According to the Metro Janice has put her UKIP sized feet in it again. A long list precedes:
During the 2014 campaign it emerged that despite Atkinson’s claims – and status as a champion of state selective education – her alma mater, Blackheath Bluecoat School, is not and has never been a grammar school.[17]
It was also reported that, before she joined UKIP, Atkinson was dropped from the 2011 alternative vote campaign following a meeting with undecided Conservatives in which she mentioned “her support for elements of” the British National Party‘s platform.[18] A few days later Atkinson swore at anti-racism campaigners. The incident followed her call for ‘abusive’ anti-UKIP protestors to be arrested by the police. A photo capturing the moment was widely reported and went viral on social media.[19] Atkinson, who has described towns in Kent as ‘no-go areas’ as a result of Eastern European immigration, has defended her position, claiming she marched as part of the Anti-Nazi League in her youth.[20]
In August 2014 she issued an apology after being recorded by a BBC news crew referring to the Thai (or Thai-born) wife of a constituent, who were both UKIP supporters, as “a ting-tong from somewhere”, a term used in Thailand for people with mental health problems. The woman and her husband threatened to withdraw from UKIP membership but changed their mind after a personal apology from UKIP leader Nigel Farage.[21][22] Interviewed on camera later at their home, the woman and her husband said that Atkinson hadn’t apologised to them and was quite belligerent. Whilst speaking of Atkinson, Farage said “99% of UKIP members aren’t like that and don’t hold those views.”[21]
In December 2014 it was revealed that Atkinson, whose annual salary as an MEP was around £79,000 per year, owed more than £2,000 in unpaid child support.[23] Her ex-husband claimed this had “caused major hardship for her son and for her family”.[23] Atkinson was singled out for criticism as she had previously attacked “feckless families” who have more children than they can afford.[24][25]
Expenses fraud and expulsion from UKIP
On 19 March 2015 Atkinson was suspended from the party following “allegations of a serious financial nature.”[1] The Sun published a secret recording in which Atkinson’s chief of staff, Christine Hewitt, spoke to a staff member at a restaurant in Margate and asked them for a fraudulent invoice, inflating the bill to over three times the cost of the £950 meal.[7][8] On the recording Hewett was heard to say “we overcharge them slightly, because that’s the way we repatriate it.”[7][8] The following day the police were reported to be investigating.[8]
On 23 March Atkinson was expelled from UKIP for “bringing the party into disrepute”.[6] No legal action was taken against Atkinson,[26] but Hewitt pled guilty to fraud and was given a suspended jail sentence.[9][10]I don’t know what she is doing at the present moment but when she got caught out with the fake expenses thing she moved across the floor of the European Parliament to sit with the Front Nationale.
She used to have a blog (maybe still does, I can’t find it) to which I once contributed but was promptly banned – most of the other contributions on there were on a different plane of perverted depravity. (Gary Vickers)
