What sparked such animosity? It's hard to work out exactly, but it seems that one factor which made Green Councillor Ian Drive decide to register his protest was "UKIP's appalling opinions on animal welfare"
Well, I was a UKIP member for several years and still follow the party closely, but I had no idea the party even had a policy on animal welfare. A quick search of the party's website left me none the wiser. I did try clicking on a link that purported to take me to the party's animal rights policy, but instead got an error message - "Page not found". Eventually, I found a web page containing an extract from the policy document which read,
“UKIP believes all animals that share our planet deserve to be treated compassionately by humans and should be spared unnecessary suffering." Well, I don't see that statement is justification for bashing the Party leader over the head with a placard. UKIP supports a referendum on hunting. Fine. That's only democracy, after all - something the Greens, like the EU, aren't too keen on, in case the result goes the way they don't like.
Perhaps it was due to UKIP's MEPs voting about some animal rights issue in the European Parliament, where the principle of not giving increased power to the EU trumps all other considerations. Or perhaps it wasn't about animal rights at all. Other reports suggests that what drew the ire of the protesters was Farage's statement that women taking time off to have babies were less useful to companies than men. Or else it was opposition to UKIP's immigration policy. Whatever, these were pretty unpleasant people.
However UKIP's animal rights policy raises a wider issue for the party. Is UKIP a single-issue party or is it a fully-fledged political party with a complete manifesto? In theory the answer is the latter. UKIP officially leans towards what might be called "Thatcherite" or "Centre-right" policies, but unofficially, its members are a mixed bag, with some holding quite left-wing views on matters such as the NHS. UKIP is basically a party of protest, in spite of appearances. The party has stolen the Lib Dem's mantle in this aspect, and indeed is a better party of protest because at least it has one policy which people are aware of - withdrawal from the EU. A lot of people (including many years ago myself, I admit to my shame!) voted Lib Dem without a clue what the party stood for. However, as long as any party remains to all intents and purposes a party of protest, it is advisable not to draw up over-elaborate manifestos. It's best for such a party of protest to stick to a few key policies. It's just not worth stirring up the green loonies on peripheral issues. It only givens them the oxygen of publicity which they do not deserve without gaining a single vote in return.