UKIP South East

Manifesto

Introduction

UKIP wants Britain to regain three essential freedoms by leaving the EU: Freedom of Action, so we can control our borders and no longer have to grovel to the EU for permission to save our Post Offices, factories, etc.; Freedom of Resources, by keeping the £16.4bn p.a. in cash (£45m a day) currently sent to Brussels and spending that money in the UK; Freedom of the People, with real power returning to British citizens from remote EU bureaucrats.

In summary, UKIP will:

1 The Economy: Tax, Budget & Regulation

· Save up to £120bn a year by leaving the EU. No British jobs or trade will be lost
· Take tax off the minimum wage by raising the tax threshold to £11,500
· Reduce everyone’s taxes with a 31% flat tax
· Abolish the ‘tax on jobs’: phase out employers’ NI contributions over five years
· Axe Britain’s gigantic quango mountain and public sector non-jobs to reduce UK national debt
· Release businesses from 120,000 EU laws
· Replace VAT with a ‘Local Sales Tax’ to help councils and local businesses

2 The Economy: Jobs, Enterprise & Skills

· Create one million new skilled jobs with public and private investment in a five-point public works programme to provide defence equipment, nuclear power stations, flood and coastal protection, transport infrastructure including high-speed rail lines, and new prisons
· Abolish costly EU schemes such as carbon capping, emissions trading, and landfill taxes
· Amend the UK Takeover Code to prevent foreign interests from gaining control of strategic British companies

3 Immigration & Asylum

· End uncontrolled mass immigration
· Introduce an immediate five-year freeze on immigration for permanent settlement
· Regain control of Britain’s borders to stop foreign criminals from entering our country
· End abuse of the UK asylum system and expel Islamic extremists
· Introduce a strict new points-based visa system and time-limited work permits
· Triple the number of UK Borders Agency staff engaged in controlling immigration (to 30,000)

4 Law & Order/Crime

· Enable voters to set policing priorities through locally-elected County Police Boards
· Demand zero tolerance on crime and double prison places to assure this
· Make sentences mean what they say: life must mean life
· Scrap the Human Rights Act that benefits criminals and not their victims. No votes for prisoners
· Introduce a ‘Three Strikes and You’re Out’ law to lock up career criminals for good
· Abolish the Crown Prosecution Service and return to county police prosecutions

5 Defence

· Boost the military budget by 40% so our armed forces are properly equipped
· Demand one clear achievable mission for Afghanistan or seek a negotiated exit
· Keep Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent strong
· Look after our service heroes with better pay and conditions
· Expand the Army by 25% and double the TA
· Provide more RAF helicopters and aircraft
· Expand the Royal Navy to its 2001 strength, guaranteeing the future of Plymouth, Portsmouth and Rosyth ports

6 Healthcare & the NHS

· Keep the NHS free at the point of delivery and make no cuts to frontline services
· Replace overlapping tiers of NHS bureaucracy (SHAs/PCTs) with locally-elected County Health Boards
· Introduce private sector ‘franchise partnerships’ to run NHS healthcare services better, while assets remain in public hands
· Introduce ‘Health Credit Vouchers’ to allow people to opt out of the NHS if they wish
· Re-examine community care and support congregate communities for people with learning disabilities
· Restore free NHS dental check-ups and eye tests

7 Education & Training

· Bring back the ‘three Rs’ and teach reading with phonics to provide a proper educational foundation
· Encourage the creation of new grammar schools, but make the 11-plus vocational as well as academic
· Give parents ‘School Vouchers’ so they can choose between schools - state or private
· Raise standards by franchising state schools to private organisations, such as charitable trusts
· Re-introduce student grants (‘Student Vouchers’ and ‘Training Vouchers’)
· Re-examine the policy of ‘inclusion’ and support special schools for children with learning disabilities

8 Pensions

· Roll all existing state pensions and benefits into a non means-tested minimum £130pw ‘Citizen’s Pension’
· Reinstate dividend tax credit at 20%
· Reduce the annual limit for tax-relievable pension contributions to £10,000, from £255,000
· Bring public sector final salary pensions back into line with typical private pension provision
· By leaving the EU, avoid having to pay for unfunded EU pensions

9 Welfare & Social Security

· Reform the ridiculously complicated welfare system (currently more than 70 different benefits)
· Help families by rolling childcare benefits and credits into one enhanced benefit
· Allow part-time workers to continue claiming ‘Basic Cash Benefit’ until their wages reach £11,500
· Introduce council-run ‘Workfare’ projects to improve local communities
· Ensure UK benefits are only available to those who have lived here for at least five years

10 Foreign Affairs & International Trade

· Leave the EU and continue in free trade with the other European countries. No jobs will be lost
· Establish a Commonwealth Free Trade Area with the other member countries
· Regain Britain’s currently dormant seat at the World Trade Organisation
· Promote democracy, genuine human rights and free determination around the world

11 Energy & the Environment

· Invest in nuclear power and clean coal to avert Britain’s impending energy crisis
· Oppose wind farms in general and require them to be funded by the market
· Establish a Royal Commission to determine the truth about man-made global warming
· Incentivise the reduction of waste and effective methods of recycling and incineration
· Encourage use of electric road vehicles and more electrified rail
12 Transport
· Invest an extra £3bn p.a. in the UK’s road and railway systems
· Introduce three new high-speed rail lines, and re-open some lines closed by Beeching
· Shelve plans for the sixth Heathrow terminal and third runway in favour of a Thames Estuary airport
· Make foreign lorries pay to use British roads with a ‘Britdisc’ and ban the EU’s ‘superlorries’
· Subject parking charges and revenue-raising devices, e.g. speed cameras to greater democratic control

13 Housing & Planning

· Build more social housing and encourage the use of 800,000 empty homes
· Scrap the pointless Home Information Packs (HIPs)
· Introduce binding local planning referenda for major developments, except when there is overriding national interest
· End undemocratic regional planning in favour of county-based decision making
· Introduce conservators to help preserve green belt land

14 The Constitution & How We Are Governed

· Give the British public a right to binding local and national referenda on major issues
· Introduce proportional representation into national and local elections. UKIP favours the Alternative Vote Plus system
· Abolish layers of regional government
· Give voters a right of recall over corrupt MPs, enabling them to force by-elections

15 Culture & Restoring Britishness

· End support for multiculturalism and promote one shared British culture for all
· Be fair to England by introducing an ‘English Parliament’, ending the discriminatory Barnett Formula and making St George’s Day a national holiday in England
· Ban the burka and veiled niqab in public buildings and certain private buildings
· Require UK schools to teach Britain’s contribution to the world and celebrate cultures, languages and traditions from around the British Isles
· Scrap political correctness in public affairs

16 Food, Farming & the Countryside

· Support the new supermarket Ombudsman to ensure farmers receive a fair price from supermarket chains
· Introduce labelling schemes to support British farmers and high animal welfare standards
· Support GM foods research but continue to oppose GM food production and listen to evolving scientific research
· Guarantee farmers no sudden loss of CAP payments on leaving the EU
· Allow county referenda to reverse the hunting ban at local level
· Legalise more producer co-operatives to put food producers on a more equal footing with supermarket buyers

17 Fishing

· Immediately withdraw from the Common Fisheries Policy and take back control of British waters up to 200 nautical miles from the UK
· Return £2.5bn p.a. in fish sales to the UK economy
· Ban shameful discarding of fish and abandon all EU quotas