Ukip still has no election manifesto – and party leader Nigel Farage told the BBC's Sunday Politics show that it won’t come until “as late as practically possible” before the election. He said the electorate was already bored enough with the election campaign, and people will want to see something “fresh, new and positive” from his party.
The Sunday Mirror, fed up of waiting, has managed to cobble together eight Ukip policies by listening to keynote speakers at the party’s spring conference in Margate at the weekend. Here they are in a nutshell:
1. Scrap HS2 - no ifs, no buts. It’s a “vanity project” the country cannot afford, Farage told the conference - to a massive cheer.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
2. Ukip would not have a minister for women. This was confirmed by a woman - MEP Janice Atkinson.
3. £3bn extra for the NHS. This we knew already - but health spokeswoman Louise Bours MEP added that, under Ukip, failed hospital managers would never be able to get a new job somewhere else in the NHS.
4. Extra defence spending. Farage accused the current government of “running down” Britain’s defences. (He also told the Sunday Politics that he would back Nato coming to Ukraine’s aid against Russia.)
5. Foreign aid cut. Nathan Gill MEP said Ukip would reduce spending to 0.19 per cent of gross national income, just like the US, saving £9 billion.
6. Reduce taxes. Suzanne Evans said Ukip would “say no to mansion tax, no to bedroom tax, no to tax on minimum wage and no to inheritance tax".
7. Cuts to spending beyond England. Ukip would aim to scrap the Barnett Formula - the subsidy paid from Westminster to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - saving up to £8bn a year.
8. Push for electoral reform. Although Douglas Carswell MP called the Lib Dems’ AV proposals a "bad idea", he and other Ukippers dropped strong hints, said the Mirror, that the party would call for electoral reform - the only way to "break the cosy cartel in Westminster".
