Is there life in UKIP yet?

Ailing party’s decision to team up with
controversial YouTubers provides much-needed ‘shot in the arm’

One-Minute Read

Having taken the reigns in April, new party leader Gerard Batten
has “opened its doors to three controversial YouTube
personalities”, The Independent reports.

New UKIP members Mark Meechan, Paul Joseph Watson and Carl
Benjamin have all made headlines with their contentious views.

Meechan sparked an outcry last year when it emerged that he had
trained his girlfriend’s pug dog to give Nazi salutes when it hears
statements such as “gas the
Jews” and “Sieg Heil”.

Watson is a senior editor at InfoWars, the US-based website run
by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that deals with
so-called fake news.

The site has alleged that the Sandy Hook Elementary School
shooting in 2012, in which more 20 children and six adults died,
was a hoax.

The third YouTuber, Benjamin, was last year accused of promoting
a series of tweeted rape threats against Labour MP Jess
Phillips.

Responding after the MP said that “people talking about raping
me isn’t fun, but has become somewhat par for the course”, Benjamin
tweeted: “I wouldn’t even rape you, Jess Phillips.”

The decision to allow the trio to join UKIP has attracted
considerable criticism.

A spokesman for the group Hope Not Hate, which campaigns against racism
and fascism, said: “There are attempts afoot to forge an alliance
between extreme figures who have made their names online, those
involved in electoral politics, and those out on the streets,
around an anti-Muslim and pro-‘free speech’ agenda.

“In following the path he’s chosen, Batten is leading UKIP down
a dangerous route, and the acceptance of figures such as Watson is
further evidence of this.”

However, The Guardian’s Malik says the appointments may
prove to be a “shot in the arm” for the ailing party, after a year
of turmoil that culminated in the ousting of Henry Bolton as leader.

“What [the three] have in common is less a coherent political
position, and more a sort of uber-troll politics that – once
plugged into a global network that has managed to infiltrate
mainstream parties and power – can be significantly disruptive,”
Malik says.

Meanwhile, a UKIP spokesperson responded to the criticism by
arguing that “bringing people into mainstream politics is a good
thing”. When quizzed about Benjamin’s comments to Phillips, the
spokesperson added: “One hopes if he says something like that again
then we would have to look into it.”

However, the representative said UKIP “took issue” with the
notion that the three new members were from the far-right.