Meet the Candidates with The Skidder. No 1 - Steve Latham - UKIP - West Bromwich East

The Labour Party machine is all-pervasive in the North Korean-style state of Sandwell and uses it power, money, patronage and communication outlets (including the disgraceful "Express and Star") to bludgeon the local people into truculent submission. But folk DO have a choice this May and The Skidder is hoping to interview some of the parliamentary candidates taking on Labour. I do not propose to give anyone an easy ride and all who subject themselves to this process will face The Skidder’s “Three Killer Questions”. I am in negotiation with a second candidate and if you are standing and want a chat please do get in touch (details at the end of this post).

I am delighted to say that Steve Latham is the first to put his head above the parapet. He is the UKIP parliamentary candidate for West Bromwich East standing against long-standing Wealthy Tom Watson, the expenses-guzzling incumbent who never lets a bandwagon pass without lumbering aboard and who embraces so many issues that have little or no relevance to West Brom to bolster his grossly-inflated ego.

Steve Latham - UKIP - West Bromwich East

I think it is fair to say that what you see is what you get with Steve. A working-class local bloke who endured a very tough upbringing, Steve has no airs and graces and seems to have most of the attributes that are so admirable in Black Country folk - spirit, determination, fortitude and, of course, the famous local sense of humour. But there wasn’t much laughter in his early years.

“I was born in Hamstead in 1957 but my parents divorced when I was 18 months old”, Steve told me. “We were in Middle Row and then moved to Bermuda Mansions on the Yew Tree before returning to live with my Gran on Hamstead Road. My older sister went with my father. A younger sister came along in 1960.

“I attended Hamstead Junior and then Dartmouth High - now the Q3 Academy. In 1968 my Mother moved us to a maisonette on the Durham Estate.

“Things were difficult at home and I took some bad beatings. Mum decided she couldn’t cope with me and and I was placed in care from 13 until I was 18.

“I had to grow up fast in care and after a rocky start it helped me build strength of character and resilience. The making of  me was the two years spent as a Barnardo’s boy at Quinta near Oswestry where I learnt that life was not always about “me” and that I needed to also show respect to others.”

Steve returned to Hamstead and after this tough start things took a better turn in 1980 when he married his childhood sweetheart, Jackie. “We are still very happy”, he assured me, “with two children - a boy and a girl and one grandchild - a boy aged 10 months. Jackie is the love of my life and family is all important to me”.

Like many Black Country folk, Steve worked hard but felt the highs and lows of employment that went with the loss of so much industry in the area. “I know only too well what it is to be made redundant with a young family to support. It certainly concentrates the mind on financial matters”, he said.

“I worked for some good companies including Hiatt, Patent Shaft and Bailey & Mackey and then became a publican  running The Scott Arms and The Joker”, Steve told me. Once again he confirmed that there had been some very “rough” times at the pubs but he again accentuated the positives and was happy to reminisce about all the good times he and Jackie had shared and all the great people they had met along the way. “I really loved being at the heart of the community and helping out people where I could, if only by providing a shoulder to cry on”, Steve said but, unfortunately, he became a victim of the recession in the pub trade and faced a very uncertain future before securing his present employment as a coach driver with National Express.

Steve then shocked me by telling me that although he is a UKIP candidate he has been a trade unionist throughout his life and is currently a member of the Union that is trying to destroy this blog, me and my wife - Unite! Steve had to show me his membership card to prove he wasn’t pulling my leg! Once again, Steve was anxious to tell me that UKIP was a party for all and not just for “toffs” and ex-Tories.

“It will be a very steep learning curve if I am elected”, Steve frankly admitted, “but I am not a career politician and I will apply a simple test for all issues - what is best for the people of West Bromwich East?”

“I am proud to be a patriotic Englishman and of my Black Country roots”, Steve affirmed. “I believe that Britain is capable of governing itself again and that UKIP is the ONLY party that is against maintaining the status quo in Europe. The Tories may offer a referendum but are divided. Labour will just give us more of the same. A British exit will let us take control of our own laws and borders again and save our colossal payments to Brussels”, Steve told me with some passion.

Steve was equally passionate about the NHS telling me, “I had some major surgery a while back and it is thanks to the NHS that I am hear to tell the tale. UKIP will abolish Labour’s mad PFI financing schemes which are now costing the service they profess to love so dear and UKIP have made a clear manifesto commitment that the NHS will remain free at the point of delivery to all UK residents”

This interview is not meant to be an opportunity to simply re-hash the party manifesto and it was time for The Skidder’s “three killer questions”:

Are you racist? “No, and if I wasn’t a UKIP candidate I’m sure you would not be asking me that question”, Steve replied (with, perhaps, some justification). I pointed out that this was an accusation often made by UKIP’s political opponents and as a supplementary asked how Steve would reach out to, say, the local non-Christian communities. “West Bromwich East still has massive social problems and I think most people - of all-faiths and none -  just want to be able to work and to provide and do the best for their families. I would seek to work with all groups to achieve that goal”, he stated but added that he does hold the sometimes unfashionable view these days that religion does have a significant role in the moral well-being of the local community saying, “I hold my Christian values dear but respect the views of others and would hope to help build bridges between representatives of all faiths for the benefit of the whole community”.

How does this play with UKIP’s anti-immigrant rhetoric? “UKIP’s desire to control our borders has nothing to do with race”, said Steve. “In fact, the current open-door policy to everyone who just happens to live in the EU discriminates against the British Commonwealth. The question is whether we believe that the population of the country can just keep on growing and putting ever-increasing pressure on our already hard-pressed NHS, schools and other local services. UKIP will allow limited immigration from anywhere in the world irrespective of colour, race or creed but subject to a points system.” Steve added that “newcomers will be expected to work and there will be no immediate entitlement to benefits.”

Is UKIP just a Farage “one-man band”? “Nigel is an inspirational and charismatic leader of our party”, said Steve, “but he has built UKIP from being a small pressure group into a major political force by allowing a great team to develop around him. We have come from nowhere to winning last year’s European elections. OK we have had some teething problems but that is only natural and we are truly representative of ordinary people and not of metropolitan political elites like Labour and the Tories.” Steve added that unlike in the other main parties UKIP candidates are allowed some independence of thought so that instead of slavishly following a party line they can better represent the real people who elected them. Steve finished my forcefully making his point again, “And that is why the views of the people of West Bromwich East will always come first if I am elected”.

You can contact Steve by any of the following methods:

Tel: 07791 491870

E-mail: SteveLathamUKIP@gmail.com

Twitter: @SteveLathamUKIP

Facebook: SteveLathamUKIP


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