UKIP AND ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION Fellow clergy will empathise that it is always on the day off that the ‘interesting’ information reaches you. For me, that dose of said information came when I picked up the junk mail off the mat to find a UKIP flier. As I went to deliver it to recycling I took a cursory glance to see if I could send it back at cost to the party. And that is when I saw the face of a churchgoer from one of my congregations. Two weeks later, we got the news that UKIP had scored a healthy second in the local election. Around the country I watched UKIP rack up council seats in a lot of areas like mine. Rotherham had a gain of nine seats, and there were large swathes of Essex which have a purple hue. Many of my friends have took the approach in the run up to these elections that is marked by parody and ridicule of UKIP. Its become a social media badge of honour to point out the foibles and failings of any UKIP candidate. And yet, my friends, that hasn’t worke
This is where some of what I think gets a public audience.