shook Carl's hand and thanked him for holding these events because I now feel represented in politics, even if I do have to put up with constant smears and lies in the headlines. These are the reasons why UKIP is not going to go away. You can't keep lying about a group of people and expect them just to disappear, the party is in a transition period currently awaiting a new leader, and there is genuine excitement within the party again. It'll undoubtedly take years, possibly decades, but I believe one-day people will start to wake up and realise they are being played by the media for clicks and their London bubble agenda.
