Nikki Sinclaire Vs UKIP: Yup, They're Bigots

The former UKIP MEP and continuing lesbian, the oddly spelled Nikki Sinclaire, has won her sex discrimination case against the loopy right-wing party.
The Press Association reports;
"Nikki Sinclaire had the whip removed by Ukip's leader, Nigel Farage, in January after she refused to sit with members of the far-right Italian party Lega Nord, claiming that some of its members were homophobic."
Sinclaire now sits as an independent.
"Ukip made no defence when she lodged a discrimination suit against it at an employment tribunal in Exeter and a default judgment was made in her favour..."
"Sinclaire says [Godfrey] Bloom, an MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, called her "a queer" as she passed him in the hallway of the European parliament in Strasbourg. Bloom denies the allegation, which is being investigated."
I'm glad she won, but ffs what did she expect from this raggle-taggle band of saloon bar Little Englanders?

Hate Crimes: The Only Way Is Up

Be interesting to see how the media report this just released by The Press Association;
'12% surge in hate crimes revealed'
"More than 50,000 hate crimes were reported across England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year."
The latest figures - the first to be made public - show there were 4,805 motivated by sexual orientation.
Figures for 2008 showed 4,300 motivated by sexual orientation.
A rise of more than 10% is pretty worrying, but there is a big but...
The straight press almost always translate figures like these into headlines announcing an increase in anti-gay violence and/or other hate crimes.*
For years the stock answer from gay talking heads when asked about these year-on-year rises (which have happened for as long as Fagburn can remember) is to sigh and say this is a rise in "reports" of anti-gay crime, not incidents.
They argue all it means is that victims are more willing to report them to the police, and the police are more inclined (and sympathetic) to report them as such.
This is certainly true, but what if an increased gay visibility and confidence has meant anti-gay attacks are actually on the increase as well?
It's an unknown that would make for an interesting - and important - study.

* NB These new figures are for all "hate crimes", not just violent attacks; The ACPO definition of a Homophobic Incident: "Any incident which is perceived to be homophobic (i.e. motivated by animosity towards those people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) by the victim or any other person."
These include, for example, verbal abuse, graffiti and damage to a car parked near a gay club.