View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Politics
21 October 2014updated 22 Jul 2021 3:59am

Ukip partners with a Polish MEP from a Holocaust-denying party to rescue its EU funding

Ukip, whose EU political group recently collapsed, does a deal with a far-right Polish politician to keep its funding.

By Anoosh Chakelian

Last week, Ukip’s political group in the European Parliament collapsed because its membership fell below the required number of seven member countries.

This would have led to a loss of status in the institution, and also a huge loss of official funding, as outlined by our guest blogger, Catherine Bearder MEP.

But the party has managed to rescue its funding by doing a deal with the Polish MEP, Robert Iwaszkiewicz. Iwaszkiewicz is a member of the Congress of the New Right, a far-right party in Poland. According to the Guardian, its leader, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, has permitted this partnership to take place.

Korwin-Mikke’s outspoken and racist views meant that even Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National in France, ruled out forming an alliance with his party following her success in this year’s European elections, calling his political views “contrary to our values”.

Korwin-Mikke is notorious for racist slurs and for questioning the events of the Holocaust, saying Adolf Hitler was “probably not aware that Jews were being exterminated”.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

The Labour party’s Michael Dugher has condemned Nigel Farage for his decision to do a deal with a representative of such a party. He commented:

As we approach Remembrance in the UK, we rightly honour all those people in Britain who stood up to Hitler and fought against the Nazis and fascism in Europe. Yet here are Ukip forming an alliance with a far-right party in Europe that denies the fact that millions were murdered in the Holocaust, in order to keep receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds from the European Parliament. This shows once again that Ukip do not share the values of decent working people in Britain.

Glenis Willmott MEP, Labour’s leader in Europe, said:

Nigel Farage’s desperate attempt to resurrect his group has seen him sink to an all time low. The views expressed by his new allies are sickening even by UKIP standards.

For all the facade of the rosy cheeked, jovial pinstripe, these developments highlight once again the dark heart of UKIP and the cynicism of Nigel Farage.

Content from our partners
Development finance reform: the key to climate action
Individually rare, collectively common – how do we transform the lives of people with rare diseases?
Future proofing the NHS

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU