On 13/02/2015 13:56, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 13/02/15 13:40, Nightjar "cpb"@ wrote:
....
UKIP almost certainly does have a much higher percentage of sleazy
politicians than other parties. It is relatively new and it is going to
attract rejects from other parties and people, like a couple of ex-BNP
members I know, who see it as a way to get greater acceptance of their
extreme right wing views. Instead of blaming others for the party's
woes, you should be weeding out the bad apples before they are found
out. It is what other parties try to do.


Its relative newness and lack of chance to get people elected actually
means it has a far higher percentage of people who believe in its
principles than career politicians that infest the other parties.

I don't think that is true of either Labour or the Greens, not that I
would want the former (or indeed any party) in power for any great
length of time or the latter ever. However, even if you do have a large
proportion of true believers, that doesn't prevent there also being a
high proportion of sleazy politicians; to have both it only requires
that the complacent middle are less numerous.


--
Colin Bignell