Nigel Farage set out plans for an early referendum on withdrawal from the EU, a radical reduction in immigration, increased spending on defence and an £18 billion tax giveaway as he launched the Ukip manifesto under the slogan Believe In Britain.
Declaring “we want our country back” Mr Farage said that Ukip was the only party in the May 7 General Election to argue that the UK should be a free self-governing nation, able to make its own laws and negotiate its own trade deals, and trading with the European Union as “good neighbours”.
After dismissing the Ukip manifesto for the 2010 election as “drivel”, Mr Farage said that the spending and saving commitments in this year’s much slimmer document was fully costed and independently verified by the Centre for Economics and Business Research thinktank.
Launched in the Ukip target seat of Thurrock in Essex, the manifesto has at its heart an early referendum on Britain’s EU membership, which Mr Farage believes will pave the way for withdrawal, allowing the UK to impose tighter immigration controls and thereby relieve pressure on public services.
Other flagship policies included:An £18 billion “low tax revolution” which would see the threshold for paying income tax raised to £13,000, the higher-rate 40p threshold lifted to £55,000 and a new 30p rate on earnings between £45,000 and £55,000. Savings totalling £32 billion by the end of the Parliament in 2020, including a “radical” cut in overseas aid; the ending of contributions to the EU; the scrapping of “vanity projects” like the HS2 rail link between London and the North; and reform of the system for distributing of state cash, to cut funding for Scotland and give a “fairer deal” for England and Wales. A commitment to meet and then “substantially” exceed Nato’s target of 2% of national GDP to be spent on defence, and to end tax payments for armed forces on active service. Increased spending of up to £3 billion a year on the NHS.With Ukip in no position to secure an overall majority in the May 7 General Election, the manifesto will widely be seen as setting out a negotiating position for coalition discussions with larger parties – particularly the Conservatives – in the event of a hung Parliament.
Mr Farage has made clear he will put pressure on David Cameron to bring forward the in/out EU referendum he has promised for 2017, and he dismissed the Prime Minister’s plan to seek reform of the UK’s membership ahead of the poll, insisting that there was “no renegotiation of any value that is to be had in Brussels”.
The Ukip leader said: “We are the only party with the self-confidence and belief in this nation that we actually believe that not only could we, but that we should, govern our own country, make our own laws and negotiate our own international trade deals.
“We are the only party standing in this General Election saying we want a trade deal with Europe, we want to be good neighbours with our European friends, but we desperately seek a referendum so that we can set this country free from political union.
“There is no third way. There is no renegotiation of any value that is to be had in Brussels. Our position is perfectly clear – We want our country back.”