The agenda of the European Union is control over all the main
functions of national governments. As the new EU constitution
has now made clear, it is no longer enough to have central
control of farming and fishing, and ‘harmonised’ rules over
everything from food labelling to taxation. The stated plan now
is for EU-run police, defence, foreign policy and systems of
justice.
This alien system of government is bad for our economy, our
self-respect and our prosperity, and it will ultimately prove to
be unacceptable to the British people.
Yet all the old political parties remain firmly wedded to the EU.
They still pretend that, despite the experience of 30 years of
‘negotiating’, the EU can be shaped in Britain’s interests. But
the EU is a one-way street towards European government. It is
undemocratic, corrupt and unreformable. The only way for Britain
is out.
Until this is done, we shall continue to be strangled by the
deluge of ill-conceived intrusive regulation, supposedly to
protect our environment, to ensure our health and safety, to
uphold an ever-increasing list of ‘rights’ and, most recently,
to protect us from terrorism. We can also expect enduring
shortcomings in the provision of all our public services, in
state pensions, and all the other good things that our
‘nanny-state’ has led us to expect.
It is hardly surprising that British people have become
disillusioned. People do not feel in control of their own lives.
UKIP’s agenda
In June 2004, 2.6 million people voted UKIP. This was a massive
expression of confidence in an independent Britain, free from
the European Union. It was a massive demonstration of distrust
of the politicians of the old political parties.
Our message was simple: SAY NO to European Union. But UKIP also
says NO to the culture of paperwork, performance targets and
spin, NO to uncontrolled immigration, NO to a society in which
everything is regulated and dissent is suppressed by fear and
political correctness.
Outside the EU it will be possible to begin rebuilding a Britain
which is run for British people, not for career politicians and
bureaucrats. We are the party that will take on board the
concerns of those in business, public services, local
government, those in inner cities and rural areas, young and
old. We are the party that speaks out and is prepared to
confront the problems that face our country squarely and
honestly.
UKIP is determined to bring government back within the reach and
influence of those who are governed, at all levels, local and
national. We shall replace Britain’s membership of the EU with
agreements over trade and co-operation that we thought we had
signed up to when we first joined the European common market. We
shall restore responsibility for local affairs to local
communities. And as a further measure to restore confidence in
the democratic process and reconnect with people, we shall
provide for the use of referendums at all levels, local and
national, where there is sufficient popular support for a
particular policy.
UKIP is determined to turn back the culture of regulation, to
strive for smaller government and to aim for a society in which
the values – of trust, pride, individual responsibility, mutual
respect and respect for our institutions – are no longer
considered in need of ‘modernisation’. It is these basic aims
and values that drive all UKIP policies.
------------------------------
UK Independence Party – Summary of policies in key areas
The Independence Timetable
Formal withdrawal from the EU will be achieved by repeal of the
1972 European Communities Act. This will release us from
obligations under EU treaties and re-establish the precedence of
UK law over EU law. We shall immediately stop paying into the EU
budget, we shall resume full independent participation in
international bodies such as the World Trade Organisation, and
it will be possible to scrap some EU rules like the working time
directive without delay.
However, many of the changes following independence will take
more time. We therefore propose a transition period of 2 years,
managed by a temporary Ministry of EU Transitional Arrangements
(META), headed jointly by a cabinet and a shadow cabinet member,
assisted by interested parties from all relevant sectors of the
economy. One of its main tasks will be to govern the repeal or
amendment of the mass of EU laws, replacing them as necessary
with laws that are in British interests alone. The over-riding
presumption will be that any given piece of legislation should
be scrapped unless there is an overwhelming case for its
retention.
Other responsibilities of META will include the replacement of
the all the EU’s ‘common’ policies, including farming and
fishing, with our own arrangements.
Trade
We shall replace our EU membership with agreements over trade
and other areas of common concern, just as many countries of the
world have trade agreements with the EU. We consistently buy
more from EU countries than we sell them so it would not be in
their interests to disrupt this trade – they will still want to
sell us their wine and cars. Freedom from the EU’s common
external tariffs will enable us to strengthen our trading
relationships with the Commonwealth countries and elsewhere. We
shall also negotiate suitable arrangements for freedom of
movement and residence rights with our EU neighbours to avoid
difficulties for their nationals who live in Britain and vice
versa.
Public Services
The root of the difficulties with all our public services lies
with a government that is obsessed with central control, leading
to management by bureaucracies, an endless stream of crass
top-down initiatives, meaningless performance targets, too much
paperwork and distorted incentives. The result has been low
morale amongst those working in our state schools, hospitals and
police forces and a degradation of standards throughout.
While there is certainly scope for raising standards by
increasing the budgets spent on these services, improvements
without appropriate reform are elusive, as our present
government has found. UKIP’s solution is to shift the balance of
power back to the doctors, police and teachers, and to restore
local control. We are confident that, when we give all these
professionals our support and the freedom to get on with the
job, we shall see a marked improvement all round, in education,
health provision and crime prevention. When teachers are able to
earn respect, this will go a long way towards addressing the
problem of poor discipline in schools. When our police are able
to spend their time arresting criminals instead of filling in
forms, this will go a long way towards reducing crime.
The budget and the economy
When Britain leaves the EU, our gross contribution of around £12
billion per year (£30 million per day) will become available to
the treasury. We intend to use this sum entirely on an increase
in the state pension, giving pensioners around £25 extra per
week. (The agricultural and regional grants that we currently
receive from the EU will be dealt with separately in the budget
or will cease.) In addition to this amount, the savings claimed
by the other political parties from eliminating waste in public
administration, estimated by them as £20-£30 billion per year,
will equally be available to a UKIP government. There will be
further large gains to our treasury when a deregulated post-EU
free-trading Britain achieves higher economic growth.
With these substantial improvements in the budget, a UKIP
government will be well placed to undertake some carefully
focused extra spending and tax reductions. We shall not be
joining the other parties in their tiresome arguments about
detailed tax and spending plans. However, our priorities for tax
reduction will include Council tax and inheritance tax and we
shall take the poorest out of income tax by scrapping the 10%
band. Defence will certainly be among our spending priorities,
including funds for reversing the EU-driven break-up of our
traditional regiments.
In the longer term, a thorough review will be necessary of both
private and public pensions provision. The UKIP is also
determined to pay attention to the tax and benefit system – to
simplify it and to reduce the incentives against earning and
saving caused by means testing.
The main boost to the economy will come from wholesale
deregulation – the removal of a great many unnecessary
restrictions and red tape. And recognising that our small
businesses still provide most of the jobs in Britain, we shall
pay particular attention to deregulating the very smallest
businesses (20 employees or less).
Immigration
Immigration is one of the greatest concerns of British people,
not just because of the large numbers that are now arriving but
also because there is little confidence in the present
government’s attempts to address the problem. It is still too
easy to enter Britain illegally, our arrangements for processing
asylum seekers are expensive and unsatisfactory, and EU
expansion has caused large increases in the numbers of
immigrants arriving legally from Eastern Europe.
Outside the EU, a UKIP government would be able to enforce
proper control of our borders and we would apply sensible limits
to legal immigration. We welcome genuine refugees but it is
essential to limit the numbers of people settling in Britain.
(Further detail and explanation can be found in UKIP’s
immigration policy document, under ‘current issues’ on our
website)
Regional and local government
As demonstrated by the overwhelming rejection of an elected
assembly in the North East (78% against in the recent
referendum), there is no appetite in England for EU-style
regional government. On the contrary, UKIP believes in returning
power to established local and county councils, including
granting them greater responsibility for their budgets, and we
would dismantle the existing unelected regional assemblies and
development agencies.
The British society
UKIP policies are designed to address the concerns of all
British people, regardless of race or background. All sectors of
our population want to see more honest accountable government,
reliable public services and control over immigration. By and
large, all sectors want to play their part in our society and to
respect its standards. To uphold these standards, UKIP believes
in promoting the family as the basic unit of society, we support
the teaching of our history in our schools and we shall defend
the right to freedom of speech.
Above all, we believe in the freedom of individuals from too
much government. An alarming example of overbearing government
is the EU-inspired plan for identity cards. The UK Independence
Party does not support this costly and dangerous intrusion into
our privacy which will do nothing to improve our security.
Not
A lot Of People Know This.......
‘We will negotiate a withdrawal from the E.E.C. which has
drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs’
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