Where does UKIP go now?

A somewhat disappointing result for UKIP on thursday night. The targets of one million votes and the seat of Buckingham both fell short, with Nigel Farage unfortunately coming third in the contest and the party overall winning just over 900,000 votes. Still, that is a sound result when one takes into context the three party squeeze and the understandable focus on the hung parliament/Clegg surge/Conservative win factors.

When comparing these results to the 2005 general election where UKIP won over 600,000 votes, they are overall a clear improvement.

The UK Independence Party must now, if it wants to get anywhere, redirect it's aims and hopes and to emphasise more on other important political factors. It must realise that when it really comes down to it, European Parliament Elections mean nothing to the wider electorate. Local and national issues must come first.

There will be many UKIP members who will scream that the EU is the most important issue. It isn't. Admittedly it is to them, but as we all know the majority of the public are not UKIP members, or indeed the majority do not even know who or what UKIP actually is. This is coming from a paid-up member of the party and an enthusiastic supporter of the domestic policies; in particular the 31% flat tax for all earners above £11,500 (no tax on the minimum wage) and the radical school vouchers proposal which as I have said in previous posts, will dramatically improve education standards and undoubtedly increase social mobility.

None of UKIP's excellent domestic policies have been effectively utilised in the election campaign that unfolded over the past four weeks. It was all about the EU, how bad and evil it is, how it can be put to blame for all the nation's problems. To be honest I have had enough. I have had enough of the whining and moaning about how UKIP isn't doing well enough and how voters just don't get the apparent urgency and importance of the anti-EU message. They don't get it because they don't care, and rightly so. There are more important things for voters to think about: education, taxation, jobs and the structural deficit.

Now obviously the EU does have say in some aspects of our governance, in particular trade, immigration and agriculture but the most important things affecting the people of this country are still (thankfully) decided at Westminster. Yes the EU is expensive, undemocratic, overly bureaucratic and has since it's inception held the 400 million Europeans within the union in utter contempt. Those who disagree are ignored, those who agree are rewarded extravagantly through taxpayers' money. Britain would be substantially better off out of this political institution where it could still trade and cooperate with European nations but without the stranglehold of political union.

Nonetheless UKIP must start to hit home what it would do on local issues, how it's stance would help or improve the country. It has to prove to millions why it really is the radical alternative. The party does offer something different and when I say different I don't mean in the Clegg-I'm-different-honest way but true fundamental, wide-reaching radical reforms for the good of the country.

If the party is to forever go on about the European Union, Islam and immigration it will, without a doubt fail.

The recent election results show it has yet to convince the nation of it's credibility, it's potential, it's worth.

I for one hope it diverts it's gaze on Europe to more domestic fronts. Let us show people under a UKIP government taxes would be lower, jobs would grow and prosper, our armed forces would be equipped and invested in, our healthcare and welfare services would be innovative, efficient and value for the taxpayers' money.

UKIP could be so much more if it allowed itself to be. Be the true libertarian, radical alternative and please shut up about Islam and the 'evil EU empire'. To simply marginalise an entire religion, someone's faith, is exceptionally wrong and it must stop. It is a total contradiction of principle to proclaim to stand up for liberty and then to want to ban someone from wearing an item of clothing. That talk is simply conforming to the narrow-minded, publicity-driven nonsense seen in the media and press. We, as a party must be more than that, we must be above that.

It is time to change, indeed to evolve. Do it, or fail.

Lord Pearson: Stop betraying your own party members

After reading an article in today's Daily Telegraph about Lord Pearson's intentions to actively canvass with Labour and Tory Eurosceptics, I was left feeling utter outrage. Believing it to be a noble cause, Lord Pearson has recently failed to persuade the majority of UKIP candidates standing against these 'eurosceptics' to stand down, they have refused to and rightly so.

I am speaking out against Lord Pearson because I feel not only is he betraying fellow party members and candidates but also tarnishing UKIP with the one-issue EU obsessiveness that so many (including myself) have tried to shake off. If these eurosceptics from other parties are indeed eurosceptics, then why is it they have not spoken out about it before? Why have they not done more in parliament and within their own respective parties? I don't care if they are eurosceptics and neither will the majority of the British electorate. Indeed this idea of standing down for other parties and indeed even canvassing for them will not only confuse any potential supporters but also drive them away.

Lord Pearson would also be wise not to fall into such contradictory territory as he does in the article above. At one point he mentions the "three failed old parties" (a term supported by many UKIP members) and yet professes to say how he plans to campaign for some of their candidates. So what do you really believe Lord Pearson? Are you in this for UKIP or to simply damage (or indeed help?) your previous party, the Tories?

This is a disgrace for all the hard-working activists and candidates who are standing not just so voters can have a voice on matters of the European Union but also to vote for a party that wants to cut taxes for all, increase accountability and democracy through referendums and make our schools centres of excellence through increased choice and accessibility.

It is a disgrace to all the people who have done so much in making the UK Independence Party a party with a fully-fledged, long term domestic agenda which can rival the other parties and finally succeed in national elections. UKIP is not just about the EU, so people should stop acting like it is.

Enough Lord Pearson, stop betraying your own party.

UKIP: A party in an unique position

Despite the apparent three-party squeeze in the opinion polls lately, the UK Independence Party is in an unique position to take voters from all the three old parties and succeed in gaining the current target of one million votes. Indeed in the last national election to take place with the European Elections in June 2009, UKIP not only came second ahead of the Labour government(a record in itself) but also came first in normally strongholds of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories.

This I believe is not only because UKIP is the radical alternative for voters fed up with the three failed old parties, but also because the party incorporates policies from across the political spectrum. UKIP believes in common sense and pragmatism over narrow-minded political tribalism. It offers everyone a radical difference. A new kind of politics, a new refreshing take on government where the people are at the heart of its motives.

Just go see for yourself.

Labour on course for worst electoral results since 1918

With all the media focus now on the Liberal Democrats and whether Cameron can have a come-back that would give him a working majority in Parliament, it seems everyone has forgotten the fact that Labour are on course for an electoral catastrophe. According to the opinion polls Labour are on average at just 27% of the vote. This if repeated on May 6th will be worse than Labour's horrendous defeat in 1983 when Michael Foot was leader. Indeed the latest ICM poll to come out has Labour currently on 26%.

The reason this has not been talked about as much as it should is because Labour are hoping to cling on to power with the help of the Liberal Democrats and their holier-than-thou pure leader, Nick Clegg. As I've said in previous posts, due to the current electoral system even if Labour come third in the popular vote they could still have the most seats come May 7th. So, despite the fact on average some 73% of the electorate plan to vote against Labour they may still be in power for another four or five years. God help us all.

Personally I plan to vote for neither of the three old parties. I am putting my faith in the UK Independence Party because I support their 31% flat tax and especially as a younger person support their no tax on the minimum wage and their plans to abolish tuition fees.

One word of advice to the Tories though, maybe if you highlighted the fact the Labour government are on course for a major haemorraging of electoral support that has not been witnessed for decades, you might just turn the tide. The scrutiny that should have been given to the Liberal Democrats also has not succeeded because Cameron didn't go straight for the jugular.

Anyway enough of that, vote UKIP!

Ban the Bercow.

John Bercow is perhaps one of the most odious characters around. By all accounts arrogant, full of himself and an opportunist who became Speaker thanks to the partisan backing of Labour MPs, he really does need to go.

Great then to see that Nigel Farage, who would be an amazingly good Member of Parliament for Buckingham, using the internet to help raise funds. It doesn't matter to the people of Buckingham whether they are a Labour, Tory or Lib Dem voter - none of these parties are standing. It is a straight choice between a man who represents the cosy consensus of modern day Westminster politics, and the man who could help to single-handidly shatter that consensus into a million pieces.

Go on, donate and help get Nigel Farage into the House of Commons. UKIP really could win in Buckingham.

So the Tories want to talk EU again.

The opportunism of Cameron's Conservatives is there for all to see. After being one of the many issues that David Cameron has been extremely keen for his Party to avoid, the attacks on Nick Clegg's euro-federalist position have begun.

The Tories are well within their rights to point Clegg out as a massive euro-enthusiast. Yet it is the sheer nature of the Tories bringing up the issue when it suits them, beating Clegg with a quick "eurosceptic" slap and at the same time being reluctant to talk about this vital issue when it doesn't suit them. This is out and out opportunism, not an attack on Clegg driven by a principled stance on the issue.

The televised debate tonight will see the EU issue come up and no doubt Cameron will try and push himself as the natural choice for Britain's eurosceptic public. As I said yesterday, Clegg's in or out referendum pledge on EU membership will do more to placate many thinking of voting Tory or UKIP than Cameron's ruling out of any EU referendum for five years.

Are the Lib Dems now closer to UKIP than the Tories and Labour?

I know, I know. Nick Clegg wants an EU superstate and for Britain to abandon the pound sterling and adopt the euro. Lord Pearson wants Britain to totally and utterly withdraw from the European Union. But could it be that, despite the widespread support for the notion that UKIP are an offshoot of the Tories, it is in fact the Liberals that UKIP are closest to?

I say this because Nick Clegg seems to be strongly pushing the fact that he wants a referendum on EU membership. Now I am not naive: I'm fully aware that the Lib Dems abstained from a vote on the Lisbon Treaty in the House of Commons and failed to support UKIP's Bill in the House of Lords for the very referendum on membership that Clegg is now advocating.

But the fact is that what Clegg is offering is far closer to what UKIP want than Cameron or Brown are offering. Of course Clegg and the Liberal Democrats would stand diametrically opposed to UKIP during the referendum campaign as a rabidly pro-EU Party. But at least Clegg is offering that we get to that point at all, which is rather more than what Brown or Cameron are prepared to commit to.

It may not be a nice thought for those Tories who view their Party as somehow being the natural home for UKIP supporters, but it may now be the Liberal Democrats who, in a roundabout way, have more to offer those thinking of voting UKIP than the Tories themselves.

The people must have their say on the issue of Britain's EU membership. At least the Lib Dems appear to want to have the debate at all.

Commentators are still remarkably arrogant when it comes to UKIP.

The Telegraph's Janet Daley is typical of those based in and around Westminster who have no real understanding of UKIP, what it is about or where it is going. In their eyes it is full of ex-Conservative supporters who have formed a political party to pressurise the Tories into being more eurosceptic.

It is for this reason I would guess that Janet Daley has today begged for Lord Pearson to stand down UKIP at this forthcoming General Election. Her argument is that UKIP standing in Liberal Democrat target seats could cost Conservative candidates and MPs their moment of glory on May 6th and help elect Lib Dem MPs.

Daley's take on this is utterly ridiculous for a whole plethora of reasons. Lord Pearson has already gone further than the wishes of many UKIP members and "put country before Party" by persuading UKIP candidates not to stand against anti-EU Tories and one Labour MP. Those Conservatives UKIP are standing against are not brave or wise enough to back Britain withdrawing from the EU.

But further to that, it is wrong for such commentators to believe that UKIP are only interested in the issue of the European Union. No other Party offers policies like the restoration of grammar schools and flat tax. The Conservatives offer nothing closer to these principles than the Liberal Democrats.

In other words, UKIP have their own vision of the UK that is radically different from all of the three old parties. And it is a vision that is picking up more and more support across the country if opinion polls are to be believed. It is a growing political Party with a very bright future and it owes nobody from any other Party a thing. To suggest otherwise is the height of arrogance.

Buckingham needs a Voice, not a Speaker

With the election finally hotting up and even becoming a little exciting, there is one seat in the country that come May 7th has the potential to create an earthquake in British politics. Nigel Farage, the charismatic former leader of the UK Independence Party is on course to topple the Speaker of the House, John Bercow. Now without any hint of bias, Bercow has to go. He is a sly, pompous, obnoxious hypocrite who on being elected Speaker (only because Labour were sticking two fingers up to the Tories) claimed tens of thousands of pounds in taxpayers money to renivate his Speaker's Apartment at a time he was claiming to 'clean up the expenses scandal in politics'. He is quite frankly a joke and the good people of Buckingham deserve better.

Nigel Farage is without doubt the best possible candidate for MP for Buckingham and I implore anyone reading this to do their bit in getting Nigel elected. Once in Westminster, he will be able to fully uncover what absolute disgraces the MPs of the three, failed old parties all really are.

Voting Labour has led to the danger of a BNP MP.

Rob Flello, the MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, has warned voters that there is a danger of the BNP winning in his constituency. He naturally, as a Labour MP, insists that the only way to beat the BNP is to vote Labour.

Sadly the rise of the BNP has come under a Labour government. It is Mr. Flello's colleagues in the Labour Party who have ignored working class concern on immigration and social breakdown and now unfortunately the BNP are preying on people's concerns and posing a real threat in Labour heartlands at this General Election. I myself will be down in Barking to help UKIP candidate Frank Maloney soon, where the BNP have been making a song and a dance about Nick Griffin standing.

I personally don't think that the BNP will elect a Member of Parliament on May 6th, but not because Labour have done anything to effectively the counter the threat. I believe simply that while some may get so wound up with things that they vote BNP, there are enough people who realise what they are all about to not vote for them.  No matter how disgusted most British people get, they would much rather sit at home than vote for a racist candidate.

For those who believe in tough but fair immigration controls but are not motivated by racism, as is the case with most decent British people, UKIP are there. Which begs the question, why would someone become a member of the BNP if it wasn't because they are racist?