(Posted: 18-11-07, pics courtesy of John West)
Sovereignty does not support any particular political party and we have readers who are members of all parties and none. However, we are always interested to report public activism on issues which concern our readers. In that regard, we were fascinated to hear about hard-working British sovereigntist and supporter of the UK Independence Party, John West's initiative in organising an "Immigration Conference" in Woodbridge, Suffolk. We spoke to him to find out more. On the next page is his speech at the Conference, and another 9 photos.

Above: A panel line-up from left to right: Gerard Batten MEP, Mike Nattrass MEP, Delroy Young, John West, Derek Clark MEP, David Campbell-Bannerman.

John, where was the Conference held?
Woodbridge Community Hall, in Woodbridge, Suffolk on Saturday 3rd November 2007, from 10am-5pm.

How was the day arranged?
There was a morning session, for UKIP members only. I introduced the event. Then we had speeches from Del Young, and Geoff Howard a UKIP Councillor from Slough. That was followed by a Question Time session where members put forward their views and questions on immigration. I chaired that and we had Gerard Batten MEP, Mike Nattrass MEP, David Campbell Bannerman, Derek Clark MEP and Del Young on the panel.

The afternoon session was open to the public, and we had speeches from Jeffrey Titford MEP, myself -- I'm the UKIP prospective parliamentary candidate for North Ipswich/Suffolk Central -- Del Young, David Campbell Bannerman, Alison West a UKIP PPC for Suffolk Coastal, Mike Nattrass, Guy Herbert the General Secretary of No2ID, and Nigel Farage. Gerard Batten explained the recently published UKIP immigration policy and also made comments about the problems with militant Islam.

Topics we covered included UKIP's immigration policy, restoring Britishness, EU expansion and immigration from Eastern Europe, ID cards and illegal immigration, Islamic extremism, and generally why unlimited immigration is bad for Britain. We mentioned that the economic benefits of immigration are exaggerated.

For example, those who claim that immigrants benefit the economy are not considering the cost of the dole, council tax rebate and rent benefit for those who are displaced by cheaper labour.

How many people attended this event?
During the course of the day, around 250 people came and went.

How did you advertise it?
We put out 15,000 leaflets in the Woodbridge and Ipswich area and I did 3 radio interviews on local stations prior to the day, and on the following day I appeared on BBC Five Live, with Mike Nattrass. The whole event was filmed and an edited version will be put on "UKIPTV" accessible via its website, and also we intend to publish it on DVD for sale.

Did you encounter any opposition to these ideas at the meeting?
Everyone there wanted immigration stopped, and considered our national identity and culture was under threat, and that public services can't cope. Not one person said we should 'let everyone in'. Everyone who spoke said we had to stop immigration. Nobody disagreed with the concern that British people could be a minority eventually, if things continue as at present. It was definitely a very worthwhile event.

The next day, BBC Radio Suffolk, which I had been on prior to the event, went for a quote to the Campaign for Racial Equality and they criticiced it, claiming it "didn't like the tone" of the conference.

Someone at the meeting was concerned that UKIP would split the Tory vote, but the Tories want Turkey to join the EU, and so 'splitting the Tory vote' is irrelevant when you have a party which is essentially concerned to keep the status quo regarding mass immigration. The recent expulsion of the prospective Tory candidate who claimed that "Enoch was right!" simply proves that the Tory Party is not serious about stopping present levels of immigration.

How do you intend to follow this up?
I'm aiming to follow up this conference with another conference in the Spring of 2008 on the subject of law and order. Ideally we want to do 2 conferences a year - Spring and Autumn. The aim is to raise the profile of the party in the area, with an eye on the General Election and Euro Elections, as well as help to move the public image of UKIP away from the idea that it is a "one issue" party. The hope is that other regions throughout Britain will copy the idea, with the same aims.

What gave you the idea for such a conference?
It came about when I was invited by a local college to a debate on immigration. I went along and I was the only speaker to argue for controlled immigration!

John, thanks for the report, and for the copy of your speech, which we reprint on the next page.

Best of luck in your activism now and in the future!