About us
We are a group of people bound together not by class, colour or creed but by a widely-held and long-established strain of British thought which now finds itself out of tune with the political establishment. We value our nation’s historic commitment to civil liberties and freedom of speech and abhor the constant attack on our liberties by this government under the pretence of safeguarding us from terrorism. We nonetheless respect the law - provided those laws are sensible and not intrusive. We are proud of our nation’s history and culture, rooted in the Christian faith and developed over many centuries by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We value our long tradition of Parliamentary democracy, but don’t want the state interfering in every detail of our life and telling us what to think, neither do we want it taking large percentages of our hard-earned income in taxation.
Who are we?The UK First steering committee consists of the following people:-
Leader: Robin Page
Robin was born on the small family farm where he still lives and which he now runs in the village of Barton, Cambridgeshire..He attended the village school, from where he went to the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys, gaining five “O”levels and two “A” levels in history and geography.
As Robin was the second son, the farm was not big enough for him to go into farming, so he did other things before joining the civil service at Executive grade. In 1969 he left the Civil Service to try writing as a career. He has been writing as a freelance ever since. He was invited to join the staff of The Daily Telegraph by the late Bill Deedes, but he declined, preferring to follow his own interests.
He has now written thirty books. He regards “The Decline of an English Village” to be the most important. He is currently writing another, “The Lost Tribe of Britain”. He has written for many national newspapers and magazines. He has a fortnightly column in The Daily Telegraph, a monthly column in The Countryman and a monthly column in Shooting Times, although he does not shoot. In addition he writes a “blog” for “Mail Online”.
He has run the family farm as a working farmer for the last seven years, after his brother became another statistic and left the land . He is gradually changing his Single Suckler herd into Red Polls, the traditional breed of East Anglia.
He has presented “One Man and His Dog” on the BBC, Countrywide and A Place in the Country on Anglia, and Come Bye on Horse and Country Television.
He served as an Independent Councillor on South Cambs.District Council for thirty-six years. He resigned in protest at John Prescott’s “Code of Conduct”, (that’s right – John Prescott with a code of conduct), which he believes inhibits free speech. He has stood for Parliament for the Tories, the Referendum Party and UKIP.
He is founder and Chairman of the Countryside Restoration Trust, he has served time on the Wilderness Foundation, the Executive of the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust , he is on the Council of the National Trust and he is Patron of Save Our Squirrels (red squirrels).
He has travelled widely off the beaten track in Africa and is addicted to cricket.
Chairman: Petrina HoldsworthPetrina Holdsworth LLB (Lond.) Barrister (retired )Diploma in Private Investigation, was in practice at the Criminal Bar for a number of years, she has also worked in the Inner London Courts as a Clerk to the Justices and spent 7 years in the CPS as a Principal Crown Prosector. Since then she has been the Chairman of a National Political Party making a number of television and radio appearances during that time, she has run her own business, and stood as a Parliamentary candidate in two General Elections and one European election. She is 57 ,married and lives in Sussex. She is Vice Chairman of the Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB).
Secretary: John West John West was born in 1967 in Edmonton, North London. he now lives in Wickham Market in Suffolk and is married with one step-daughter. IN 1997 he campaigned with David Bellamy, noted environmentalist and TV presenter, who was standing as a Referendum Party candidate in Cambridgeshire.In 2007 and 2008 John organised two successful Suffolk conferences on immigration and law and order. John has written several books on Oliver Cromwell, Roman history and Victorian criminals. One of his books - Roman Lincoln - was turned into a BBC radio documentary which he co-presented.
In 2008 he was elected a governor of the Suffolk NHS Mental Health Trust. John is also a fund raiser for Help the Aged, RNIB and Marie Curie Cancer Care. John currently works for Suffolk County Council Library Service.
Treasurer: Martin Haslam Martin Haslam, educated at Epsom College, is a chartered accountant and senior partner in Keymer Haslam & Co. of West Sussex with four partners and specialises in financial and investment matters. Martin gained national recognition when he and his business partner, David Keymer, fought the Institute on the subject of Compulsory Current Cost Accounting, and after calling a special meeting had the resolution defeated. Had Compulsory Cost Accounting been made compulsory, the accounts, as we know them today, would have been totally meaningless. Over half of the members voted. Martin is a widower with two children and is a keen tennis player. He is Chairman of Haywards Heath Branch of Save the Children, and also stood for Guildford for UKIP in the 2005 General Election.Press Officer and Membership Secretary: Drew Belobaba (Details to follow)
Website administrator: John Petley John was educated at Charterhouse School and read music at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. He worked as an IT specialist in the insurance sector before going to Brussels as a political researcher in 2006. His experience convinced him that withdrawalist parties achieve nothing by full participation in the European Parliament's agenda. He has a diploma in Theology from Moorlands Bible College and is a Lay preacher. Currently working as a freelance researcher, John is married and lives in Sussex.