The UKIP group leader on Lincolnshire County Council, Councillor Colin Mair, has spoken out for the first time since the local group was split and its leader removed from the party.
Colin Mair says the five remaining members of the ‘UKIP Lincolnshire’ breakway group could “end up not being members of UKIP” while ousted leader “Chris Pain in pursuing his own private war with senior people in UKIP.”
He says the breakaway group were told they “are welcome to stay in the main UKIP group,” which would gain UKIP again official opposition status on the County Council if it gains 13 or more members. However, Councillor Mair says none of them have indicated they would return.
[button url=”http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2013/09/timeline-the-rise-and-troubles-of-lincolnshire-ukip/” title=”Timeline UKIP Lincolnshire”]Timeline: The rise and troubles of UKIP in Lincolnshire[/button]
Councillor Colin Mair’s statement in full below:
Colin Mair, UKIP Councillor for Tattershall Castle
“We have maintained a dignified silence over the problems Chris Pain has had with UKIP and I have watched the media campaign being run by Chris and his team with a growing feeling that here we have people who are trying to go out of their way to destroy UKIP.
“There are a lot of good people working for UKIP, not the least being the ten county councillors left high and dry by the antics of Chris Pain. We continue to work hard for our constituents and our party, ignoring as much as possible the distractions of the splinter group.
“If you look at the webcast of last Friday’s county council meeting you will see our group contributing very positively to the meeting, for example. It is sad that good people decided to break away with Chris Pain and it is also a fact that the inevitable result of this, if things do not change, is that they will end up not being members of UKIP.
“Before all this our group was becoming completely fragmented, with an atmosphere of bullying, back-biting and mud-slinging, and we were facing a break up of the group. With the suspension of Chris Pain we decided to get a grip of the problem and now have a team who have fitted happily together in an atmosphere where there is no blame, pressure or bullying.
“People who chose to follow Chris Pain have been told they are welcome to stay in the main UKIP group but so far none have indicated that they will do so. It is so sad that Chris Pain, in pursuing his own private war with senior people in UKIP, is dragging down these good people.
Lincolnshire Councillor Chris Pain. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
“As Nigel Farage said [this week] there have been a few ripples caused by the teething problems of a growing organisation and in the long term this whole issue will be seen as a relatively insignificant problem. Outside our immediate Lincolnshire community nobody is even aware of the dispute.
“Finally I would like to thank all the ten county councillors for the dignified way they have continued to do the job they were elected to do without being dragged into a media mud-slinging campaign.
“None of us had anything to do with the problems created by Chris Pain with the UKIP national executive. We have simple been victims of the collateral damage caused by his campaign against UKIP,” Colin Mair said.
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City of Lincoln Council has approved a 1.9% tax hike despite a series of cuts for 2021-22 due to the financial uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 1.9% rise will take city council’s share of council tax for a Band D property in Lincoln to £285.39 – an increase of £5.31.
The executive committee agreed on increasing allotment charges, council house and garage rents.
Council bosses predict a budget gap of £1.75 million and said it must close the hole for financial stability.
Allotment charges will also see most tenants pay between £58.70-£78.30 per year from 2022, an increase of between 38p and 51 pence per week.
Council housing rent will increase by an average of 1.5%, while council garage rents will increase by 3%.
Attendees at City of Lincoln Council’s executive on Monday.
The authority said it faces a number of ongoing challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic and requires a substantial reduction in all of its budgets.
Cllr Ric Metcalfe, Leader of City of Lincoln Council said: “It’sareasonablymodestincreaseformostpeople,andwewill support lowincomegroups stillwiththeconcessions.”
The council has saved more than £9 million annually over the past decade, however will have to increase savings by £850,000 next year, rising to £1.75 million by 2023/24.
Due to the pandemic’s impact on government funded reliefs, empty properties and business closures, the authority estimates it will only retain £5.1 million of the £42 million of business rates generated in the city.
The draft budget will go to consultation and return before the council later this year for a final decision.
There have been 372 new coronavirus cases and nine COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 325 new cases in Lincolnshire, 30 in North Lincolnshire and 17 in North East Lincolnshire.
Some nine deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in North and North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported nine new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust on Monday. Hospital deaths have now surpassed 1,000 since the pandemic started in Greater Lincolnshire.
National cases increased by 37,535 to 3,433,494, while deaths rose by 599 to 89,860.
Leader of South Holland District Council, Cllr Lord Gary Porter, put the spike down to outbreaks in two care facilities, one being a children’s care home.
A group of urban explorers who travelled from three different counties to look around derelict buildings were caught and fined in Grantham for breaching lockdown rules. Two groups of revellers in the woods near Woodhall Spa have also been fined.
In national news, Public Health England have confirmed 4,062,501 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Those in England aged 70 and over, as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, will begin receiving offers of a coronavirus vaccine this week.
Ten hospital trusts across England consistently reported having no spare adult critical care beds in the most recent figures available.
It comes as hospital waiting times, coronavirus admissions and patients requiring intensive care are rising.
All UK travel corridors, which allow arrivals from some countries to avoid having to quarantine, have now closed until at least February 15.
Travellers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or plane, also have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test to be allowed entry.
Supermarkets face increased inspections from local councils to ensure they are COVID-secure amid a push from the government to clamp down further on coronavirus transmission.
Local governments have been asked by ministers to target the largest supermarkets for inspection to ensure companies are enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and limits on shopper numbers.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to January 17 according to the government dashboard:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Jan 11 to Jan 17. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, January 18
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
44,374 cases (up 372)
30,784 in Lincolnshire (up 325)
6,927 in North Lincolnshire (up 30)
6,663 in North East Lincolnshire (up 17)
1,686 deaths (up nine)
1,196 from Lincolnshire (up nine)
268 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
222 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,006 hospital deaths (up 10)
612 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up nine)
30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
363 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)
3,433,494 UK cases, 89,860 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.
Eight people were fined for two separate COVID-19 rule breaches over the weekend, after being found partying and camping near Woodhall Spa.
Officers were called to two different incidents at Ostler’s Plantation, a woodland area near Woodhall Spa on Saturday, January 16 and on Sunday, January 17.
Five people were issued with £200 fines after a report of partying at around 11.08pm on Saturday.
The next morning, police were again called to the area at 8.21am after people were seen camping at the location.
Three people were fined as a result of this, again valued at £200 due to being first time offenders.
If these fines are paid within 14 days of the offence, the cost will be cut in half to £100.
On the same weekend, but this time in a different location, six urban explorers were fined after travelling from three different counties to try and gain access to an abandoned hospital in Grantham.
The behaviour of COVID-19 rule breakers has been described as “dangerous” by Lincolnshire Police’s assistant chief constable Kerrin Wilson, who referred to them as “Covidiots”.
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