This mornings news that self made Millionaire Paul Sykes will donate large sums of his fortune to UKIP for their advertising campaign ahead of the European Elections in exactly 185 days time is a great boost for Nigel Farage and the rest of the party. It is being reported as a blow for David Cameron and the Conservative Party, particularly as Mr Sykes has previously donated large sums of money to the party. Mr Sykes is also on the record as stating he would give all of his money to charity! One can only imagine how nervous some of the MEPs and prospective MEPs along with regional groups of Conservative Associations around the country must be feeling, as they digest their cornflakes. 185 days are a long time in Politics and clearly there is plenty of time for white knights to emerge to help ratchet up the budget on the Conservative side of the balance sheet so all is not lost. There is even an argument that suggests this could actually help the Tories to mobilise their support. However unless this does happen, the die appears is cast thanks to Mr Sykes, UKIP will come first in the popular vote (although they may not get the largest number of MEPs), Conservatives will come second and then Labour Third and Lib Dems fourth. In a way it is a shame that we need to trouble ourselves and actually leave home on the 22nd May in order to cast our votes!

As Mr Farage is often at pains to point out, he and his party (or perhaps it should be the party he now shares with Mr Sykes) is an antidote to the usual political parties. They do things differently in UKIP, they are in no ones pocket (although Mr Sykes pockets, like those of Stuart Wheeler feel very warm and inviting). We have 185 days for Mr Sykes money (plus that of the other donors) to be spent, 185 days for Mr Cameron and his bankers to spend their own budget. The Labour Party will have a budget too, as will the Lib Dems. Thank goodness we are not in the middle of a deep recession or else this money being spent to persuade you and I to vote for one or other party would look as obscene and inappropriate as a banker buying crystal meth from someone he met on the internet.

There are several possible alternative scenarios to what seems like a fait accompli that are possible, even at this late stage:

• We could choose not to vote, that is a campaign with the words of Brand and Paxman behind it which will inevitably gather momentum over the next 6 months. In many ways it will feed richly on the financial race to the polls, begun by todays news.
• We could seek some individuals with integrity who are willing to represent us who do not have a political party to satisfy or feed on. That is improbable, not just because of the difficulty in finding enough such people, but because the electoral system makes it almost impossible for Independents to compete with the parties.
• The final option remains open, but sadly it is the most far fetched. It makes the other ideas seem thought through. Nigel Farage could stand up and reject the donation by Paul Sykes along with the funds provided by Stuart Wheeler. He could take a step towards the moral high ground, knowing that the others would be drawn to follow him. He could do what it says on his tin and show by his actions that UKIP is different to the other Westminster Parties. I said it was far fetched!