UKIP - Now Even More Skint

One of those dry and wordy judgments handed down by the European Court of Justice has just made the financial situation for the motley convocation of saloon bar propper-uppers at UKIP a whole lot worse. This might seem strange, as we already know that many of the Kippers’ MEPs have already had their salaries docked for allegedly fiddling their expenses, but they still had access to other EU funds.

Squeaky winding up order finger up the bum time

Specifically, there was the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe, or IDDE. The writing was on the wall for this group back in late 2016, when the Guardian reported “A Ukip-dominated group, the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, will have to give the European parliament a guarantee from a bank with a top-notch credit rating in order to gain €1.1m (£920,000) of EU funds”. This was to prevent misuse of funds.

And there was more: “a Eurosceptic thinktank allied to Ukip will see its EU grant frozen, as the parliament investigates alleged fake donations … The Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe is suspected of having accepted donations linked to contracts it subsequently awarded. The contracts could be seen as a payback for the donation, which the group needed to secure EU funding … Pan-European parties and thinktanks need to raise at least 15% of their money from outside donors in order to receive EU funds”.

In other words, it was suspected that IDDE was inventing the 15% of outside donors’ money in order to get its hands on EU funds. Yesterday’s judgment (see HERE) suggests the suspicion of those providing those EU funds was well founded. The Guardian once again had the story, not that the right-wing press had ignored it, you understand.

“A political group linked to Ukip has lost a legal attempt to restore EU funds that were suspended over fraud allegations, adding to financial pressure on Eurosceptic parties …The European court of justice rejected an appeal by the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe for the release of €670,655 (£587,389) in EU funds, which the organisation had been denied, pending an investigation by Olaf, the EU’s anti-fraud office”.

He won't be getting any extra EU cash, either

There was more. “The IDDE was the Eurosceptic foundation affiliated to the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, a pan-European political party dominated by Ukip, but also including members from Germany’s hard-right Alternative für Deutschland. IDDE and ADDE are now effectively defunct, two sources told the Guardian, after funding scandals led to their EU grants drying up”. More money the Kippers won’t be getting.

Ominously, the article also notes “An Olaf investigation into the donations is ongoing”, and in yet another blow to the Kippers’ cash-flow, confirms “the court ordered IDDE to pay the parliament’s legal costs, although it remains unclear who will pay the bills”.

So when the Kippers meet up to discuss their next move, they will know there is even less money from the EU than they might have expected. The taxpayer-funded fiddling is rapidly coming to a close, as I already warned. Just rejoice at that news.