Ist UKIP MP

I do not understand, jingle. Farage believes strongly in what he doesn't verbalise? If he doesn't verbalise it, how can you know what it is?

Unfortunately a lot of people agree with jing and agree with her! The Angel next door is one! She resents the immigrants and is bitter about the fact that she and her oh have minimal pensions.

While there may not be a finalised UKIP manifesto, their recent conference made several policy announcements. Their stance re the EU and immigration is well known, but there are a large number of other policies - amongst them:

Abolish inheritance tax.

Introduce a 35% income tax rate for those earning between £44,000 and 55,000. Abolish the 45% income tax rate for those earning £150,000 and above.

Protect the Green Belt, encourage development of brownfield sites, together with lowering planning regulations for such sites, and introduce a mechanism whereby referenda can be held for local people to oppose large scale housing developments.

Cut foreign aid.

Scrap HS2.

Abolish the Department for Energy and Climate Change, subsidies for wind farms and solar power and "green" taxes, and support the development of fracking.

Abolish the Department for Energy, Media and Sport.

Support "free" schools and the re-introduction of grammar schools.

Introduce a "simplified, streamlined welfare system" and abolish the bedroom tax (which appears to have been a disaster anyway).

Oppose the proposal for plain packaging for tobacco products and minimum pricing restrictions for alcohol, and introduce "smoking rooms" into pubs.

Review BBC licence fee, with a view to reducing it.

Oppose proposals to charge for GP visits (which they previously supported)

No doubt certain of these policies will appeal to a number of voters, whatever their political leanings.

My feeling is that the tax cuts they propose would be just the opening round of their previously expressed wish to introduce a flat rate income tax of around 25%. People would, as UKIP said, retain "more of their own money" but would inevitably have to use that money to pay for privatised services since a 25% flat rate income tax would lead to a very significant shrinkage of the state (again, a previously stated UKIP goal, about which they're now keeping a very low profile).

Their intention to abolish inheritance tax - at an estimated cost of £3 billion per annum - may well appeal to many people who, I believe, frequently over-estimate the proportion of estates that will become liable for it. The threshold is set at £325,000 per person or £650,000 per couple and in 2010/11 6% of estates paid inheritance tax. Apparently half of the yield for inheritance tax comes from the south east and, in particular, London. Its abolition would mean an acceleration of the acquisition of wealth (and power) by a very small percentage of the population.

Also, even if one does not go along with the notion of "man made climate change", it seems dangerous to me to not invest in the development of more sustainable and less polluting energy sources.

My feeling is that it's a dangerous party that probably carries enough support in the Conservative party to enable it to form a coalition with them. Heaven forbid.

It sounds very much a pick n mix of policies Eloethan, designed to have the most appeal to the greatest number of people. i wonder what on earth was the thinking behind some of these policies - smoking rooms in pubs, when the whole of Europe and America has done away with these, and there is overwhelming evidence of the damage that smoking - and second hand smoking does? I think this is a cynical move to appeal to "the working man".

I hope no one took my post the wrong way. I did put an eye rolling emoticon.

Jendurham I meant he may be even more "anti-immigration" than he says he is. Just a feeling. Like you do about some people.

get about

Saw a bit of the Andrew Neil interview with NF at home today. Old Nick seemed very uneasy under fire from the big guns about his specific policies. What a sad state British politics is in these days!

The Lib/Dems were always the voice of reason; the Jiminy Crickets of British politics. They were always a nice safe way to vote if wanting to show discontent about things. I miss that [I know they're still with us but it's not the same now ].

Nigel Farage abolished their last manifesto. He abolished the one before that too. They actually gained all those Euroseats without a manifesto.
Perhaps that's where the other parties can score, by asking him about his manifesto.
On the other hand, the Tories went completely against their manifesto within weeks of coming into government so it hardly matters.
But if nobody has a manifesto, why should we vote at all?

How much do elections cost, I wonder?

I miss that [I know they're still with us but it's not the same now]

I wonder what made you feel that Tegan. I watched the Lib Dem conference (I'm such a politics geek I watched each of them) and felt they seemed really like Lib Dems always have - Liberal with a touch of Social Democracy

Old Nick seemed very uneasy under fire from the big guns about his specific policies.

I am so glad you said that papaoscar. I have just peeped in to another forum I have posted on in the past to find that all (and they are many) the older male UKIP posters were saying how well he did ... how he tells it like it is.

Like you I thought he seemed very uncomfortable being pinned down.

It's interesting to speculate what would happen if there were to be a hung parliament, with UKIP having gained several seats. The anti-EU Conservatives would presumably favour going into coalition with UKIP but what about the pro-EU people (I don't know how many there are)?

If there were to be a Conservative/UKIP coalition, I suspect many of the more "liberal" policies of UKIP (that I think have been thrown in to attract the Labour vote) will be jettisoned. After all, both Nick Clegg and David Cameron went back on pledges they made before the election. I think what will remain will be the more regressive policies, such as a reduction in income tax and abolition of inheritance tax/green subsidies and policies, and a substantially smaller role for government in the provision of public services - which will open the door for even more privatisation. I hope that those voting UKIP, on the basis that we "need a change/the current parties can't be trusted", etc., etc., are aware of the sort of changes that may occur if UKIP does well.

A great many 'protest voters' don't actually consider what will happen in the long-run, they just don't want to vote for the usual two parties. The LibDems have lost all credibility, so what's the alternative? I don't think the Green Party has much hope, before anyone suggests it.

Hitler gained power by saying what people wanted to hear. I think UKIP is a very worrying organisation.

I still don't understand why it's said by some that UKIP is a Tory problem and keep on trying to connect UKIP solely with the Tories.

I think it has been widely accepted that Labour is on the run just as much as the Tories.

I watched Hariett Harman being interviewed today on Andrew Marr. A Marr said it looks like Labour is 'changing course' on immigration. I couldn't help but shout hypocrit at her, mind you I usually do. She stated the following.

A. We don't want to see people's wages 'kept down' because of 'people coming in' and working at a very low level and therefore people's pay and standard of living 'is repressed'. Therefore we need a higher minimum wage and tougher enforcement. (a higher minimum wage is fine but won't stop people working for less and she must know that, she also admits to immigration being a cause of low pay)

B. People shouldn't be 'allowed into this country' who have 'committed serious offences' and if they commit a serious criminal offence here they 'should be deported' back to their country of origin, even if they are from EU countries. (yeh, right, that's practically impossible thanks to Labours Human Rights Act etc.)

C. Benefits - If people want to claim contributory benefits 'they should have been here long enough to have 'paid into the system' before they get anything out'. If their children are abroad 'you can't claim child benefit whilst you are working here'. ( this is pure hypocrisy , Labour has practically denied this happens and certainly made hay out of using the spin of the Tories being the nasty party when such matters have been discussed in parliament and to the media. If that is the party line why haven't they backed Ian Duncan Smith?)

D. There should be ' transitional protection' for further countries who join the EU, 'no more free movement of labour'. ( Pity Labour never thought of that years ago, we might not be in such a mess. If that's how they have felt all along they should have backed the Tories over this in the both the British Parliament and the EU Parliament, pure hypocrisy again)

She admitted that 'problems come with immigration'

Are these not the thoughts and change of direction by a Labour party that is seeing a challenge from UKIP and are worried?

UKIP has them all on the run!

The Greens are more representative of the policies I'd like to see, but they certainly do have an uphill struggle. As others have commented, they don't get their fair share of coverage. I agree the Lib Dems have lost all credibility. With an election looming, they're trying to distance themselves from the Conservatives but I think this will be seen for what it is. With an election looming, there must be a lot of people out there agonising about who to vote for - I know I am.

Now I know why I haven't voted for Labour for ages. Even they do not stick up for the underdog.
Non EEA migrants actually contribute 2% more in taxes than is spent on them, making them net contributors to the UK.

nhap.org/a-handy-factsheet-about-immigrants-and-health-tourism/

News headline, "Tories admit that NHS reforms our worst mistake."
In the Times.

Eloethan, at the last election, people voted to keep out who they did not believe in. They probably said that UKIP had no chance.
Now we know differently, surely it's best to vote for the party you think would best represent you.
Okay, the two big parties might have the biggest number of seats, but there could be three parties with the balance of power, Libdems, UKIP and Green.
That might be what everybody wants.

durhamjen That's assuming that there will be a Green "bandwagon" similar to the UKIP "bandwagon" - which is unlikely because the Greens are largely ignored by the media. Let's face it, media coverage is very important. If we had a PR system, I would have no hesitation in voting Green but with our first-past-the-post system, I'm still undecided.

The LibDems have lost all credibility, so what's the alternative?

As I said previously Ana The LDs seemed to have been far from loosing all credibility with the Lib Dems. Yes, I can see if you voted for the party because of the student fees and were not particularly liberal or social democratic in your thinking when you voted then the fact that they could not get that through would mean they lost credibility but the LDs at the conference seemed surprisingly (or perhaps not ) pleased with what they had managed to achieve.

I think the credibility of any party is already lost to people who would never vote for them in the first place. My feeling is that the difference in the next election will be made by how many of their core vote each of the parties can pull back.

It is also my opinion that many people will vote UKIP because they believe what they think they are saying but I think a large number are "none of the above" voters who have felt very left out of decisions made on their behalf.

Thinking of my post to Ana I wonder how we all feel about the party we voted for in the last election (I am not asking which that was) and whether we would vote for them in the upcoming election.

(Catching up - been away)

I thought Carswell epitomised the smooth talking, polished Tory that he so recently was, and is at heart. Self serving, too, I think, as another poster pointed out.

And yes, UKIP will, I fear, seem an attractive alternative to the mainstream parties. Farage certainly know which buttons to press.

Yes I will gracesgran I'm a socialist and unlikely to change.