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Mr Nuttall has been a member of UKIP since 2004 and formed the party’s South Sefton branch in 2005. Since then he has stood in one general election and three local elections, taking 38% of the vote in Bootle last time.

A former history lecturer, Mr Nuttall has for the past two years worked in Brussels with UKIP’s MEPs and their team of researchers and assistants.

He said it was a great honour to be appointed UKIP’s chairman, but “It is a huge job to take on, especially at a time which most people consider to be the most important in UKIP’s history.

“It is vital not only for UKIP that we get it right, but also for our great nation.”

Mr Nuttall said his appointment was “a clear break with the past” and he had the opportunity to approach the role with “a new broom”.

He added: “We need to look to the future as a professional, confident and united party. If we do, I am sure we will reap the benefit at next year’s European elections and beyond.”    

He succeeds Dr John Whittaker MEP, to whom he paid tribute: “John Whittaker has been my mentor in many ways.  Many thanks are due to him for the tremendous work he has done in taking the party forward.”

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Alliance Carrickfergus Councillor Stewart Dickson has called on the speed limit scheme that is being piloted in two primary schools to be piloted across Northern Ireland. Part-time 20mph speed limits are in force at the two schools near Ballybogey and Castlerock, and Cllr Dickson said there’s no excuse for not piloting the initiative on a much wider scale.

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George Osborne has accused Mr. Brown of being “in denial” about both the economic crisis facing Britain and the challenges to his leadership.

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Organised by the People Before Profit Charter, it was described how New Labour’s deliberate stoking of a debt-fuelled property bubble was now dragging the whole economy down. Prospects for the world economy are bleak, but Britain is uniquely exposed.

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Gordon Brown has given his sincerest best wishes for the holy month of Ramadan which started on Monday 1 September. Speaking from Downing Street, the PM said we should “celebrate the diversity that contributes to Britain’s strength” and “consider…

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Commenting as the Independent Monitoring Commission released its nineteenth report today assessing the current state of the IRA, Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Danny Kennedy said:

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The weakness of Mr. Brown’s Stamp Duty holiday has been underlined by news of a record fall in house prices.

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The hard hats, also worn by other members of the parliament’s Ind/Dem Group, were prompted by the collapse of the Hemicycle building in Strasbourg on 7 August. This made it impossible for MEPs to meet there for the first plenary session after the summer recess.

“We have no need of going there at all, as this week proves,” said UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP. “Brussels is ample for the needs of the parliament.”
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Mr Farage added: “When the roof fell in, the rubble would have landed directly on the seats occupied by UKIP and the Ind/Dem Group.

“Now I am not saying that there is a conspiracy to wipe out euro-critical voices in the parliament, but you do have to ask.”

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Alliance Leader David Ford has criticised remarks made by Trevor Clarke on threats to Antrim Councillor Cllr Annmarie Logue. DUP Councillor Trevor Clarke had said ’some of the things she has come out with over the summer months have been quite provocative, and has no doubt motivated such actions against her’.

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Unionist party candidate in the forthcoming Enniskillen by-election, Basil Johnston, has added his voice to that of his party colleague Tom Elliott in supporting the need for new parking arrangements for the residents of Killyvilly in and around their community play park.

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Mr Farage said the plan – approved by the European Parliament and now going to the Commission for approval – undermined one of the basic principles of British justice:

“If we’re accused we must be able to know who accused us. If we are to be tried for a crime we must be able to mount a defence.

“Yet now we can be dragged away to another country to rot in jail without there even being a pretence of a fair trial.”

The EU wants courts would to have the ability to pass judgement in criminal cases and when issuing fines or European Arrest Warrants without the defendants being present.

Mr Farage said: “If other European nations want to adopt our own higher protections, our greater civil liberties, then they are of course quite free to, without EU compulsion.

“But why should we destroy our own freedoms just to fit in with them?”

The Ministry of Justice had said the plan would “increase legal certainty and improve mutual trust”  and would “help ensure that a person cannot escape justice by fleeing to another member state.”

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Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Stephen Farry MLA, has welcomed the latest report from the Independent Monitoring Commission, saying that it brings significant reassurance and confidence to the political process, but he stressed that the continuation of any paramilitary structures is inconsistent with a normal, democratic society.

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Mid-Ulster Assemblyman Billy Armstrong has on the Sports Minister and the Irish Football Association to help Tobernmore United FC following the recent floods which devastated the Club's Fortwilliam Park.

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David Cameron will call for co-operation between Britain and Pakistan to promote democracy and tackle extremism.

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Cllr David Barnard, vice-chairman of Harting Parish Council, West Sussex, had received complaints about the bin, which was spilling dog faeces, among other things, into the stream. He was quoted as saying: “I spoke to someone from the department dealing with fly-tipping and he said – and I quote – ‘We don’t have anyone qualified to wear wellington boots’. I said: ‘But it’s only four inches deep’.”

The council then said its operatives would need ropes and harnesses to stop them being washed away.

It fell to three parish councillors to put on wellies and clear the mess themselves, which took took them 10 minutes.

Chichester is the same district council that has urged parish councils in its area to avoid phrases such as “man in the street”, “manning the switchboard” and “old woman” as well as the words Mrs, Miss, girl and lady because they are “inherently sexist”.

On the matter of the offending bin, a Chichester spokesman (oops!, they might see that as a sexist term) said: “We do have health and safety strategies for all members of staff that’s why there was an inspection to make sure that there were no safety issues.”

*Linguistic note: The word “man” when used in terms such as “spokesman”, “chairman” etc does not reflect maleness. It evidently comes from the old German word man, meaning “person” or “people”, rather than Mann, which refers to someone of the male gender.

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Alliance Health Spokesperson Kieran McCarthy MLA has said that the budget designed by Peter Robinson last year when he was Finance Minister is to blame for the cuts we are seeing in frontline health services. His comments come in the wake of recent revelations regarding a shake-up for Belfast’s healthcare provision, the closure of an out-of-hours GP service in Derry, and proposed cuts to ambulance cover in Northern Ireland.

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Alliance Youth Chair Stephen Martin has hailed the increase in the legal age for buying tobacco from 16 to 18.

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Alliance South Belfast MLA Anna Lo has welcomed the extra two million pounds of funding from the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure for the Crescent Arts Centre.

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Alliance Party Enniskillen by-election candidate Dr Kumar Kamble has said that anti-social behaviour and burglary are issues that must be tackled strongly as he said these matters make some people’s lives a misery. He is going to arrange a meeting with local police to discuss the issues.

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Calling for a new generation of council housing is not just a slogan, it’s the real solution to the current crisis. With every failed policy gimmick, the argument for real investment in council housing gets stronger.

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