A UKIP councillor has been ridiculed for sharing a pamphlet containing multiple errors, including the misspelling of Britain.
Circulated throughout Peterborough in the wake of disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya’s appeal against a perverting the course of justice conviction, the leaflet promised the city’s people an “opportunity to cause an upheaval in Westminster” in the event of a by-election.
But the pamphlet’s heading read “Peterborough: Shaping Britians’ future.” In its introductory paragraph councillor John Whitby then wrote: “We’ve been let down! As you may be aware our MP has recently been convicted of a serious criminal offence, but has now appealed against it.”
READ MORE: Labour MP Fiona Onasanya expelled from party
The clumsy pamphlet was spotted by an eagle-eyed tweeter who listed five errors, including that the leaflet incorrectly states that Ukip has MPs.
1. Can't spell Britain.
— Chris (@strutcakes) February 21, 2019
2. Misplaced apostrophe.
3. UKIP have no MPs.
4. Could have done with with a comma in that opening sentence.
5. Is among the first to complain that somebody is unable to use the English language. pic.twitter.com/grNnT3NYcF
Whitby apologised for the circulation of the leaflet. He said: “I typed it incorrectly and it’s an embarrassment that it happened. “A few of us misproofread [sic] it and missed two letters and a comma.
“It’s important to get right, but it’s an honest mistake. I’ll hold my hands up.”
He explains that the Peterborough branch of the right-wing political party caught the error after “200-300” leaflets had been distributed. The error was then corrected and 10,000 leaflets featuring the correct spelling of Britain were circulated.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel