Arron Banks, the UKIP donor and ally of Donald Trump, is planning to emulate the President-Elect’s plans on the other side of the Atlantic, by “draining the swamp” in Westminster of inefficient and corrupt establishment MPs.
The close friend of interim UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who met with Mr. Trump over the weekend, is considering creating a movement that could stand 200 parliamentary candidates “against the 200 worst, most corrupt MPs”, he told The Times.
Mr. Banks (pictured centre) wants to harness the anti-establishment sentiment demonstrated by the Trump and Brexit votes, and represented by the huge popularity of his Leave.EU movement, in the British general election.
Explaining the plan, he said the new group would not side with any party, but field candidates standing on a single-term promise to push through fundamental change in Westminster.
He believes he could identify 200 MPs who are either lazy, careerist, or in his view corrupt, and mobilise against them.
Proposed policy commitments include limiting MPs to two terms and abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an elected Senate.
Similarly, Mr. Trump has promised to limit congressmen to two terms and put a five-year ban on lawmakers becoming lobbyists after they leave office.
#DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/VoS29TGwxB
— Leave.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) November 14, 2016
“It’s a very simple agenda: to destroy the professional politician. I like the idea of clearing the place out, setting new rules, maybe reducing the number of MPs. Not a party from the left or right. Just to clear out the worst lot,” Mr. Banks said.
He cited the case of Keith Vaz MP, who attempted to keep his job as head of the Home Affairs Select Committee after being caught soliciting prostitutes and was invested by police for drug offences. MPs voted for him to sit on the Justice Select Committee just months after he stepped down.
“You would rate MPs by (undesirability) with Keith Vaz at No 1, and field a great candidate, a military guy, doctor, someone who has done something with their life. It would be a one-off attempt to drain the swamp.
“It would be highly amusing to tease career politicians with a hot poker,” Mr. Banks told The Times.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.