veritas

veritas is the name given to the virtue of truthfulness, which was considered one of the main virtues any good roman should possess.

while in vino veritasin vino veritas: in wine there is truth. (when a person is under the influence of wine he shows himself in his true colours.) or more commonly you are likely to say things you will regret when you are pissed.

veritas is also the name of robert kilroy-silk's new euro sceptic party, due to launch this week (feb 2nd). it would not be fair to say that veritas broke off from the uk independence party (ukip) more it was a case of kilroy-silk throwing a hissy because they wouldn’t let him be the leader. so he has flounced out and has now set up his own gang. now it appears the promise of a bit of power in the new party means other people from ukip are deserting that party for veritas.
“damian hockney said ex-chatshow host mr kilroy-silk would "deliver better" as the leader of a euro sceptic party.
he said mr kilroy-silk had made him deputy party leader of veritas, latin for truth. “
hockney is currently elected to the london assembly and ukip (quite rightly) want him to give up his seat for a ukip member. it will be interesting to see what he does. why? because hockney had proposed a motion that requires any successful ukip election candidate who later left the party to resign their seat to allow a genuine representative of the party to take their place. it was a motion that was passed by ukip. true it is no longer binding on hockney – but it’ll be an instant measure of the virtue of the man and the new party. (oh hell what i am i thinking he will keep the seat. we all know it!) (oh and this will be the fourth political party hockney has been a member of – he’s like my mate paul, only for paul it is rugby clubs).
have to ask though for a party that is euro sceptic why the choice of veritas as a name – why not use the english word truth? could it be that veritas gives you a sense of gravitas? and let’s be fair these little self important inadequate politicians need all the help they can get in looking, sounding and feeling important. and as any marketer will tell you the brand is all important – just a shame they have chosen a name that smacks of europe!

mind you given what has recently been said by a member of ukip you can see why there is a much to join the new party of the perma-tanned unctuous one. ukip have had to suspend a member for the somewhat outlandish views of “suggesting the criminally insane should be killed” but it’s ok john houston does actually say that their organs should be used to benefit the law abiding citizens of the country. (are you listening george w bush – it could be away to make your love of the death penalty more acceptable – have a lottery for the organs… somehow i wish i hadn’t said that i expect it to be someone’s policy in the next 5 years ….)
houston also went on to say “"the problems for the human race - environmental and others - can only be dealt with on a global scale, and that calls for a radical alliance of the english-speaking nations, which they are uniquely able to do."” (i am guessing that michael howard is kicking himself for not being able to get that nugget out into a speech).
ukip claim that houston never mentioned any of these thoughts when he was being selected – well they would say that though.

it’s odd really all this reminds me of the various far right and far left groups who spend most of their time arguing over the smallest slight, the minutest of differences between themselves, and winning the struggle between them becomes all important. to the outside world they all appear to be nutters to be shunned and avoided at all costs. with only a few people squandering their votes on them, they should not be given the chance to influence the direction of serious politics. yet sad to say both the main uk political parties take them seriously and will do all they can to win those few “extreme” votes and will make the claim that it is better that they talking about it than the far right or far left does.

all veritas and ukip need are archer, aitken and thatcher junior to join them and well it would be perfect.
and talking of thatcher – this is from the telegraph
“queueing up in london's freezing temperatures on tuesday, mark thatcher was spotted patiently waiting his turn alongside several hundred other visa applicants at the us embassy.
thatcher, who recently pleaded guilty to being linked to a botched coup in equatorial guinea, needs the visa to travel to america to see his wife and children.
"he looked very nervous standing there," says my source.
"a few people asked him whether it was true that he'd attempted to overthrow president bush but he didn't appear to find their comments amusing."
like all other applicants, thatcher may have to wait up to a week for a visa but his status as a convicted felon won't aid the process.
when i call, a spokesman for thatcher insists: "mark wasn't queueing with anyone. he had an appointment at 8am to discuss his application. the meeting went very well and we're now awaiting the decision."
one can only hope that the american’s show more taste than we did and stop him from travelling to the usa – after all he is a felon! one hopes that he is under some sort of terrorist watch after all he did try to overthrow the leadership of a country, though i suppose he could use the pre-emptive strike there were wmds there (that would be wads of money and diamonds). on second thoughts the yanks will let him in – they let his batty mum in!