--- election_year: 2017 party_id: ukip party_name: UK Independence Party party_leader: Paul Nuttall political_spectrum: right victory: false government_outcome: opposition sections: - economy - taxation - health - education - housing - immigration - defence - foreign-policy - environment - transport - law-and-order - welfare - democracy-and-constitution - agriculture - energy - science-and-technology - local-government --- # UK Independence Party Manifesto 2017 > If you believe in Britain, > if you believe in our values, > and if you believe in real > Brexit, then vote UKIP > on 8th June. ## Britain Together **Paul Nuttall MEP, UKIP Party Leader** I have always believed that them down, time and time again. UKIP is at its best when it is You can guarantee that when being radical. It is strongest UKIP says something, we when it is being bold and mean it. leading the political agenda This is a unique general rather than following. election: it is about how the We have done this on Brexit negotiations will be numerous occasions over handled in the years to come the years: when we first said and this makes UKIP more that Britain could not only important than ever before. survive but prosper outside the We are the country's insurance European Union, the political policy, the guard dogs of Brexit. class laughed at us. When we We have fought for Brexit all our spoke of the need for a points-political lives and we want to based system for migrants ensure that the people get the we were derided as racists kind of Brexit they voted for on and xenophobes by the same 23rd June last year. people. This is now government policy for non-EU migrants. This does not mean we just control immigration and reduce In many ways, UKIP was a the numbers of people coming decade ahead of its time to our country. It means we are on these issues and in this not saddled with a huge divorce manifesto UKIP is once again bill, we reclaim our waters, and setting the agenda. we become a free independent nation once again. Be it our stance on balanced migration, constitutional reform If the Prime Minister – who or integration, I predict we are campaigned to Remain in leading where the other parties the EU referendum– begins will eventually follow. to backslide during the Brexit negotiations, she must know On major issues of the day, that UKIP will be there. immigration, the economy, our health service and law and If you believe in Britain, if you order, the old parties have raised believe in our values, and if you the expectations of the public believe in real Brexit, then vote during election time, only to let UKIP on 8th June. ## Contents 3 Britain Together: Paul Nuttall, UKIP Leader 35 Britain United Under One Law for All 5 Introduction to the 2017 UKIP Manifesto 39 Policing, Prison, Punishment 6 Brexit Britain: The Key Tests 42 Britain's New Role in the World 10 Sound National Finances, A Lower Cost of Living 44 Defending Our Nation, Supporting Our Veterans 13 Backing Business and Investing in British Jobs 47 Trade, Not Aid 15 Creating Coastal Enterprise Zones 50 Transport: Keeping Britain Moving 16 Sol ving Britain's Housing Shortage 52 Pr otecting Our Environment 18 Defending our National Health Service 54 Food Production and Animal Welfare 21 Britain's Challenging Mental Health Crisis 56 Our Future Energy Security 24 A Brighter Future for Our Next Generation 58 Real Democracy 27 Caring for Young Children; Supporting Families 61 Keeping it Local 29 Meeting our Responsibilities to 62 UKIP's Five Year Fiscal Plan the Elderly and the Disabled 32 Fair, Balanced Migration ## Foreword **At the last general election, leaving the European Union was UKIP's dream. When we produced the UK's first ever fully costed and independently verified manifesto, we outlined a vision of how strong and democratic Britain could be if we grasped the opportunity to become an independent, sovereign nation once again. Now, Article 50 has been triggered, and we dare to believe our dream will become reality within the next two years.** UKIP sets out in this manifesto six 'Brexit Tests' which need to be passed before we can say we are finally free of the EU. Whoever forms the next government must take note. While some parties tear up their previous manifestos, UKIP is a party that likes to stick to its principles. The £35 billion we will use to finance our public spending priorities has again come from reasonable cuts to the foreign aid budget, scrapping HS2, amending the Barnett Formula and the savings we will make in two years' time by leaving the EU. For the second general election in a row, UKIP's spending proposals do not involve raising any taxes. UKIP's policies have been developed not to catch the public imagination – although we think they will – but to deliver **Suzanne Evans, Deputy Chair, Policy** what Britain really needs and what we can afford. These are our spending priorities for the next parliament: * Invest an extra £11 billion every year into the NHS and social care by the end of the next parliament, raising caps on medical school and nurse training places, and increasing funding for mental health and dementia * Raise the threshold for * Revive our coastal paying income tax to communities and £13,500, cut taxes for fishing villages middle earners, abolish the TV licence and cut VAT on * Cut Business Rates for the household bills smallest businesses * Scrap tuition fees for * Commission a dedicated science, technology, hospital ship to assist our engineering, mathematics, armed forces and deliver and medicine students humanitarian medical assistance worldwide * Provide up to 100,000 new homes for younger people Then there are the policies that every year only UKIP is prepared to commit to: reducing net migration to zero, * Maintain all pensioner putting integration at the top of benefits and the pensions the political agenda, abolishing Triple Lock the House of Lords and creating an English parliament. * Protect disability and carer's benefits Our country needs radical social, economic, and * Spend a genuine two per cent of GDP on defence, democratic change. Brexit plus £1 billion every year heralds a huge potential to shake things up, but it will * Fund 20,000 more police take a political party like UKIP officers, 7,000 more prison to stand up to the tyranny of officers, and 4,000 more the status quo, if we are really border force staff to pull Britain Together. ## Brexit Britain: The Key Tests UKIP has set out six key Brexit tests and until each one of them has been met, we will not have the Brexit the British people voted for on 23rd June last year. One of the most crucial tests is regaining the fishing rights Britain has under international law. The Conservatives already look to be backsliding on this. > More than 17 million of us voted 'Leave,' > giving the government the largest > democratic mandate in the history of > British politics. There should be no question > of turning back, yet the Tories are leaving the > door to the EU wide open. UKIP is > the only party that will genuinely respect > the referendum result. **Gerard Batten MEP, Brexit Spokesman** **UKIP believes the UK should have already left the EU, and that following the Article 50 process will lead us to make too many concessions to Brussels. Theresa May has already shown signs of capitulating on key issues such as immigration and freeing the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Courts. What concessions will she make next?** Theresa May should not be allowing the EU to influence how, when, and on what terms we leave. Ours is a position of inherent strength, and we should be acting from that position of strength, not giving up before negotiations have even begun. ### How Britain Could, and Still Should, Leave the European Union **Repealing the European Communities Act (1972) should be the first, not the last step in the leaving process. There is no legal or moral obligation to use Article 50; we have the legal right to withdraw from the EU unilaterally.** Article 50 is a trap designed to obstruct countries from leaving the EU. The longer the leaving process lasts, the greater the chance of the Referendum decision being overturned. May's decision not to implement the decision of the Referendum as quickly as possible, but follow a slow route that suits the EU, is very worrying. By repealing the 1972 Act we could immediately take back control of key policy areas such as immigration and border controls, fishing, farming, trade, security and defence, and police and criminal justice. All EU laws could remain in place temporarily, until they are repealed individually, amended , or allowed to stand. THE OPEN DOOR TO THE Central Bank, the European requirements, and then agree 2019 EU ELECTIONS Investment Bank, and various the terms of our separation. other 'financial mechanisms' of By now, a Bill for the repeal of If Theresa May signs a the EU so long as we remain a the European Elections Act withdrawal agreement member. We will be expected (2002) should have been placed which means we will leave to contribute to any Eurozone before parliament, to ensure in name but not in substance, bailouts. The EU will also have no British national can stand she will have betrayed to plug a huge financial hole of for election to the European Britain to the EU, just as every some 12 per cent of the gross Parliament in 2019. This would Prime Minister has done EU budget when Britain leaves. have been a clear sign that there since 1972. These are just two very good is no going back on Brexit, yet reasons for the EU to keep us The fact that the political this has not happened. dangling on the hook for as class is choosing to dance long as possible. to Brussels' tune proves ### The EU Plan to Stop **UKIP is the only political The longer the EU can** ### US Leaving party in Britain you can keep Britain in, the greater Article 50 is not just a two-year trust to deliver a true, the opportunity for a new process, as it makes provision unequivocal Brexit. government to reverse the for negotiations to extend for referendum decision, or sign an indefinite time beyond that. up to some kind of associated We are likely to find ourselves membership agreement which, facing protracted and tortuous to all intents and purposes, will negotiations with a recalcitrant, be just like EU membership. bullying EU for quite some time. The EU has no incentive to ### There Must Be No negotiate a 'good deal' for the ### Compromise on Brexit UK because it does not want Our government and our us to leave. parliament should implement The UK has massive exposure the referendum decision to the liabilities of the European according to our own **Only when the government has passed all these tests can we be sure the British people have got the deal they voted for on June 23rd 2016:** **1 4** ### The Legal Test the Trade Test Parliament must resume its supremacy of law-making The UK must retake its seat on the World Trade without restriction. Britain must be completely free from Organisation and resume its sovereign right to sign the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, and we trade agreements with other entities or supra-national must be free, if we wish, to relinquish our membership of bodies. We must have full rights to set our own tariff the European Court of Human Rights. and non-tariff barriers consistent with WTO rules, and **2** THE MIGRATION TEST we must have left both the EU single market and the customs union. Britain must have full control of immigration and asylum policies, and border control. We must be not be bound **5** ### The Money Test by any freedom of movement obligation, and we must be free to set and meet our own annual migration targets. We must not pay any 'divorce' payment to the EU, nor **3** contribute to the EU budget. We must have been paid ### The Maritime Test our share of financial assets from entities such as the The UK's full maritime sovereignty must be restored and European Investment Bank, in which some £9 billion of we must have control of our maritime exclusive economic UK money is vested. zone, which stretches 200 miles off the coast or to the half-way point between the UK and neighbouring 6 ### The Time Test countries. There must be no constraints on our fishing fleet other than those decided upon by the UK parliament. Brexit must be done and dusted before the end of 2019. > "Our fishing industry could be worth £6.3 billion when we leave the EU. Free of the Common Fisheries Policy, we can take back full control of the seas up to 200 miles from our coast, as is our right under international law. We can start to rebuild the once-flourishing fishing industry that our membership of the EU destroyed." Fishing Spokesman **RESTORING BRITAIN'S** **FISHING INDUSTRY** **Of all the tests for a 'proper' Brexit, taking back control of our fisheries is key. The EU's Common Fisheries Policy is an environmental, economic and social disaster that has devastated fishing communities and caused catastrophic damage to our maritime ecology. Until we have control of our seas and our fish stocks, we do not have Brexit.** The EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was cobbled together in 1970 as Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the UK were on course to join the then EEC. Together, these countries held 90 per cent of Western European fish stocks. 80 per cent of those stocks were British. It was a cynical but legal way to seize the new entrants' precious marine resources. The central tenet of the CFP, that there should be non-negotiable 'equal access' to EEC/EU waters was a condition of EEC/EU membership, Some say Prime Minister Edward Heath committed an act of treachery when he capitulated to the CFP; certainly he allowed the UK's territorial waters to be plundered by industrialised fishing fleets, which led to huge job and tax revenue losses from fishing and ancillary industries. The CFP has rightly been described as an obscenity because of its reckless fishing quotas and the discard policy. This requires fishermen either to throw back into the seas dead fish caught over quota, or to bring them back to port and send them to landfill. Data on discards from Eurostat show discards equate to some two billion fish suppers thrown back into the sea every year. It is environmental and economic madness. **Once we leave the EU, we can also leave the CFP, take back control of our seas, and rebuild our fishing industry.** ### The 1964 London Convention on Fishing UKIP will repeal this little-known convention, an agreement between twelve European nations and the UK, which recognises the historic fishing rights of vessels from the contracting parties to fish in the band of waters between six and twelve nautical miles from the UK coast. When the EU's Common Fisheries Policy ceases to apply, the UK will automatically establish control of a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone giving our fishermen sole access to the seas within 200 miles of the UK coastline, or at the mid-point between two countries' coastlines. However, the existence of the pre-EU 1964 Convention could offer a back door to continued EU fishing in British waters, as vessels belonging to signatory nations could cite this legislation and claim 'historic rights' to fishing within the 6 to 12 nautical mile band around the UK. * Restore the UK Exclusive Economic Zone in accordance with international law * End the obscenity of discards and make best use of all fish caught * Introduce a time-limited, paid licence fee option for selected foreign vessels to fish within the UK's territorial waters, while the UK fishing industry re-establishes itself * Launch an inclusive, collaborative consultation with the fishing community to draft a new Fisheries Bill * Ensure all fish caught within UK waters, including those taken by foreign vessels operating under licence, are landed and sold in the UK, to help finance and The next government's attract investment in the willingness - or otherwise - newly developing UK to revoke the 1964 London fishing industry Convention on Fishing * Create, train and equip a could be indicative of their new Fisheries Protection intentions for the fishing industry in the post-Brexit era. Article 15 of the Convention calls for a two-year notice period, so time is of the essence, yet to date no action has been taken. ### Securing the Future of Our Fisheries Re-building our fishing industry and repatriating one of our nation's greatest renewable resources will take time but it could be worth as much as £6.3 billion to the UK economy in net-to-plate income alone. This is a golden opportunity for Britain: our fisheries must not be used as a bargaining chip in EU exit negotiations To take back full control of our fisheries, UKIP will: * Leave the CFP and withdraw from the 1964 London convention Force, using a mixture of technologies in sea-and land-based methods, to police the UK's Exclusive Economic Zone. In addition to the economic, environmental, and social gains we will make in restoring our fishing industry, Brexit also offers a unique opportunity to regenerate British boat and shipbuilding. We could develop our civil ship and boat building programme in line with the World Trade Organisation's Trade Related Technical Assistance programme. **Brexit Britain offers a host of opportunities, and nowhere more so than in our fishing industry. Reviving our proud** **and profitable maritime tradition will rejuvenate our seaside towns, enhance our coastline, produce much-needed skilled employment in economically depressed** **areas, and secure the future for British fishermen.** In 1988, the blue British passport was scrapped and replaced by a smaller burgundy EU one, a clear step towards the creation of a United States of Europe. The British people roundly rejected this plan on 23rd June 2016. UKIP will take the opportunity to re-instate the classic blue passport when the British passport contract comes up for renewal in 2019. ## Sound National Finances, a Lower Cost of Living UKIP will invest in the NHS and care for the elderly. We will fund our schools, build more houses, and rebuild our depleted armed forces. We will do this without adding a single penny to anyone's tax bill. Our cost-of-living package will also save households £400 a year. > UKIP will make full use of the new > economic freedoms we will gain when > we leave the EU. The new policies we will > introduce in Brexit Britain will be designed > to help cut the cost of living for working > people, provide adequate funding for > public services, and revive communities > hardest hit by our EU membership. **Patrick O'Flynn MEP,, Economics Spokesman** **Brexit means we can take back control of those important areas of economic policy we have been forced to surrender to the EU for the last forty-five years. We will resume full responsibility for taxation and have more room for manoeuvre when it comes to industrial and regional policy, without having to worry about EU 'state aid' rules.** UKIP has always made the case for lower taxes and an end to wasteful public spending programmes. We will scrap white elephant vanity projects such as HS2, replace the out-dated Barnett Formula with a fair funding formula based on need, reduce foreign aid to 0.2 per cent of Gross National Income, and end our financial contributions to the EU budget. These savings will provide us with £35 billion to fund our public service priorities. By keeping taxation low and incentives for wealth creation high, we will unleash the hardworking, entrepreneurial instincts of the British people. ### Cutting the Cost of Living **UKIP will remove VAT from domestic energy bills and scrap the green levies currently added to our bills to subsidise renewable energy schemes. Together, these measures will cut typical household energy bills by £170 a year.** **Our plans to abolish the TV licence will eventually save households another £147.** UKIP will phase out the licence fee over three years, giving the BBC time to adopt a new funding model based on subscription and/or advertising. We will expect the BBC to retain a core free-to-air offering on Freeview, maintain the World Service, and its local radio network. Grants from a new public service broadcast fund, financed from within current government resources, will be available to any broadcaster for specific programmes or projects. **We will remove VAT from hot takeaway food such as fish and chips, and from women's sanitary products.** ### Fairer, Lower Taxes Our economic approach revolves around restoring incentives for workers by cutting taxes and ending the open door immigration that keeps wages low. Reducing the tax burden on working people in the bottom and middle ranges of the income scale is our priority. **By the end of the next parliament UKIP will raise the personal allowance to at least £13,500 so people can earn enough money to cover their basic living costs before the state takes any of their income. We will also** **raise the 40 percent income for new and punitive probate tax threshold to £55,000. A charges. tax originally designed for high earners should not be** ### Flexible Pensions **levied on middle-income** ### For Women professionals such as teachers The rise in the retirement age to and senior nurses. When 66 by 2020 and to 67 by 2028 economic conditions allow, has been hugely unpopular, we will restore the personal especially for women, who allowance to those earning over until 2010 could retire at 60. £100,000. UKIP's policy is to introduce a flexible state pension window, UKIP will raise the inheritance so everyone can opt to retire tax threshold to £500,000 earlier, for a slightly lower state per individual, transferable pension, or work longer for a for a married couple or those slightly higher pension, as is the in civil partnerships, so up to case at the moment. £1000,000 in total. Eventually we want to eliminate We will allow women to inheritance tax altogether. retire on this basis at 60, We will also scrap Tory plans if they so wish. > Time and again you will see the Conservative Party > giving favourable treatment to the rich and powerful > and dumping on the up-and-comers. It is not an > attractive trait. UKIP's economic agenda is to speak up > not just for the left behind but for the left out, those > who work hard and play by the rules but have no > special connections or market power. ### Cracking Down on Corporate Tax Dodging The public has every right to be angry when multi-national corporations fail to make their proper contribution to Britain's running costs. PAYE is not voluntary, and corporation tax should not be voluntary either. **We will not let large companies get away with paying zero or negligible corporation tax. When we leave the EU, we will close the loophole allowing businesses to pay tax in whichever EU or associated country they choose, and** **bring in any further measures necessary to prevent large multinational corporations using aggressive tax avoidance schemes.** UKIP is not in the pockets of big businesses and we will make them pay their way. ### Brexit: the Boost to the Economy If Britain leaves the EU without a free trade agreement and we trade with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms, the Treasury will receive a tax windfall of some £11 billion from import tariffs annually. This bonus could be used to fund an across the board cut in VAT to compensate consumers for slightly higher prices, or other spending priorities. In this event, UKIP will also: * Encourage a Buy British campaign: if the EU were seen to be punishing Britain, we believe the home market would support home produced goods * Cut unnecessary EU regulation from the 88 per cent of the UK economy that is not linked to trade with EU countries Prioritise free trade agreements with non-EU countries. ### Returning to Sound Finances The annual public sector deficit may be reducing slowly, but our national debt has been doubled by the Conservatives, since they took office in 2010, to a record high. There can be no more backsliding on returning to sound public finances. We will support deficit reduction schedules put forward by the next government and vigorously oppose unnecessary spending plans. **Only by backing enterprise, rewarding success** **and tackling waste in the public sector can we hope to improve the economic legacy we pass on to future generations.** > "Starbucks recently reported profits of £13.4m on a UK turnover of £380m. Its corporation tax contribution fell to £2.7m, down from £7m the year before. How can a vast business that sells coffee in paper cups all over the country for £2.50 a pop end up paying a corporation tax contribution amounting to much less than one per cent of turnover? Would the taxman be happy to accept, pro-rata, such a contribution from an independent coffee shop? I think we know the answer to that." MEP ## Backing Business and Investing in British Jobs Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party wants to squeeze as much tax as possible out of British businesses and British workers to pay for their outlandish ideas. Theresa May's Conservatives are plotting hikes in dividend tax and Class IV National Insurance contributions, and want to make small businesses file tax returns four times a year. UKIP is the only party in this election prepared to back British businesses and British workers and help both to thrive. **Business Spokesman We will also freeze Insurance Premium Tax.** > There needs to be a bonfire of excessive > EU regulation when we leave the EU > so smaller businesses can compete > successfully on the global stage. > UKIP is the only party that has any > real appetite for this. **Christopher Mills,** **UKIP is strongly pro-business. Helping businesses start, succeed, and compete in the global marketplace is a priority for us. Having long fought against excessive regulations enforced by Brussels, we make the case for clear-cut, sensible regulation to make trading easier, balancing this with policies to encourage ethical and responsible growth.** ### Backing Small Businesses Britain's 5.5 million small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, making up 60 per cent of the jobs in the private sector, according to the Federation of Small Businesses. UKIP will support small businesses by: * Cutting business rates by 20 per cent for the 1.5 million British businesses operating from premises with a rateable value of less than £50,000 * Making HM Revenue and Customs investigate big businesses or public sector bodies that repeatedly make late payments to smaller customers. Fines proportionate to the amount of delayed payments will be levied, and will escalate for repeat offenders * Improve access to trade credit insurance to remove the drag on growth for businesses struggling to secure loans, and give small traders the confidence to expand their businesses * Encourage local trade by pushing every local authority in the country to offer at least 30 minutes' free parking in town centres and shopping parades. **Previous governments have raised this tax as an easy way to make extra revenue, yet it cannot be claimed back by businesses so increases have been especially tough on smaller traders.** ### Accessing Government Contracts Local, regional and national governments have immense spending power totalling around Work and Pensions Spokesman We will also ensure employers are legally free to > Big businesses will have to start > training the British workforce, investing > in succession planning, and paying a > decent living wage to all their employees. **Andrew Charalambous,** £230 billion. While in the EU, they are required to offer contracts right across Europe, which has made it harder for British businesses to compete, and forced them to jump through expensive bureaucratic hoops. Brexit offers the perfect opportunity to open up government order books to smaller businesses, and encourage local, regional and national procurement strategies that will deliver better value for taxpayers. **UKIP will launch an urgent independent review of public sector procurement, with the aim of** **opening public sector contracts up to small and medium-sized businesses employing less than 250 people. Recommendations coming out** **of this review will be put in place immediately after we leave the EU.** Meanwhile, we will compel all public sector bodies to list contracts worth over £10,000 on the government's 'Contracts Finder' website, to help more small firms access public procurement opportunities. ### Backing Britain's Self-employed Strivers It takes courage and determination to set up your own business. Many self-employed people work for less than the national living wage, especially when they start out. UKIP will stand up for Britain's 4.8 million self-employed people. There will be no quarterly tax returns, and no increase in Class IV National Insurance or taxes for our self-employed strivers. UKIP's goal is to keep taxes and red-tape to the minimum necessary. ### British Jobs for British Workers UKIP is not ashamed to say it: we should be offering jobs first to our own unemployed, rather than inviting cheap labour from overseas to do the jobs British people are perfectly able to do. Big businesses are the worst offenders here and we will prevent their deliberately overlooking the 11 per cent of young people in the UK who are currently out of work. **UKIP will bring forward legislation requiring employers to advertise jobs to British citizens before they offer them overseas. It is the government's duty to get our own unemployed off benefits and into the workplace, and improve prospects for our own people, rather than facilitate the continued importation of foreign workers.** choose to hire a young unemployed British person under the age of 25 ahead of a better qualified or more experienced foreign applicant. Employers who wish to back British workers and give local young people a chance on the first rung of the career ladder should not face the threat of legal action, as they presently do. **UKIP will make Gordon Brown's British Jobs for British workers plausible, and meaningful in law.** * Protect workers' rights once we have left the EU: leaving the EU must not usher in any kind of 'race to the bottom' on employment rights. * Enforce the minimum and living wage and reverse government cuts to the number of minimum wage inspectors in England and Wales * Significantly tighten up rules on zero hours contracts and severely limit their use. ## Creating Coastal Enterprise Zones UKIP will make it a top priority to reverse the decline of our seaside towns. We will be the party that cares about coastal communities and does not write them off as being "at the end of the line". > UKIP will make the British seaside great > again: vibrant, viable communities > attractive to businesses, to British > families, and tourists from overseas. **Victoria Ayling,, Heritage and Tourism Spokeswoman** **Our fishing industry has been all but destroyed by the Common Fisheries Policy, and many coastal towns have been pushed into decline with the rise of cheap package holidays abroad, and transport and infrastructure projects that have been skewed towards big cities.** The great British seaside is well overdue a revival, and UKIP will create a new Coastal Towns Taskforce to oversee a raft of measures regenerate those areas of the country that have suffered most as a result of our EU membership. ### Nurturing Seaside Businesses Within our coastal enterprise zones, businesses operating from premises with a rateable value of less than £50,000 will receive a 50 per cent cut in business rates. Coastal towns will have top ranking when it comes to national successor funds to the European Regional Development Fund. Our new coastal towns taskforce will raise funding for new arts and heritage facilities in coastal towns. > In this election, UKIP is the first party > ever to put forward a comprehensive > package of measures targeted at helping > coastal communities. UKIP will provide the > essential leadership needed to reverse the > decline of the great British seaside town. **Patrick O'Flynn MEP, Economics Spokesman** ### Higher Standards of Housing Rundown housing has become an unfortunate hallmark of many coastal towns in decline. In coastal enterprise zones, local authorities will be given the power to: * Access low int erest government loans to buy up and renovate poor housing stock or empty commercial properties, to create quality residential accommodation * Issue compulsory purchase orders for poor quality houses in multiple occupation * Introduce minimum standards for properties in receipt of housing benefit * Refuse housing benefit payments to landlords in breach of planning legislation. **These policies, together with the resumption of to Britain's 200-mile maritime exclusive economic zone – one of our key Brexit tests – will boost coastal towns and give our fishing industry the chance to rebuild.** ## Solving Britain's Housing Shortage The UK is suffering a housing shortage that has been 20 years in the making. The waiting list for public and affordable housing stands at 1.2 million alone. UKIP will provide high quality, affordable homes, with security of tenure, where they are needed, while boosting jobs. > UKIP's housing policy provides a > solution to the housing crisis, which > requires no direct funding from > government, and is not constrained > by the current skill-shortage in the > construction industry. It is a radical > and visionary plan. Finally, our young > people will be able to afford > their own homes. **Ray Finch MEP,, Housing Spokesman** **Successive governments have failed to meet the housing needs of an increasing population. Of the 140,000 homes due to be built this year, 80,000 will be absorbed by population growth, exacerbated by immigration, so at best only 60,000 will begin to address the current chronic shortage.** Labour, the Conservatives, and other parties in this election will promise to build hundreds of thousands of new homes, but their plans are not credible. There are not enough workers in the traditional construction industry to meet their targets. Planning permission remains slow and difficult to obtain and developers have no incentive to build more, because under-supply boosts their margins and land bank values. **UKIP is the only party being realistic about what can be done to increase the housing supply and putting forward a viable solution: a bold policy to roll out high quality, low cost factory-built modular (FBM) homes, affordable on the national average wage of £26,000.** ### Locally Manufactured Factory-built Modular Homes Factory-built homes should not be confused with the pre-fabs of the past. They are built to last, to high design standards, and are energy efficient, with running costs up to 30per cent less than traditional homes. While conventional construction cannot in the medium term meet the need for low cost housing, factory-built modular homes can. **When we leave the EU, we will regain control of the regional development budget, over £1 billion a year. UKIP will use some of this to boost capacity in UK-based modular homes manufacturing. We will enable the manufacture of modular homes where jobs are needed, and they will be built where homes are needed.** ### How Ukip's Modular Homes Building Scheme Will Work UKIP will establish a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to acquire primarily brownfield sites – at existing use value and through compulsory purchase if necessary – where affordable housing is required. Planning law will be changed to enable the HDC to give themselves planning permission to build between 10 and 100 FBM homes on an average site. Homes constructed will be sold on a freehold basis to first time buyers up to the age of 40 who are British citizens and who have a 10 per cent deposit. We anticipate the total cost for a two-bedroom house will be under £100,000, including land purchase and restoration, construction, infrastructure and a contribution to the costs of the HDC. Utilities installation would be covered by a 1per cent energy bill levy, and Stamp Duty would not be applied. **UKIP's proposal will bring up to 100,000 extra truly affordable homes onto the market every year. Combined with a traditional home building programme, we could build another one million homes by 2022. In addition, the FBM model would also make it feasible to deliver substantial numbers of new Council houses that have been promised, while traditional methods do not.** ### Restrictions on Use and Resale As this scheme is a stepping-stone from the rental sector to traditional home ownership, to address the current housing crisis, it must not distort the existing property market. So, homes will be for owner occupation, not private rental. Owners will not be able to sell them on the open market, but plough all revenue raised must sell them back to the HDC from Right to Buy sales into at a guaranteed price of cost community housing and change plus inflation over the period the law to allow mortgages to of ownership. Ownership become inheritable, as they are can, however, be retained in other countries. indefinitely. ### A Review of Housing the Housing Crisis Associations Solved Housing associations are UKIP's modular home accountable neither to scheme provides: taxpayers, who provide much * High quality homes with of their funding, nor to their security of tenure, where own tenants. they are needed A UKIP investigation into the * A way for the next largest 50 housing associations generation to build up uncovered a catalogue of equity and move into the failures. They are not building traditional home owner as many homes as private market developers, the homes they do build cost more to put up, * A realistic way of building homes that is not and they are failing to tackle constrained by the current anti-social behaviour. Average skills shortage in the salaries for chief executives construction industry reach 51 times their tenants' rent: one CEO is paid three times Words and gimmicks from as much as the Prime Minister. the old political parties will not solve the housing crisis. Housing associations UKIP's bold plan will. manage 60 per cent of the socially rented sector and have received £23 billion of ### Going Over and Above In addition to our FBM homes Government funding in the programme, UKIP will identify past 14 years, but UKIP is not convinced they are benefiting long-term dormant land held by either tenants or the taxpayer. central and local government so We will launch a review into it can be released for affordable developments. We will also their operation. ## Defending our National Health Service THE NHS is Britain's best-loved public service and one of the benchmarks of our civilised values. UKIP will keep the NHS free at the point of delivery and increase funding by diverting the £11 billion we will save by cutting the foreign aid budget directly into health and social care. **Successive Labour, Coalition and Tory governments have overloaded the NHS with red tape and allowed it to be abused as an international, rather than a NATIONAL health** **service. The NHS is funded by the British people and should be for the British people.** A catalogue of failures has left the NHS in crisis. NHS Trusts are in deficit to the tune of £2.5 billion, hospital waiting lists for routine treatment have reached record highs, and tens of thousands of elective operations have been cancelled for non-clinical reasons. In January this year 23 hospitals could not guarantee patient care or safety. The Royal College of Nursing says we need 24,000 more nurses, and NHS Digital estimates there is roughly one GP vacancy for every two practices. 1,500 doctors leave Britain every year for better pay and more relaxed working conditions in Australia or New Zealand. **The NHS desperately needs additional funds. UKIP will provide NHS England with an additional £9 billion a year by 2021/22. An additional £2 billion for social care will fully utilise the savings we will make from the foreign aid budget.** ### More Medical Students, Doctors, GPS, Nurses, and Midwives Despite our national doctor shortage, nearly 800 straight 'A' students are turned away from medical school every year. UKIP will lift the cap on medical school training places from 7,500 to 10,000 and make sure no suitable 'A' grade student fails to get a place. Provided medical students commit to working within the NHS for at least ten out of the fifteen years after they qualify, we will cover the cost of all their tuition fees. ### Tackling the GP Shortage Raising the cap on medical school places will help deliver the 10,000 additional GPs the profession needs by 2025. We will also introduce new funding arrangements incentivising doctors to work in geographical areas most in need. However, GPs are also grappling with heavy workloads and over-regulation. **We will end appraisal and revalidation work that goes beyond that deemed necessary by the GMC, and reduce the burden of data collection and target chasing.** **UKIP will also fund the cost of streamlined 'return to practice' training, and encourage retired GPs or GPs with small children to work part-time or in job-share schemes. For doctors who have worked overseas, we** **will make re-registering with and allied health professions' the UK General Medical Council tuition and accommodation much easier by recognising costs, and cover the cost of comparable qualifications, re-training for nurses who have experience, and accreditation. taken career breaks.** Introducing a wider range We will discontinue the one of healthcare professionals per cent pay increase cap and clinical services into GP for frontline NHS workers surgeries will also make general earning less than £35,000 practice less stressful. (Band 6). We will fund additional support staff such as physician RELIEVING PRESSURE associates, clinical pharmacists ON A&E DEPARTMENTS and health visitors in GP UKIP will train more surgeries, and allow practices emergency medicine to operate a wider range of consultants and improve clinics, including minor surgery, their working conditions. where feasible. Emergency medicine consultants cannot GIVING NURSES be expected to work ### THE RESPECT AND unreasonably extended RECOGNITION THEY shifts, repeated unsocial DESERVE hours, excessive numbers of weekends, or be regularly The NHS needs 24,000 forced to cancel leave. more nurses and 3,500 more midwives, yet again potential Every part of the health sector students are being turned away, has a role to play in reducing tens of thousands of them A&E traffic. By improving access every year. to and facilities in GP surgeries, UKIP will increase the number keeping minor injuries units of nurse training placements, open, and sustaining funding reinstate funding for bursaries levels for local chemists, we can to cover nursing, midwifery start to address the A&E crisis. > "Labour and the Tories have failed the NHS with nine arduous top-down reorganisations since 1973 and a relentless cuts and privatisation agenda. UKIP will fund the NHS to the tune of an additional £11 billion a year by 2021/22, address the most pressing challenges within our healthcare system, and fully integrate the NHS and social care." UKIP NHS Champion REMOVING BARRIERS BETWEEN THE NHS AND SOCIAL CARE 35,000 bed days are lost every month because of delayed transfers of care, and legal barriers can make it difficult to pass information between the two systems. The problems caused by our disconnected health and social care system will not be resolved unless the two are fully integrated. **UKIP will establish a Department for Health and Care, and create a sustainably funded social care system assimilated into the NHS.** ### A National, Not an International Health Service **Treating those ineligible for care costs British taxpayers around £2 billion every year. UKIP will launch the toughest ever crackdown on ineligible foreign nationals using our NHS.** Only British citizens or foreign nationals who have paid UK taxes for at least five consecutive years will be eligible for non-urgent NHS care. Anyone else must provide evidence of comprehensive medical insurance before being allowed to enter Britain and maintain that insurance for the duration of their stay. Urgent care will continue to be provided to all in need. We will close any loopholes in reciprocal healthcare arrangements, making sure reciprocity is like-for-like, and pursue any moneys owed to us. We will also tighten the application and approval process for EHIC cards and review the scheme as part of our Brexit negotiations with the EU. ### Accountable Management To improve standards within the NHS, we will create the equivalent of a General Medical Council for NHS managers, making them subject to disciplinary control for the first time. Managers will require a statutory Licence to Manage. Removal of this licence would immediately bar them from working as a manager anywhere within the NHS. The wellbeing of staff is too important to allow incompetent, negligent or bullying managers to remain within the NHS. **Managers and board members will be held individually accountable for poor decisions. Individual votes should be noted on significant or contentious matters.** **We will limit the amount that can be spent on an external management consultancy contract to £50,000. The annual £589 million cost is far too high.** ### Banning Labour's Dodgy NHS Deals Between 1997 and 2010, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown contracted private syndicates of hedge fund managers, bankers, and big property developers to design, build, and finance new hospitals and run non-clinical services. These syndicates charged interest rates so high, you might as well have called the scheme: 'buy one hospital, pay for seven.' These Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals financed £11.8 billion worth of new build but will ultimately cost the NHS £79 billion. 75 per cent of the syndicates involved are based offshore, so they do not even pay UK taxes on these enormous profits. **Labour is not the party of the NHS: Labour is the party that allowed the wealthiest in our society to laugh all the way to the bank at the expense of the NHS. UKIP will end the use of PFI contracts within the NHS.** ### Guaranteed Rights for EU Healthcare Workers Some 167,000 EU nationals work in the health and social care. UKIP has no hesitation in guaranteeing their right to remain here, whatever the EU decides with regard to the rights of British citizens overseas. ### Looking to the Future The five-year political cycle encourages short-termism that is unhelpful to the NHS. For it to be fit for purpose for another fifty years, we need honest, open debate, and viable solutions to the NHS funding crisis that are free from political interference. **UKIP will establish a Royal Commission to find a way forward that allows the NHS to hold fast to its values while meeting the challenges of the future.** * Scrap hospital car parking charges in England. * Abolish the Care Quality Commission, which has caused a vicious circle of misery. We aim to foster a culture of openness, honesty and challenge, not one of blame, shame and sanction. Our new inspection regime will include greater public accountability, extra protection for whistle-blowers, and increased scrutiny. * Scrap EU Legislation that has hindered the NHS such as the Clinical Trial Directive and the Working Time Directive. ## Britain's Challenging Mental Health Crisis The 2012 Health and Social Care Act gave mental health the same priority as physical health, but only in principle. UKIP will put mental wellbeing on the same footing as physical healthcare, in terms of both access to treatment and funding. > Anyone who has suffered themselves, > or seen a loved one deteriorate > before their eyes because of a mental > health problem, will understand just > how important it is to invest in quality > psychological services, and get this > issue higher up the political agenda.. **Suzanne Evans, NHS Champion** **Unresolved mental health and addiction issues lie at the heart of some of our greatest social challenges: crime, homelessness, family** **breakdown, unemployment, and more.** Every year, some 150 million GP consultations and up to forty per cent of A&E attendances are linked to mental health issues and drug or alcohol abuse, yet there are insufficient resources for doctors to refer patients to specialist care. **UKIP will increase planned spending on mental health services by at least £500 million every year. This sum could fund 6,000 clinical** **psychologists to see 500,000 more adults and young people every year.** UKIP's mental health priorities will be: * Cutting waiting times: The current target of eighteen weeks between referral and first appointment is far too long. 28 days should be the maximum. * Closing the gaps between child and adult, and physical and mental care services: There should be a smooth transition between these sectors with professionals sharing best practice and having a central point of communication * Getting funding to the right place: National funding earmarked for mental health services is often being diverted to other NHS services. This must stop. ### Young People Crying Out for Help The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy says 80,000 children and young people in the UK are clinically depressed. Around three children in every class have a diagnosable mental health condition, and one in twelve will self-harm. Figures from the Office for National Statistics are tragic: more than four suicides of young people take place every week. **Mental health problems start before age fourteen in half of all cases, so UKIP will integrate mental health training into the teacher-training syllabus and develop a national school-based counselling strategy for England, on a par with Wales and Northern Ireland. Specialist counselling services will be available in all secondary schools.** Looking out for those at risk must become everyone's responsibility. If a child or teacher saw someone in pain, they would help. Mental health problems also have clear symptoms. UKIP's policies mean professionals will always be on hand to assist. ### Education and Wellbeing Education should focus on personal wellbeing, practical coping skills, and developing positive social relationships, as well as academic performance. In stressing the latter, we have piled stress on our children. **Our education system needs to be more balanced, so UKIP will introduce emotional health and wellbeing into the Ofsted inspection framework.** ### Letting Children Know They Are Not Alone Those who have recovered from their problems are often best placed to help others facing similar > Drugs wreck lives. We are failing in our > duty to protect our children if we do > not warn them about the dangers and > do everything in our power to prevent > them having access to illegal drugs. **Paul Nuttall,, UKIP Leader** challenges. UKIP will encourage schools to invite specialist support organisations into school. Letting our children know what resources are available to them may be life-changing. ### Challenging Media Stereotypes Elsewhere in this manifesto we condemn alien practices that oppress women, but we are not blind to our own failings. The 'lad culture,' which treats young women as sex objects and the 'red circle of shame' in celebrity magazines that hold women to unattainable levels of physical perfection are just two examples. Boys too are increasingly developing eating disorders and body image issues. **UKIP will review advertising, broadcast and editorial codes, seeking commitments that editorial coverage and advertising campaigns will treat men and women with dignity and promote healthy body images.** ### Cyber Bullying **We will extend the remit of the current cross-government Internet Safety Strategy and invite participants to consider whether new legislation is required to address the problem of online abuse.** ### Preventing Drug Use Among Young People **UKIP will not legalise classified drugs. The social consequences could be catastrophic. We will rigorously enforce current legislation.** Identifying drug users means they can be steered towards rehabilitation programmes. Families in which there is a high incidence of addiction can also be identified more easily and appropriate support provided. We include cannabis in this. Cannabis was used by 5.3 million 16-24 year-olds in the last year, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and this is extremely worrying. Teenage cannabis users are five times more likely to develop depression and anxiety, and those who use cannabis at around age fifteen have an above- > average risk of developing Our nation has a duty to provide mental health schizophrenia or bipolar support to those in our armed forces: many have disorder. That risk is increased served multiple tours of combat duty and may in those with a genetic vulnerability. need a great deal of specialist help **Cannabis can cause lasting** **Mike Hookem MEP** **psychotic illness. UKIP will ensure this message is emphasised by social workers, may hide a wider problem. The • Integrate mental wellbeing teachers, doctors, charity Combat Stress says 40 monitoring into existing and magistrates. per cent of serving personnel medical examinations with symptoms do not seek for serving armed forces** **MENTAL HEALTH** help from the specialist Defence personnel in potentially SUPPORT FOR ARMED Mental Health Services (DMHS) traumatic or 'at risk' roles because of general stigma. This **FORCES PERSONNEL, trend continues after discharge.** * Extend the period during **AND VETERANS** **which discharged service To encourage serving Over 5,000 service personnel personnel and veterans to personnel are able to were diagnosed with a mental report mental health issues, access the specialist health problem in 2014, but receive a diagnosis and DMHS scheme from six even this shocking statistic access services, UKIP will: months to two years.** * Offer swift access to vital mental health • Address and treat the strong link between services for patients diagnosed with addiction and mental illness debilitating long-term conditions and * End the postcode lottery for psychiatric terminal illnesses liaison services in acute hospitals and A&E * Provide direct access to specialist mental departments. health treatment for all pregnant women and mothers of children under 12 months of age ## A Brighter Future for our Next Generation Political interference in education has failed children. We are tumbling down the international education league tables and rising up the ranks for youth unemployment. UKIP will reintroduce grammar schools, invest in vocational education and technical training, scrap tuition fees for STEM subjects and prepare our young people for the world of work > Britain has produced some of the most > remarkable people in world history, > some of the best thinkers, innovators, > leaders, and creators. We must keep > that trend going: boosting educational > opportunities for our young people and > giving them every opportunity to help > them realise their dreams. **David Kurten AM,, Education Spokesman** **UKIP's approach to education is one where no child is held back and where education is as responsive as possible to individual needs. Our children differ vastly when it comes to talent and speed of development. Our education system needs to be far more flexible.** **STARTING SCHOOL:** **THE PRIMARY CLASSROOM** Without reading, writing, mathematical and learning abilities you will be held back in life and struggle to find well-paid work. UKIP welcomes the recent reintroduction of phonics to the classroom and we will make this the model for teaching children to read and write. We will renew focus on mental arithmetic skills and learning times tables, and encourage children to learn languages from year 1 of primary school, when they will find it easier. * Abolish Key Stage 1 SATs. Seven is too young to be tested and this test narrows the curriculum and puts pressure on teachers to concentrate time and resources on borderline pupils. * Require every primary school to nominate a science leader to inspire and equip the next generation of scientists and engineers * End sex education in primary schools. SECONDARY EDUCATION in which students attend classes at a vocational school UKIP's approach to secondary and receive on-the-job training education focuses on a range at a company. Employment of different schools: technical, prospects for children who vocational, selective grammars, go through this system are and specialist schools. high. Germany's reputation for success in manufacturing and A GRAMMAR SCHOOL IN industry is second to none. ### Every Town The state education system of UKIP will give our children the same educational choice to grammar, secondary modern combine theory and practice in and technical schools was this way, so they leave school designed to make a high with technical knowledge and standard of education available hands-on experience. to all, irrespective of social background. Grammar schools improved social mobility by RIGHTING WRONGS IN giving children from poorer HIGHER EDUCATION backgrounds access to The average student debt is career paths they might have £44,000. The poorest students previously thought out of who are now denied a grant their reach. When the national fare worst of all, with debts grammar school system still averaging £53,000. These debts existed, 25 per cent of schools are often pointless in career were grammar or technical terms: the latest figures from the schools and nearly 65 per cent ONS show 46 per cent of new of their pupils came from the graduates will not find a job working class. They were not needing a degree. The taxpayer socially elite institutions, as fares badly too. Only around half anyone who attended one of the money spent on tuition will confirm. fee loans will be paid back. The 164 grammar schools that The quota system promoted by are left no longer represent this both Labour and Conservatives classless ideal. Such is the high is not a good enough reason for demand, it is often those with taxpayers to pay for students to the most resourceful parents go to university. Students would who gain access. We need 800 be better off following another more Grammar or Technical route into the workplace than schools so every child who taking degrees that are unlikely would benefit can get a place. to help them get a job or guide them onto their chosen UKIP will open a grammar career path. school in every town, adapting the old 11+ system to add The politically motivated transfer examinations up to decision to increase university the age of sixteen, so pupils places has deceived and who develop in an academic blighted a generation. UKIP direction, but not quite so fast, will stop paying tuition fees will still have the opportunity for courses which do not lead of a grammar school place. at least two thirds of students into a graduate level job, or ### On-the-job Education a job corresponding to their To give students a head start degree, within five years into a job, UKIP will introduce after graduation. We will also a scheme similar to Germany's cease offering EU nationals Dual Vocational Training system, student loans when we leave **the EU. Repayment rates are extremely low and 10,000 EU students currently owe Britain £89 million.** ### Tuition Fees and Maintenance Grants UKIP's long-term goal is to abolish tuition fees entirely and we will seek to enact this as soon as economic conditions allow. Meanwhile, to help the poorest students now, we will immediately restore maintenance grants. To plug the skills gap in these areas, UKIP will abolish tuition fees for undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students, provided they work in their discipline and pay tax in the UK for at least five years after they complete their degree. We will cover the cost of all tuition fees for medical students, provided they commit to working within the NHS for at least ten out of the fifteen years after they qualify. ### Pathways to Employment **School leavers should have an idea of what future career they would like to pursue, and how they can achieve an** **entry level job in that career. UKIP will ensure effective career development assumes a more important role in the national curriculum and is assessed accordingly.** ### Developing 'employability' Whatever level of education you have achieved, your chance of success in the workplace will be influenced by more than your academic abilities. Employers want more from prospective employees than just good exam results. **UKIP will introduce practical 'employability' lessons into** **the careers' syllabus, teaching 'soft' skills such as interview skills, team-working and time-management, making presentations, public speaking, networking, making a good first impression, and developing social skills. These might not come naturally, but they can be taught.** ### Linking Schools with Business Often, the local job market will determine career choices, so schools and colleges should establish links with local businesses, to tell students what they need from new recruits, to offer advice, and to show how business works. ### Encouraging Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs **UKIP will include practical information about setting up your own business into the syllabus. Being self-employed is a sound career choice you have a skill or idea others want to buy, and developing the skill to think creatively and ambitiously can only help in life and the workplace.** Entrepreneurship education is becoming increasingly common in the USA, where it is seen to benefit students from all socio-economic backgrounds by nurturing unconventional skills and talents and encouraging them to 'think outside the box.' **if** **The next generation is the future of the UK. Our children need educational solutions that really work, not political dogma. Grammar schools, dynamic academies and technical schools in every town from Toxteth to Twickenham, combined with high quality vocational training and careers' advice, will deliver real opportunities for our children.** ### Special Educational Needs **UKIP believes all disabled learners must have the legal right to attend either mainstream courses in mainstream education settings, or schools exclusively tailored to their needs. It should be their choice. To this end, we will reverse the policy of closing special schools, and ensure all other schools are accessible to disabled learners and that individual support is in place for each child.** * Fund all secondary schools according to a single formula * Make First Aid training a statutory requirement so pupils obtain a 'Basic Life-Saving Diploma.' Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation will be included. ## Caring for Young Children, Supporting Families Childcare costs in the UK are becoming less affordable for ordinary families. The parents of disabled children struggle to find childcare at all. Fathers are prevented from seeing their children and the family courts are not transparent enough. Tackling these issues are key priorities for UKIP. > Affordable, safe childcare is vital if we are > to help women obtain or return to work. > We simply cannot afford to have highly > skilled, highly trained women leaving > the workplace, especially not if they are > working in public service industries such > as nursing and teaching. **Margot Parker MEP,, Women and Equalities Spokeswoman** **UKIP's 2015 general election manifesto highlighted the complexity of childcare provision in the UK and how difficult it can be to find quality childcare, especially if your child is disabled, if you work irregular hours, or you are on a low income. Despite an increase in free childcare provision and new tax-free childcare schemes, recent research from the Family and Childcare Trust revealed British parents now pay more than £6,000 per year on average for childcare, double what they spend on food and drink.** The situation we warned about in 2015 has not improved but got worse. Perverse government policies intended to expand childcare provision fuel childcare demand yet fail to cover costs incurred by childcare providers. At the same time there is an acute shortage of places because of over-regulation and higher training fees. Nurseries and childminders limit places, raise fees, or introduce extra charges in order to remain sustainable. Despite more public money being allocated to free childcare than ever, the number of childminders has plummeted by 10,000 since 2012. This is a typical outcome of policy-making done via a 'bidding war,' instead of being thought through. In this case, Labour and the Conservatives have jockeyed for position to see who can offer the highest number of free childcare hours for the youngest children, without considering the unintended consequences, or what else in the system might need to change. **UKIP promised a far-reaching review of childcare provision in 2015, and this is still urgently needed, not least to de-regulate and simplify an increasingly fragmented system.** Meanwhile, UKIP will allow parents to use their free childcare entitlements to access a greater choice of childcare providers by removing restrictions limiting them only to Ofsted-registered childcare providers. We will also: * Extend the primary school day by offering wrap-around childcare from 8am to 6pm during term time * Require local authorities to keep a register of childcare providers willing to provide emergency childcare cover at short notice * Amend planning legislation in order to make play spaces compulsory in housing estates, and to promote nursery or crèche provision in developments such as shopping centres, office blocks, hospitals, airports, and railway stations. ### Childcare for Children with Special Needs Smaller early years providers may struggle to offer places to children with physical or learning difficulties because of the extra costs involved in maintaining higher staff ratios, delivering additional staff training, buying specialist equipment and creating accessible changing facilities. This inevitably makes it much more difficult for such children to access the same high quality, flexible early years provision as their able-bodied peers. UKIP will create a fund worth £80 million a year to help childminders and smaller childcare providers employing five people or fewer, to open their doors to more children with special needs. Grants of up to £3,000 will be available to adapt their premises to make them more accessible, and to equip their staff with specialist training and equipment, so they can provide a more inclusive childcare service. ### Keeping Families Together Our 2015 manifesto promised to legislate for an initial 50-50 presumption of shared parenting when couples break up. We stand by this, as we do our pledge to give visiting rights to grandparents and to review the operation of the Family Court. The concerns we raised in 2015 about the Family Court system, particularly in relation to forced adoptions, have become more pressing. Up to 96 per cent of children adopted from public care are forcibly adopted, against their parents' wishes. No one wants to see children languishing in care, but until the Family Courts are more transparent, we cannot know whether decisions are made in children's best interests or in response to adoption targets. The latter approach risks serious miscarriages of justice. Maintaining confidentiality in family law proceedings is not incompatible with scrutiny. To strike the right balance between the two we propose: * Removing the current blanket ban on media reporting of placement and adoption proceedings and allowing journalists to report on such cases on the same basis as other family law proceedings * Publishing all case summaries, skeleton arguments, judgements and other documents relating to Family proceedings as a matter of course, on an anonymised basis * Requiring expert witnesses to list previous court cases in which they have given evidence * Promoting more extensive use of Special Guardianship Orders so that children can retain links with their birth family. ## Meeting our Responsibilities to the Elderly and Disabled The voluntary sector would probably collapse without the help and support of those in later life, and the disabled have overcome challenges most of us could not even imagine, yet the Conservative government has treated both badly. UKIP will reverse cuts to the adult social care budget and end humiliating work capability tests for disabled people. > People who have worked hard all their > lives and contributed to our economy > have been stripped of hot meals and > essential home help under the Tories, > and for what? To keep shovelling cash > out of the door to prop up a corrupt > foreign aid regime, and fund a railway > project to help their rich friends get > home ten minutes faster **David Sprason,, UKIP Older People's Champion** **How we respond to older people is an indication of the kind of country we live in. We should take pride in making public investment into their care, regardless of their financial means.** **UKIP remains committed to keeping the winter fuel allowance, free bus passes, prescriptions and eye tests for all over-60s, without means testing. We will maintain the 'triple lock' on the state pension, increasing it every year by the highest of inflation, average earnings, or 2.5 per cent.** ### Secure Finances and Worthwhile Work for Older People Age UK says older people contribute around £61 billion to the economy each year through work, caring and volunteering. Advancing age does not necessarily mean people want to stop earning, and their wisdom and experience should be seen as an advantage in the workplace. **We will encourage businesses to fund job placements for older people, and enforce laws protecting workers against age discrimination.** ### Growing Old Together **As a population, we are living longer. This would be good news were it not for the funding crisis in elderly care. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services calculates £4.6 billion has been cut from social care budgets since 2010. The number of adults eligible to receive social care has plummeted by 28 per cent.** This is counter-productive: the government says it wants to help older people stay active and independent, but then removes the support they need. Most councils only fund those already in 'critical' or 'substantial' need and past the point of no return. No wonder older people are now more likely to be admitted to hospital, and less likely to be able to leave hospital when they recover. 6,800 such patients every day cannot be discharged, so ambulances queue up outside A&E and planned operations are cancelled. This inefficiency costs the NHS approximately £1 billion a year, and it could get worse. Last year, research by BBC Radio 4's You and Yours found 59 home care companies had already handed unprofitable contracts back to local authorities, and that one in four care homes may go out of business within three years. The Better Care Fund was supposed to improve liaison between the NHS and local councils and ease pressure on hospitals, but the Public Accounts Committee found it was 'little more than a ruse.' The freedom to raise council tax by two per cent to fund adult social care is of least help to councils in the poorest areas, who have less income from council tax, but the most pressing care needs. **The only answer is to reverse the cuts to care budgets. UKIP will put back money the Conservatives have removed, investing up to £2 billion every year into social care.** We will prioritise early intervention schemes and community-based models of care that promote independence and wellbeing, such as supported living arrangements. Institutional and acute care models should be a last-resort. **We will continue to pay Attendance Allowance for all people over the age of 65 who need help with personal care, including new claimants, from central government funds. We reject Conservative proposals that this benefit should be funded locally for all new claimants.** ### Support Care Staff Caring can be difficult and frustrating, and care staff deserve better pay and respect. We will address the culture of long hours, low pay and * Protect services such as meals-on-wheels, luncheon clubs, day care services and home care * Abolish the annual assessment process for continuing healthcare funding in respect of those suffering from a degenerative, terminal illness * Fund a pro-active co-ordinating service for older and disabled people in every county perceived low status that leads to high staff turnover. **UKIP will not allow the NHS, or third parties under contract to local authorities, to employ** **home care workers on zero hours contracts. Workers must also be paid for travelling time to prevent their being paid less than the minimum or living wage.** ### Investing in Dementia Research and Treatment Dementia is predicted to be the UK's biggest killer. Already, 850,000 people in Britain live with dementia. UKIP will roll out a National Dementia Plan to recommend research and treatment priorities, and co-ordinate expertise. This plan will be developed in cooperation with multi-discipline dementia specialists to identify spending priorities and deliver a bold new programme of research, treatment, care and understanding. **UKIP will treble the amount we allocated to dementia research and treatment in 2015,** **taking our total fresh funding pot to £400 million each year over the course of the next parliament.** ### Protecting Care at Home In January, campaigning organisation Disability United exposed clauses in Continuing Healthcare policies that stated home-based care would only be provided if costs do not exceed residential placement costs by a certain percentage, generally ten percent. This could mean forcibly moving someone into a care home to save relatively small amounts of money. **UKIP will make sure those with on-going health care needs choose where they wish to live, unless they are unable to make that choice themselves, or care at home becomes unviable.** **to combat loneliness, combining resources from across the NHS, social services and the voluntary sector.** * Intr oduce a legally binding Dignity Code to improve the quality and standard of care for older people in hospital, care homes or their own home, and protect whistleblowers. > UKIP has always opposed the 'benefits lifestyle,' but > the last government's behaviour has gone far beyond > anything that is reasonable. UKIP will crack down on > benefit fraud, but make sure our support and benefits > system is fair and fit-for-purpose. **Cllr Star Anderton,, UKIP Disability Champion** people cannot access other ### An End to Unfair benefits such as Carer's Allowance ### Benefit Cuts or the charitable Motability Levels of unmet need for disabled scheme to get a powered and learning disabled people wheelchair or accessible car. are at a record high. Sense, the national charity for children and PIPs were supposed to help adults who are deafblind and disabled people into work have complex needs, calculates and pay a range of disability 108,000 learning disabled adults benefits based on individual with moderate to severe needs need, but they seem to have now receive no support at all. Over the last year alone, the charity says the number of people in receipt of support for a sensory impairment * Protect the rights of has decreased by 11.4 per cent. the disabled UKIP will not cut disability * Scrap the bedroom tax benefits. * Give tenants the right to ### ENDING THE INJUSTICE OF request Housing Benefit **PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE is paid direct to their PAYMENTS landlords, whatever benefit scheme they are on Personal Independence Payments, or PIPs, are replacing** * Improve carers' access the Disability Living Allowance to support by sharing (DLA). Without a PIP, disabled become a covert way of slashing the benefit bill. Since disabled people were required to undergo a new battery of medical tests, 250,000 of them have had their benefit cut. Some 300 people a day who have their benefits cut following re-assessments are appealing against these new decisions, at a cost of £1 million a week to the taxpayer. They are right to appeal, as six out of ten appeals are successful, but while they await the outcome of their appeals, many are falling into debt, and have vital support or equipment taken away from them. 50,000 people have had accessible vehicles removed since PIPs were introduced. **The current Work Capability Assessments are not fit for purpose. We will reform them in consultation with disabled people and disability charities. They must accurately assess the barriers faced by disabled people to enter employment, and indicate what specialist employment support will be needed for those who are ready for work.** ### Supporting Carers **We recommit to giving carers an extra five days' paid holiday each year, and increasing Carer's Allowance from £62.70 per week to £73.10 a week, to match the higher level of Job Seeker's Allowance.** **information on benefit and social care entitlements and on support groups across all public services** * Exempt foodbanks and charity shops from charges imposed by local authorities to dispose of unwanted food waste and other goods. ## Fair, Balanced Migration Britons are among the most welcoming and tolerant people in the world, yet they have lost faith in our immigration system. There is nothing in the track records of any of the other parties that suggests they have the necessary political will to address the concerns of the British people, but UKIP will. **Brexit offers an opportunity to calm public concerns about immigration while still allowing the brightest and the best from around the world to make their home in Britain, and** **contribute to our society and our economy.** Immigration has placed huge pressure on public services and housing. It has affected the domestic labour market, where wages for manual and low-paid jobs have stagnated. Community cohesion has been damaged. ### Labour's Greatest Folly Unsustainable immigration to Britain began with Tony Blair's Labour government: Peter Mandelson admitted 'search parties' were sent out to encourage migrants to come to Britain, and the plan to 'rub the Right's nose in diversity' did indeed, as Blair's favourite think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, put it, 'change the face of the country.' Allegations of racism, and a raft of faith, race and equalities legislation shut down any criticism of Blair's policy, and the benefits system was abused to 'bribe' Labour's core vote. ### Tory Immigration Failure Labour ultimately paid the electoral price for their wilful blindness to problems caused by mass immigration, but the Conservatives have failed just as badly, for seven years reneging on their pledge with unlimited EU immigration John Bickley, Immigration Spokesman to bring annual net migration down to the 'tens of thousands.' Theresa May admitted in 2015 the case for high immigration on economic grounds has been massively overstated, yet did nothing about it, and still appears prepared to carry on for many years ahead. **UKIP is the only party with the** **political will and the plan to cut immigration.** ### Balanced Net Migration Over Five Years **UKIP will establish a Migration Control Commission and set target to reduce net migration to zero, over a five-year period.** This means approximately halving gross immigration for a five-year period. This will still allow us to bring in the key skills we need, while giving a breathing space to public services under immense pressure. Senior Labour parliamentarian, Frank Field, has argued the case for balanced migration such as this for many years. ### Fair, Equitable Immigration To make immigration fair and equitable, we will introduce a new Australian-style points-based system, and a work permit system. Both will apply equally to all applicants, save for citizens of the Republic of Ireland, with whom we will maintain our current arrangements. **To give working class people in particular a chance to find employment, we will place a moratorium on unskilled and low-skilled immigration for five** **years after we leave the EU.** We will also operate a seasonal worker scheme based on six-month visas to support those > As part of our overall commitment to a more stringent > and better run immigration system, UKIP will increase the > number of Border Agency staff by 4,000 and implement > technology solutions to ensure all passport and visa > holders are counted in and out sectors, such as agriculture, which nationals marrying British citizens need additional labour for short will have to prove the primary but predictable periods of time. purpose of their marriage is not to obtain British residency. ### A New International Visa System Asylum Seekers Operated on a strict principle UKIP will comply fully with the of non-discrimination between 1951 UN Convention Relating a peoples of all nations applying to the Status of Refugees, and for work, study, or to visit the honour our obligations to bona United Kingdom, our new fide asylum seekers. International Visa System will begin on the date we leave the ### Access to Welfare EU and offer four principal visa ### And the NHS categories: All new migrants to Britain will be expected to make ### Work Visas tax and national insurance Highly skilled workers with a job contributions for at least five offer sponsored by companies consecutive years before they paying them a minimum of become eligible to claim UK £30,000 per annum will have benefits, or access non-urgent priority. NHS services, save for any exceptions stipulated by the Migration Control Commission, ### Tourist And or if reciprocal healthcare ### Visitor Visas arrangements are in place with Covering those who come to their country of origin. All new Britain as tourists, to conduct entrants to the UK must have business, or to see their family, and maintain comprehensive these will be valid for up to private medical insurance for twelve months. the duration of their stay, as a condition of their visa. ### Student Visas We want to encourage students ### British Citizenship to study in Britain, but will not Those arriving on Work Visas tolerate abuse of the system. may apply for British citizenship after five years, provided they ### Family Reunion Visas have worked, paid tax here, We respect the right of British and maintained their medical citizens to form relationships with insurance throughout that non-British citizens; however, time. We will revoke the British we will abolish the European citizenship of those who Economic Area (EEA) family have obtained it by fraud or permit scheme and reinstate the deception and remove them primary purpose rule. Foreign from the country. ### Illegal Immigration and Foreign Criminals There will be no amnesty for illegal immigrants. We will increase the number of immigration compliance and enforcement teams. Foreign criminals will not be granted a visa to enter the UK. Migrants who commit crimes resulting in a custodial sentence will have their visa revoked and be detained until they are deported. ### The Rights of EU Nationals UKIP will allow law-abiding EU citizens living in UK before Article 50 was triggered the right to stay here indefinitely. We expect the same concession to be granted to British citizens living overseas within the EU. EU nationals who entered the UK after 29th March 2017 will not have the automatic right to remain and when we leave the EU will lose access to all benefits, including non-urgent healthcare. No > "Only UKIP's immigration policy has, fair system that will restore public new openness in our world and the immigration can Immigration benefits will be paid for any dependants living overseas when we leave the EU. ### Integration Is as Important as Immigration **In Britain, we do not believe in treating women or gay people as second-class citizens, and we hold to a fundamental belief in democracy and** **free speech. UKIP's points-based immigration system will therefore include one further major principle: we will test the social attitudes of migration applicants to foster community the cohesion and protect core British values.** **UKIP's immigration policies will bring to Britain the brightest, the best, and those with the talents our economy most needs. They are fair, equitable, and similar to those operating in numerous other countries worldwide, such as Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. They will benefit Britain, and redress the imbalance that has caused so much frustration, for so long.** > at its heart, a sustainable, ethical and faith in the process. We recognise the positive benefits controlled, balanced bring to our nation." Spokesman Britain has always welcomed people of whatever faith, nationality or creed who have wanted to make their home in this country, but a lack of vision for an integrated Britain has led to our society becoming more and more fragmented. UKIP will take integration as seriously as we have immigration, and we will not tolerate the intolerable. Deputy Leader and Culture Spokesman It is simple: there should be one law for all. > UKIP stands for a country united under > the same set of laws and values. We > believe firmly that a multi-ethnic society > can be a harmonious and successful > one, but only if it is bound together by an > over-arching attachment to Britain and > British identity. In treating all practices > and traditions as being of equal standing, > however much they might offend our > values and laws, our national leaders have > made a grave error. **Peter Whittle AM,** **Over many years, the policy of 'multiculturalism' has fragmented British society by allowing new migrants to Britain to behave in exactly the same way as they would if they were still in their countries of origin. Multiculturalism has prevented criticism of certain religious beliefs and cultural practices, even those the overwhelming majority of British people would consider repugnant, and which threaten rights and equalities established in Britain for decades.** Nobody voted for multiculturalism, yet all of us are living with the results of it. It is generally those who have little interest in preserving British identity, or who are indeed hostile to the very idea of it, who champion multiculturalism most fiercely. They are vociferous in shutting down debate. **UKIP will stand up for the equal rights of all people in Britain, and say we are proud of our country and its achievements, our values of free speech, democracy, independence, and patriotism. We will promote British values in our legal system, in our schools, and in our society.** ### One Law for All **A society that can pick and choose what legal system it lives under gradually ceases to be a society at all.** The growth of sharia councils is of great concern to the public, as is the apparent unwillingness of the political class to prevent them proliferating. UKIP will take action: we will establish a legal commission to draw up proposals to disband sharia councils. > My generation was at the forefront of > tackling sexist attitudes towards women. > I remember celebrating the Equal Pay > Act and the Sex Discrimination Act in the > 1970s, and believed we were well on the > way to winning the battle for equal rights, > in society, in the workplace and in our > homes. But now the threat to women's > emancipation is as serious as ever. We > cannot take our rights for granted. **Margot Parker MEP,, Women and Equalities Spokeswoman** ### Equal Rights for All Women If we compare the rights of women in the UK to those of the majority of women overseas, the contrast is striking. Acceptance of the concept of sexual equality is largely confined to a handful of economically advanced nations. Mass uncontrolled immigration has opened the door to a host of people from cultures with little or no respect for women, yet when their views have been challenged, some on the 'Left' of politics, in particular, have encouraged them to claim a 'victim' status they do not deserve. **UKIP will challenge those who do not uphold the rights of women, or who set themselves on a deliberate collision course with core British values of equality, free speech and democracy. We will protect all women, regardless of their race, ethnicity or religion. Culture is not an excuse for crime, nor is ignorance of the law.** ### Standing Up for Women in Minority Communities Every woman, indeed anyone who believes in women's rights, should be outraged by the appalling practices occurring on a daily basis in minority communities across Britain. A new case of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is reported in Britain every hour. 14 NHS clinics in England deal exclusively with FGM cases and 65,000 girls are thought to be at risk of FGM. The practice of 'breast ironing' also appears to be increasingly prevalent in the UK, with around 1,000 cases identified. Some 11,000 incidences of so-called 'honour' crime were recorded by UK police forces during 2010-2014, and there were eighteen recorded cases of honour killings during the same period. Government research in 2011 found that between 5,000 and 8,000 people are at risk of being forced into marriage every year. **UKIP will show zero tolerance to all these crimes and aim to eradicate them from our country. Bigots who shout 'racism' or 'Islamophobia' will not intimidate us. They legitimise the problem and demonstrate their ignorance. We are proud of our position. They need to get their moral compasses fixed.** ### Female Genital Mutilation The Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act (1985) made FGM illegal, but there has not been a single successful prosecution. The current approach, which focuses on education and support alone, fails thousands of girls every year. In addition to current programmes, we will also: * Make failure to report a known instance of FGM a criminal offence * Implement a screening programme for girls identified to be at risk of FGM from birth to age sixteen, consisting of annual non-invasive physical check-ups * Carry out additional check-ups on girls at risk when they return to the UK from trips to countries where FGM is known to be customary * Make FGM an indictable offence (meaning it can only be heard in the Crown Court) with a sentencing starting point of six years. **Measures similar to these are already law in France, which has a far better record than we have on preventing and prosecuting FGM. These policies are already proven to work. They will protect girls from FGM by deterring those who would harm them and help provide essential evidence to mount prosecutions when FGM has taken place.** **Prosecutions in France have played a vital role** **in getting parents to abandon the practice of FGM. Parents are complicit in allowing their children to be cut, and we will instruct police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service to rigorously investigate and pursue them, as well as those who actually commit the act.** ### Other 'cultural' Crimes Women at risk from their own families and communities need our help and protection. UKIP will uphold the integrity of British law and ensure it applies to each individual equally, irrespective of his or her race, faith or ethnic origin. We will: * Make 'breast ironing' a specific criminal offence * Add 'offences committed protect family or personal honour' to the Sentencing Council's list of aggravating factors, giving leave to impose greater sentences * Prosecute all cases of child and forced marriage and refuse permanent leave to remain and/or British citizenship to any adult known to have procured a child marriage for themselves or their children * Make certain that neither the legal nor the welfare system in Britain ever recognises polygamy * Include information on cultural crimes in safeguarding training for teachers, staff and school governors. > SHOW YOUR FACE IN A abuse, and prevents intake of **PUBLIC PLACE essential vitamin D from sunlight is not liberating. UKIP will ban wearing of to the niqab and the burqa in We stand in solidarity with public places. Face coverings women worldwide who such as these are barriers are rebelling against the to integration. We will not imposition of the niqab accept these de-humanising and burqa. symbols of segregation and oppression, nor the security** ### Ending Islamist **risks they pose.** ### Extremism In Suggestions that UKIP is OUR SCHOOLS undermining liberty with this Three years ago, the 'Trojan policy are absurd. There is no Horse' scandal revealed how human right to conceal your Islamists had attempted to identity. If anything prevents take over several schools in liberty, it is the niqab, by Birmingham and use them preventing women from being to propagate their warped perceived as individuals in their ideology. own right. We want to open opportunities to all women, so The plot nearly succeeded, and hundreds of young minds were that they can participate fully in life and in the workplace. at risk. We must never again be Clothing that hides identity, puts caught napping like this: we up barriers to communication, must wake up to the reality that limits employment opportunities, extremism is taking hold in hides evidence of domestic our country. > "Those of us who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender may have first hand experience of how misogynistic and homophobic attitudes are tolerated in the name of 'respecting cultural differences.' It is important to stand up for true equality in the face of those who would dismiss it." LGBT in UKIP > The failure to address the crucial topic > of integration has led to a dangerous > situation where young people with little > or no experience of wider British society, > except having been told that it is bad, are > at risk of being brought up as hardline > and potentially violent Islamists. **David Kurten AM,, Education Spokesman** Until such time as the Muslim community is better integrated, UKIP proposes: * Immediately putting into Special Measures schools found to be exposing children to Islamism * Declare St George's Day, April 23rd, as a Bank Holiday in England; and St David's Day, 1st March, in Wales * End the use of multi-lingual formating on official documents. These will be published only in English and, where appropriate, Welsh and Gaelic * Giving schools the right to dismiss forthwith any teachers, members of staff or governors found to be actively supporting radical mosques or imams * Requiring Ofsted to conduct snap inspections of schools when parents or pupils have raised concerns that: ° Girls are being offered unequal access to music, dance, PE or drama lessons, or are otherwise discriminated against Anti-Western, anti-Semitic, or anti- ° equality views are being expressed by staff or governors ° Muslim or non-Muslim pupils who challenge or do not share hardline views are being bullied or ridiculed. **Strong actions, not political correctness, are needed now, or we will all suffer the** **consequences in the future.** * Protect religious freedoms in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, provided those beliefs exist firmly within the framework of British law. We will not condone any faith position that is itself intolerant of the human rights of others ## Policing, Prison, Punishment UKIP is the only party prepared to put its faith in imprisonment and a strong police force as the bedrock of our criminal justice system. We will promote rehabilitation, but also believe in containment, deterrence and punishment. Home Affairs Spokeswoman officers were assigned to investigations they were > The Tories used to claim they were the > party of law and order but on this, like on > so much else, they have let the British > people down. Their new definition of the > purpose of prison does not even use > the word 'punishment.' The Tories seem > more interested in prosecuting loyal > former service personnel than they are in > reprimanding real criminals. **Jane Collins MEP,** **The wealthy might feel safe, secreted away in large houses in lovely areas, living behind electronic gates and protected by top-of-the range burglar alarms. It is a different story for working class people forced to watch as their communities are blighted by the criminality and antisocial behaviour perpetrated by a wrecking minority on their less gentrified estates. It seems only UKIP will stand up for them.** Our approach to criminality contrasts starkly with that of the other parties. As Home Secretary, Theresa May was soft on crime. She went the way of the Labour party, putting the human rights of offenders before those of their victims, tiptoeing around even the most hardened criminals, instead of concentrating on protecting the public. **We will not tolerate a perverse criminal justice system that allows criminals to get away with serious crimes or repeat offending because the police are under-resourced. We will train and deploy 20,000 more police and employ 7,000 more prison officers.** ### Rebuilding Our Police Forces The thin blue line is no longer just thin, it is malnourished and emaciated. In their report of March 2017, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary highlighted an erosion of preventative policing and revealed a catalogue of failings. Emergency calls were deliberately downgraded when fewer officers were on duty, and gang violence was not classified as organised crime to avoid having to deploy additional resources. High-risk domestic abuse victims were downgraded to a lower level of concern, and not qualified to conduct. Forces struggled to find resources to investigate violent crimes. > "UKIP says: 'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.' We think crime must always merit punishment. However much of a waste of a life it might seem to keep someone locked up, if that is what it takes to keep others safe, we will keep them locked up". Justice Spokesman **Theresa May's legacy as Home Secretary has been to produce a police force that cannot be relied upon to investigate crime properly, and crime figures that cannot be relied upon at all.** The job of police officers is to prevent crime, keep people safe and catch criminals. We will give them the resources they need to succeed. We will train and employ 20,000 more frontline officers and equip them with all they need to conduct proper investigations, and track and arrest more suspects. These jobs will first be offered to ex-armed forces personnel. ### Stop and Search In 2014, Theresa May weakened Stop and Search, saying it was undermining relations with ethnic minority communities. UKIP warned this would lead to an increase in knife crime and, sadly, we have been proved right. Knife crime rose 24 per cent in London last year when 61 people were knifed to death in the city. Sixteen people were stabbed and killed in London in just the three weeks before this manifesto went to print. Theresa May showed weakness and inconsistency on Stop and Search and this has cost lives. UKIP agrees with the father of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor: the police need greater Stop and Search powers to combat knife crime. **UKIP will reinstate full Stop and Search powers to the police and reduce the burden of paperwork police have to complete each time they exercise this function.** ### Sorting Out Our Prisons Our prisons are overcrowded, understaffed, and rapidly becoming hotbeds of violence and Islamist extremism. Drug use is also rising. These factors unite to increase the risk of prison rioting, or of prison officers losing control, which could lead to serious injury or loss of life. This vicious circle has to stop. UKIP will: **Boost the number of prison officers by 7,000: There are 7,000 fewer prison officers, supervising** officers and custodial managers working in England and Wales than in 2010. Restoring this number will restore adequate staffing levels. These jobs will be offered first to ex-armed forces personnel. Reduce Prison Overcrowding: 68 per cent of our prisons are overcrowded, according to the latest Ministry of Justice statistics. The Conservatives plan to build four new prisons, close older jails, and reduce the numbers of people incarcerated to solve the problem. UKIP thinks this is potentially disastrous: those who benefit most from prison are the law-abiding people who do not go. We will keep all existing prisons open and continue with the current building programme. We will send as many as possible of the 13,000 foreign nationals in our jails back to their home countries and, in future, will seek to have foreign criminals serve sentences in their countries of origin. If they wish to appeal against their convictions they must do so from their country of origin and pay their own costs. Our tough immigration policies will weed out potential troublemakers. **Cut Violence in Prisons: Serious assaults within prison walls are increasing. Two prison guards** are attacked every day, a threefold rise in just four years, and there were also 18,510 prisoner-on-prisoner attacks during 2016. We will bring all those who assault prison staff or other prisoners before the courts. Tackle Illegal Drug Use: views contrary to and increased the number Prisoners testing positive for British values of establishments able to illegal substances while in serve alcohol. The social * Give prison governors new prison will be limited to 'closed' consequences have not powers to impose measures visits from friends or family resembled the 'continental-to combat Islamic extremism for six months, meaning they style café culture' Tony Blair and gang violence in will be separated from their claimed it would. A survey of prisons. visitors by glass. Prisoners are emergency workers carried encouraged to deal with drug out in 2015 by the Institute of We will review the sentencing addiction problems during Alcohol Studies revealed 52 regime for police, prison staff their incarceration, and we do per cent of paramedics, 42 per or other law enforcement them no favours by not taking a cent of A&E doctors and three-officials convicted of crimes. tough line. quarters of police officers have We take an especially dim been attacked in the course of view of corruption, for which Address Islamist Extremism: their duties by people who were we will impose minimum five-All criminals are at risk of intoxicated. year sentences. becoming radicalised behind bars, not just the 14.4 per To protect emergency workers cent of Muslim prisoners. TOUGHER ACTION ON from abuse, we will repeal the The Quilliam Foundation, a 'HONOUR' CRIME AND 2003 Licensing Act and bring counter-extremism think-tank, GROOMING GANGS in new legislation to reduce says prisons risk becoming the density of alcohol outlets The Sentencing Council 'universities of terror' unless and restrict trading times. produces guidelines listing extremists are segregated from 'aggravating factors' which the wider prison population. make a crime more serious, so THE EUROPEAN This approach is shortly to it may incur a higher sentence be piloted at three prisons, ARREST WARRANT on conviction. We propose along with 'de-radicalisation' UKIP will opt out of the European that so-called 'honour crimes' programmes. We will monitor Arrest Warrant. The EAW is should be added to that list. We progress and extend these in fundamental opposition to will also make it clear that the schemes if they are successful. the principle of 'innocent until aggravating factor of 'racial or We will also: proven guilty.' We will co-religious motivation' may apply operate fully with extradition * Ensure no prisoner has to any offender, of any race requests, but not allow British better 'perks' than any other, or faith. citizens to be extradited to a whatever their faith foreign jurisdiction for minor ### The 2003 Licensing Act * Refuse admission to prisons crimes, when there is no clear to any imam, preacher or This Act relaxed opening case against them, or when they individual known to promote hours for pubs, bars and clubs are unlikely to receive a fair trial. * Repeal Labour's Human Rights legislation • Update licensing laws to limit the and remove the UK from the jurisdiction of maximum stake on fixed-odds betting the European Court of Human Rights. terminals to £2 * Introduce a new UK Bill of Rights. • Keep and enforce current legislation on the use of illegal drugs * Prevent foreign criminals from entering the UK and introduce a fast-track deportation system • Refuse to give prisoners the vote for those convicted of crimes in the UK * Adopt a zero tolerance approach to anti- * Prosecute all cases of adult sexual social behaviour and nuisance and noisy behaviour with under-age minors, and neighbours maintain the current age of consent * Make the setting up of a traveller pitch without permission a criminal offence. ## Britain's New Role in the World By reclaiming our status as an independent, democratic nation, the UK can through force of example play a role similar to that it played through force of arms in two World Wars: that of a shining star illuminating the way ahead for other European countries. > Brexit means stepping boldly out into > a global world as an important actor > on the world stage. Free to pursue a > foreign policy prioritising British interests > and the security of our nation, UKIP will > ensure the safety, wealth and prosperity > of British citizens, while meeting our > international responsibilities. **Paul Nuttall,, UKIP Leader** There is no question about it: when we leave the EU, Britain will retain her status as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and as a leading member of NATO, the organisation that has been the bedrock of our security since the aftermath of the Second World War. We will sustain our position within the special intelligence 'Five Eyes' alliance with the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and continue to value our home within the Commonwealth. Indeed, Brexit means we can help re-invigorate the Commonwealth, with trade agreements and increased engagement to give these friendly countries parity of esteem in our foreign relations policy. **UKIP will stand up for the territorial integrity of British dependencies and territories. We remain full committed to upholding the right to self-determination of the people of the Falkland Islands who overwhelmingly wish to remain British. We will offer the citizens of Gibraltar a referendum on becoming fully British, and having their own MP in the House of Commons.** Our EU membership has weakened our foreign policy interests, so we naturally welcome our coming freedom. However, we will of course continue our close cooperation with our European partners on matters of defence and security once we have left the EU. **In the context of an American administration that is re-evaluating its defence commitment to Europe, Britain's position as our continent's premier defence power is an asset that will strengthen our hand in Brexit negotiations.** UKIP will work constructively with President Trump. We value the special relationship between the UK and the US, and do not believe gesture politics from establishment politicians seeking to demonstrate their disapproval of his administration is helpful to our national interest. The values shared between the US and the UK will always outlast individual political administrations in either country. We are confident the Trump administration's positive attitude to Britain will lead to a swift free trade agreement bolstering our common interests. However, UKIP does not believe intervention lost momentum in surrendering our national and focus because forces were freedom of action, nor pledging switched to the Iraq War. our armed forces in advance In the years ahead, UKIP to any other nation when it will avoid allowing Britain comes to important foreign to become embroiled in policy decisions, such as those foreign wars. We will maintain that occurred in the run-up to our sceptical view of neo-the Iraq War. UKIP opposed conservative arguments for Britain becoming involved in this attempting to deliver change conflict from the start. in the Middle East at gunpoint. UKIP supports the recent You cannot bomb people tradition of consulting into democracy. parliament before our forces are committed to combat When it comes to the greatest situations. We are proud of our threat to world peace and pro-active role in opposing the British way of life, UKIP is British participation in the convinced this comes from the planned bombing of Syria spread of radical Islam across the in 2013. globe. The threshold for seeking to topple anti-Islamist leaders will The results of western military therefore remain very high indeed. intervention across North Africa and the Middle East in the We want to see a peaceful 21st century have been resolution to the Israel-disastrous, from Libya, to Syria, Palestine conflict and will put Iraq, and even to Afghanistan, our full diplomatic weight where a necessary initial behind seeking this outcome. UKIP will seek better relations with Russia, but only on the basis of Russia changing its approach to international relations, no longer seeking to intervene in and manipulate the conduct of politics in western nations, and having respect for the territorial integrity of other countries. We see Russia as a potential important ally in the struggle against Islamist terror, and believe Russia should immerse itself in global rules-based relationships instead of seeming to glory in renegade status within the international community. **UKIP will retain Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. Give the continued** **existence of rogue states such as North Korea, any other policy would be utterly irresponsible.** ## Defending Our Nation, Supporting Our Veterans Despite the ever-present threat to our safety, our Armed Forces have been cut to the bone. UKIP will spend a genuine two per cent of GDP on defence, increase the number of those serving in our armed forces by 20,000, properly equip those on active service, and look after those who are prepared to put their lives on the line for our country, in service and when discharged. Veterans Spokesman in regular army manpower was a fatally flawed > UKIP will restore Britain's armed forces > to their rightful place among the most > professional, flexible and effective > fighting forces in the world, and we > will sign a new military covenant > with our brave heroes.' **Mike Hookem MEP,** **Cllr. Bill Etheridge MEP,, Defence Spokesman** **REBUILDING OUR ARMED FORCES** **US President Theodore Roosevelt said the key to success in foreign policy was to "speak softly but carry a big stick." In the modern era, British politicians have all too often shouted loudly while carrying a matchstick.** In 2010, the new Conservative-led government began including the Single Intelligence Account, Armed Forces pensions and Trident in the defence budget, rather than accounting for them separately. This sleight of hand budgeting allowed them to claim they were still meeting our NATO obligation to spend two per cent of GDP on defence, when in fact our armed forces were being steadily depleted. Tory cuts to the equipment programme and manpower have been deep: they have put our national security at serious risk. ### The Army The Conservatives ignored their manifesto pledge to keep army numbers above 82,000: reductions imposed on the defence budget since 2010 have shrunk the Army to 78,000, its smallest size since the Napoleonic Wars. Main battle tank strength has been cut by 40 per cent and there has been a 35 per cent cut in self-propelled artillery. The government's ambition to recruit 30,000 personnel to the Territorial Army to address the shortfall concept and undeliverable from the start. Regulars and Territorials are not interchangeable. ### The Royal Navy In 1982, the Royal Navy sent 115 ships, including two aircraft carriers carrying jet fighters, plus 23 destroyers and frigates, to aircraft. In comparison, the two retake the Falkland Islands from Royal Navy carriers involved in Argentina. Today, after decades the Falklands Conflict carried of cuts, the Royal Navy is a twenty-odd Harrier jump shadow of its former self. The jets each. surface fleet is currently down to just 17 frigates and destroyers. ### The Royal Air Force The Navy's Harpoon missiles will The Royal Air Force is shedding retire from the fleet's frigates and one sixth of its staff, some 7,000 destroyers in 2018 without a personnel, and 295 aircraft. By replacement, and there will be a then, the RAF will have fewer two-year gap without helicopter-than 200 fighter planes for the launched anti-shipping missiles. first time since the beginning The Royal Navy has shed of World War I. Despite Russia people faster than ships: we had probing UK air space on a 39,000 sailors in 2000; now they regular basis, we no longer have number only 29,000. any maritime patrol aircraft. The Strategic Defence and In 2015, the UK found itself in Security Review of 2015 vowed the embarrassing position of to stop cutbacks on the fleet, having to call upon surveillance but the damage has already assistance from US, Canadian, been done. French and German aircraft, more than 20 times. The two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers will not be Many frontline pilots have operational before 2020. been on active combat Even then, serious questions operations for more than a remain about whether the decade. Combat fatigue has Royal Navy will be able to man, taken its toll and experienced operate and protect them. It aircrew are leaving the service. would take nearly every ship in The weapons officers who fly the current surface fleet to form behind the pilot in the two-an effective carrier group so they seater Tornado are particularly could be deployed. Moreover, in short supply. After decades it has been widely reported of Treasury-driven budgetary that each carrier will routinely cuts, the RAF finds itself in the deploy with only a dozen F-35B unhappy position of doing less with less, with no prospect of an upturn in its fortunes. ### A Genuine Commitment to Our NATO Obligations **The Tories have threatened our security by leaving huge holes in our national defences. They have failed the British people, who must remain well protected in an increasingly dangerous world, and those who put their lives on the line for us, who must be properly equipped.** Britain must have a well resourced, properly manned, fit-for-purpose armed force, one with the capability to defend simultaneously Gibraltar and the Falklands Islands, contribute to one major theatre operation and several peacekeeping missions. **UKIP will spend a genuine two per cent of GDP on defence, and scale up defence spending by an additional £1 billion per year by the end of the parliament.** **UKIP will reverse the de-militarisation of our country and rebuild our Armed Forces.** ### Defence Procurement UKIP will overhaul the wasteful defence procurement process. It has lacked proper scrutiny, been based on protectionism rather than on the needs of our Armed Forces, and is subject to inappropriate lobbying and cronyism on a massive scale. Even Gordon Brown railed against the "incestuous relationship between the Ministry (of Defence) and the arms world," although he did nothing about it. Defence contracts regularly run massively over budget and over time. Botched projects have become the norm. Despite the fact that Defence Equipment and Support (the organisation responsible for purchasing equipment) employs 12,300 people, one for every six full time soldiers in the British Army, it has failed to deliver value for money for taxpayers and has left service personnel at risk. UKIP will end the cosy relationship between ministers, officials and arms firms that lies at the heart of poor defence procurement decision-making. ### Discharged from Service: a New Military Covenant for Our Heroes **The political class has got its priorities so wrong. In February this year, Theresa May announced MPs would get a £1,049 pay rise. Meanwhile, she capped pensions for 140,000 British war heroes and widows, giving them just £1.10 per week.** In 2015, UKIP promised to create a new Veterans' Administration, organisationally independent and financially separate from the Ministry of Defence. This is still a priority for us: Britain must do more for veterans. ### The Veterans' Administration: Key Roles The Veterans' Administration will have its own minister and work with existing veteran services and charities. It will provide a single point of contact for veterans in a range of fields: health care, housing, counselling, education and training, rehabilitation, hospital care, access to financial services, benefits and memorials. The department will also have responsibility for issues such as bereavement support, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse and veterans' mental health. **The Veteran's Administration will issue a veterans' service card to ensure fast-track access to NHS and mental health care, and award a National Defence Medal to all veterans, irrespective of rank or length of service.** ### Hostels for Homeless Veterans No veteran should be homeless, let alone have to sleep rough on the street, yet this is happening because the Government is not enforcing a law stating military heroes must be offered homes. **UKIP will enforce this law, and build eight halfway house veterans' hostels, each with 200 rooms and modelled on similar hostels already in operation. We will also assign 500 affordable rent homes every year to ex-forces personnel.** ### Guaranteed Jobs for Ex-servicemen and Women UKIP will guarantee a job in the police service, prison service or border force for anyone who has served in the Armed Forces for a minimum of 12 years. Our 'Boots to Business' policy will help ex-service personnel set up their own businesses by offering loans, grants, free professional advice and mentoring to any veteran who wishes to pursue an entrepreneurial career after leaving the forces. ### Ending Legal Harrassment of Ex-service Personnel UKIP will not allow veterans to be chased, harassed and intimidated by over-zealous human rights lawyers, most of whom are unlikely even to begin to comprehend the pressures of the battlefield. We will bring forward legislation preventing veterans from being pursued for years by police and prosecutors for actions taken whilst in the service of the Crown. We will not permit veterans to be tried over allegations of misconduct dating from half a century ago under any circumstances. **Veterans should not be sleeping in the streets or consigned to the dole, nor hounded for doing their jobs. UKIP is determined they will get the help, care and respect they deserve.** * Create an over-arching role of Director of National Intelligence, who will be lead a new, single, unified intelligence service * Revise the Armed Forces' terms of service, to ensure personnel on operational duty overseas do not pay income tax * Oppose any form of military integration with the European Union. ## Trade Not Aid: Eradicating Poverty and Securing Britain's Global Future UKIP has long believed that trade, not aid, is the most secure route to economic prosperity for the developing world. We will reduce the foreign aid budget and advance free trade deals to the poorest nations to help lift them out of poverty. > Only UKIP believes our foreign aid > budget should be reduced and > reallocated to the NHS and other > struggling public services. We are not > afraid to say charity begins at home, > that the primary responsibility of a > British government is to protect British > interests and improve the lives of the > British people. **Cllr Lisa Duffy,, Foreign Aid Spokeswoman** **A 2015 World Economic Forum study concluded that in the developing world there was 'no effect of aid on growth,' yet UKIP is the only party in this election offering voters a real choice when it comes to foreign aid spending. The others all back spending 0.7 per cent of our Gross National Income (GNI), regardless of results.** When carefully targeted, aid can feed the poor and heal the sick, but regular aid payments may act as a disincentive to economic growth. Between 1970 and 1998, when aid flows to Africa were at their peak, poverty in Africa worsened. Despite receiving over £400 billion in aid over the past forty years, the continent remains poor. **It is time to consign to history the idea that pouring ever-greater sums into the foreign aid budget is a signal of our virtue. It is a hangover from the era of celebrity-driven politics personified by Tony Blair and David Cameron. In many cases, it can be demonstrated to be doing more harm than good.** Leaving the EU gives us the chance to boost the fortunes of developing countries by striking Free Trade Agreements with them. UKIP will make 'Transition to Trade' offers to some of the biggest aid recipient nations as we gradually reduce the amount of UK taxpayers' money we send to them. **UKIP will close down the Department for International Development. We will repeal the law requiring us to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on foreign aid and reduce the aid budget to 0.2 per cent of GNI over time. This will save at least £10 billion a year, which we will spend on other priorities, such as the NHS. A single Minister For Overseas Development working out of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will administer aid.** This will bring Britain's aid spending into line with that of other advanced nations, such as the USA. We will still be spending around £4 billion annually, which is more in cash terms than Spain and Italy combined. We will continue to fund projects that make a real difference: clean water programmes, childhood inoculations, medical assistance, and disaster and emergency relief. We will offer contracts for aid programmes to British providers first, so that we are better able to see what results we get from various programmes and track spending. We will not allow taxpayers' money to be spent by aid organisations such as the International Rescue Committee, who pay David Miliband a salary of £425,000. ### A Dedicated British Hospital Ship British medical expertise and disaster support is among the best in the world. Our help is always welcome in the aftermath of natural disaster, disease epidemic, or famine. To increase the contribution Britain can make in times of global crises, UKIP will commission, equip and staff a Naval Ocean-Going Surgical Hospital (NOSH). As 95 per cent of the world's largest 100 cities are port cities, and 90 per cent of the world's population live within 200 miles of the sea, this will be an extremely useful way to deliver large-scale relief to our armed forces on active operational duties, to civilians and refugees in war zones, or to undertake humanitarian missions in peacetime. The new ship will also provide useful reinforcement in case of emergencies here at home. **The new NOSH will have at least 500 beds, a flight deck and large hangar to support several helicopters, as well as vehicle decks. It will be a highly visible ambassador for Britain, and will replace the Royal Navy's current sea-borne medical capability, RFA ARGUS, which is set to retire in 2020. It will not carry weapons, giving it the full protection of the Geneva Convention in times of war.** **This flagship project will help confirm Britain's status as a force for good in the world, while simultaneously expanding our naval capabilities.** ### Ethical Trade Will Eradicate Poverty UKIP will not be sorry to see the back of the EU's morally repugnant trade tariff regime. It has blatantly accentuated poverty in some of the poorest nations on earth. African farmers, for example, may export raw cocoa beans to the Photography by Jim Fraser > Our focus on trade, not aid, means > we can establish ethical relationships > with developing countries by assisting > agriculture and industrial growth, rather > than simply sending money that is likely > to be abused and misspent by > dubious regimes. **William Dartmouth MEP,, Trade Spokesman** EU without paying any tariffs, but if they want to export chocolate, tariffs are high. It is the same with coffee. In 2014, the whole of Africa made just under £1.6 billion from raw coffee bean exports, but Germany alone made £2.6 billion just by exporting roasted beans, despite not growing a single coffee crop. UKIP will seek to support the economies, infrastructure development, education, health, agriculture and trading capacity of developing nations. We will not engage in unethical trade practices that harm or inhibit their trade, traditional lifestyles, or natural resources. This will be a far better way to help developing nations lift themselves out of poverty and become self-sufficient. Even Bono has now admitted it. ### The World Is Our Oyster Of all the insults thrown at the Leave campaign by the Remain camp, one of the most ludicrous was the 'little Englanders' taunt. The polar opposite is true: those who voted for Brexit could see a brighter, more global and economically successful future outside the confines of a contracting and ever-more protectionist EU. For decades our EU membership has been a factor in our diluted economic growth, flat-lining wages, and diminishing influence on the world stage. In future, we shall have wider and easier access to overseas markets. For British consumers, choice will increase, prices will fall, and we will not be so reliant upon monopoly suppliers. Increased competition is likely to fuel innovation and offer opportunities for the transfer of expertise and technology, which in turn means more jobs, and a stronger economy. **Leaving the EU is not about becoming 'little Englanders,' it is about putting the 'Great' back into Great Britain. It is about embracing new trading markets in all seven continents of the globe.** Naturally, we should like to agree a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU, and continue to trade on the same basis as at present. As the UK is the EU's largest single export market, the EU should want to reach a swift and sensible trade deal with us. However, if the EU continues to make unreasonable demands in OUR TRADE PRINCIPLES return for even talking about free Post-Brexit, UKIP's aim is to trade, then we must be prepared establish the UK on the world to walk away. market as a low tax, low In circumstances where the EU regulation economy. The UK continues to insist Britain pay a will contribute to the World Trade Organisation's aim for huge 'divorce' settlement of up trade to flow as smoothly, to €100 billion, or continues to predictably and freely as demand we accept the on-going possible. We will reduce jurisdiction of the European tariffs wherever possible, Court of Justice and allow the free movement of people, unless initiating anti-dumping trading with the EU within the measures, and oppose the legal framework of the World establishment and continuance Trade Organisation (WTO) of protectionist customs unions such as the EU. would be the far better option. The sooner we can start Not having an FTA with the EU will not prevent our trading with making our own free trade EU businesses, so talk of a 'cliff deals with countries around edge' is pure hyperbole. Neither the world, the better. could we 'crash out' of the EU, Leaving the EU is a win-win because trade is not going situation for UK trade, our to stop, whatever happens. It global business partners, and developing nations. should also be remembered that the EU is itself a member of the Countries are already queuing WTO and subject to its rules, up to make trade deals with so therefore extremely limited Britain: we can only hope in any hostile action it could work is already underway to take against Britain. Trading negotiate, conclude, sign and on WTO terms will never be a ratify those deals so they that 'punishment' option, but may be can come into effect on day an economically sound choice. one after Brexit. ## Transport: Keeping Britain Moving Everyone understands the frustration of being stuck in a traffic jam or going nowhere on a delayed train or bus. UKIP will improve our existing transport infrastructure instead of investing in vanity projects such as HS2 and the environmentally destructive third runway at Heathrow. > Motorists have had enough of being > treated like cash cows and told to stop > using their cars. UKIP recognises the > huge contribution drivers make to our > economy, and that driving is the only > viable travel option for many. > We are the party that stands up for the > beleaguered motorist. **Jill Seymour,, Transport Spokeswoman** Britain's prosperity depends upon an operational road system and reliable public transport networks. When transport goes wrong, it has an impact on our economy and our businesses, and makes life miserable and stressful for those experiencing delays and cancellations. UKIP will get the basics right, and not waste hundreds of billions of pounds on unnecessary transport projects. ### Ukip Will Scrap HS2 Rail travel is essential but HS2 is not. This High Speed Rail project is unaffordable, requires massive borrowing, will blight people's homes, and destroy valuable habitats. Spending £75 billion just to save a few minutes between London and Leeds is ludicrous and, we think, unethical. **UKIP will put HS2 out of its misery. We will invest in upgrading existing main line services to create additional capacity, expand electrification, and improve east-west rail services and connections across the north of England. This will be infrastructure that genuinely supports the economic and industrial regeneration of the region. A slogan, ' The Northern Powerhouse,' achieves nothing.** ### Ending Road Tolls Tolling increases costs to business and the public, and adds an additional unfair burden on the already highly taxed road user. Road tolls are modern-day highway robbery, and UKIP will aim to remove existing tolls from publicly owned roads and block the introduction of new toll roads. **UKIP opposes the proposed new Thames Crossing in Thurrock and will look to re-open a consultation for a new crossing further east. This will include the option for a crossing through Canvey Island, linking the A130 to the M2 in Kent.** ### Support the Transition to Zero Emission Vehicles Electrically propelled vehicles are now a serious option for many families but the charging infrastructure is not keeping pace. UKIP will support the installation of rapid charging stations in towns and cities, and encourage off street parking and charging provision in all new housing and industrial developments through the local planning process. ### Defending Diesel Drivers In the 1990s, the EU and our government promoted diesel vehicles, claiming they were more environmentally friendly because they produced less carbon dioxide. Incentives such as higher taxes on petrol and cuts to Vehicle Excise Duty for diesel cars worked and diesel car ownership shot up. The 'experts,' however, have changed their advice. Policy has now U-turned. Punitive taxes are being slapped on diesel cars and there are calls to ban them from city centres. A scrappage scheme giving diesel car owners up to £2,000 to get rid of their vehicles has also been introduced, and UKIP supports this; however, we will combine it with an incentive scheme encouraging drivers to exchange their vehicles for electric or hybrid models. **UKIP will prevent diesel drivers from being penalised through** **higher taxes, parking fees, or emissions' zone charging. People bought their vehicles in good faith on government advice. Milking them now for money that simply goes into the Treasury is unacceptable.** ### Saving Rural Bus Services Rural bus services are vital for those living in the countryside who do not have the financial means or the ability to drive. UKIP will airport capacity in the South East, provide start-up grants to support and UKIP is delighted a £100 community bus operators using million investment plan to revive smaller and more efficient buses aviation at Manston Airport in where commercial operators have Kent is now on the table. This cut essential services. would not have been possible without the tireless campaigning of UKIP councillors. An American ### Air Passenger Duty logistics company has unveiled Air Passenger Duty has risen rapidly plans to acquire the 750-acre site, since its introduction in 1994. This and use it as a base for at least is a tax on holidays as well as an a dozen aircraft. Thanet District additional cost to business. We Council is hoping to become a will freeze APD at current levels partner in a compulsory purchase and, when possible in future, seek order for the site. to reduce it with the long-term objective of scrapping it completely. UKIP will continue to support the expansion of smaller ### LONDON AIRPORTS AND regional airports. THE SOUTH EAST Living under a flight path is ### The Britdisc damaging to health and wellbeing, We will keep a record of all and the expansion of Heathrow foreign vehicles entering the UK airport will make matters worse by introducing a windscreen for many thousands more mounted identification tag, which people. UKIP is dismayed the can be purchased prior to entry. Conservatives have torn up their This will help identify overseas 2010 manifesto pledge not to go drivers who break UK traffic laws ahead with the third runway. and facilitate enforcement action, However, there is a clear which can be taken prior to exit commercial need for additional from the country. * Stop mandatory fitment of the e-call vehicle tracking system on new cars * Exempt vehicles over 25 years old from Vehicle Excise Duty * Not allow speed cameras to be used as revenue-raisers for local authorities * Scrap the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence for professionally licensed haulage drivers ## Protecting our Environment Brexit will not put our countryside, our marine environment, or our wildlife at risk. The idea that our membership of the EU has been only good for our environment is quite simply false. In some ways we have benefited, but in others our natural environment has suffered as a consequence of EU policy. **The EU's Common Agricultural Policy has damaged our countryside. The Common Fisheries Policy has devastated fish stocks around our coastline. The way the EU – and our government – embraced diesel proved to be disastrous, even fatal. The Water Framework Directive led to serious flooding in many parts of the country by preventing river dredging. Repealing this directive will spare homeowners the misery of flooding and exorbitant insurance premiums.** UKIP will promote evidence-based environmental schemes, and safeguard protection for Britain's wildlife, nature reserves, areas of outstanding natural beauty, countryside, and coastlines in a new Environmental Protection Act, prioritising policies to protect our precious countryside for future generations. ### Protecting Our Ancient Woodlands Current legislation does not go far enough in protecting natural woodland habitats. We will amend the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to give ancient woodlands 'wholly exceptional' status, putting them on a par with listed buildings, registered parks and gardens, and World Heritage Sites. **Major infrastructure projects will be required to give much more respect to irreplaceable** **natural habitats. HS2 is a prime example of this: we will scrap HS2 and ensure no infrastructure project will ever again be allowed permission to wreak such catastrophic environmental damage.** ### Creating Small Green Spaces UKIP will amend planning legislation to promote inclusion of trees and open space into new developments. The need to build new homes must be countered by the human need to breathe in open, green spaces. We will also require new developments to use permeable or porous surfacing materials for single-storey, ground level domestic car parking and front gardens, so rainwater can drain away to help prevent flooding. Figures analysed by the RAC Foundation show some seven million front gardens now contain concrete and cars rather than flowers and grass, a total * Prioritise brownfield rural capital projects rather than greenfield or which enhance the agricultural land for new local environment or housing help recovery from environmental disasters * Support farming and wildlife though grant • Protect dolphins by schemes prioritising the banning the use of pair preservation of natural trawling for sea bass habitats * Offer local referenda * Match fund grants made to overturn unpopular by local authorities for development approvals space roughly equivalent to 100 on our beaches. After years of Hyde Parks or 72 Olympic Parks. sunlight and pounding waves, they break down into micro-plastics which are ingested by ### General Election Day Is plankton, shellfish, shrimp, fish, ### World Oceans Day birds, turtles, other sea animals 32 million single-use plastic and ultimately humans. bottles are used every day in the UK. 16 million go directly to We will investigate the landfill or end up as litter. The practicality of introducing a Marine Conservation Society deposit scheme on plastic estimates around 160 plastic drinks bottles to encourage bottles per mile are scattered recycling. > "After Britain leaves the European Union, UKIP will review all EU environment legislation. We will review all current EU environmental rules, keeping those which have enhanced our environment, such as improving the cleanliness of our seas and beaches, and amend or repeal legislation which can be shown to have had a detrimental effect". Environment Spokeswoman ## Food Production and Animal Welfare When we leave the EU, we will leave the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and regain the power to prioritise our own farming objectives, boost our own food security, reform our attitude to farming, animal welfare and wildlife management, and reinvigorate our rural economy. > Farming, rural industries and rural skills > have always been fundamental to > our economy, our well-being, and our > relationship with our countryside. Brexit > offers us the chance to restore our seas, > rivers, coasts, farmland, and uplands, > and address the catastrophic collapse > in quality habitat and wildlife species in > our country, and the loss of the specialist > craft trades and skills we need to > manage them. **Stuart Agnew MEP,, Agriculture Spokesman** Naturally, farmers will be nervous about what might replace the CAP and the subsidy system they have become used to over forty years or so. However, UKIP will continue to make available to the agriculture sector funds that would normally be paid to them via Brussels. We will introduce a UK Single Farm Payment (SFP) that operates in a similar way to the present EU system. The major difference will be that UKIP's SFP will be more ethical. It will end EU discrimination in favour of larger, intensive farms, and support smaller enterprises. Subsidies will be capped at £120,000 per year and, to make sure payments reach farmers, not just wealthy landowners, we will pay only those who actually farm the land. Anti-Microbial Resistance is a problem for society as a whole. UKIP will consider transferring some support to those livestock producers who commit to farming without antibiotics. To qualify for subsidies, land must be used for genuine agricultural purposes and meet Entry Level Stewardship conditions (2013 rules), meaning it must be managed to certain environmental standards. Organic farms will be paid 25 per cent more, and additional support will be given to hill farmers. There will be no set-aside, cropping or rotation restrictions. We think the British public will prefer and support UKIP's approach. ### Animal Welfare Only when we have left the EU can we regain control of animal health and welfare issues. Currently, EU law prevents us from banning live exports for slaughter, and prevents us from labelling food that has been ritually killed as halal * Ban the export of animals for fattening and slaughter * Tightly regulate animal testing, and continually challenge companies concerned regarding its necessity * Install CCTV in every abattoir and deal severely with any animal welfare contraventions * Forbid Jewish and Muslim methods of slaughter being carried out by unqualified individuals in unregulated or shechita. UKIP campaigns against the EU's stance on both. **It is worth noting that should Britain stay in the single market, we would still not be able to** **prevent the export and import of live animals destined for the meat trade and end the unnecessary suffering this causes.** **premises, and deal severely with such transgressions** * Insist all meat labelling identifies the method of slaughter * Triple the maximum jail sentences for animal cruelty * Impose lifetime bans on owning and/or looking after animals on any individual or company convicted of animal cruelty * Keep the ban on animal testing for cosmetics. ## Our Future Energy Security Brexit offers the perfect opportunity to review energy policy, prioritising lower prices and more secure supplies. There is one major problem: a lack of MPs in Westminster who recognise the potential of a rational energy policy, and who are committed to delivering it. > UKIP has a clear commitment to secure, > affordable energy for everyone. We will > repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act, the > most expensive piece of legislation in > history. This will cut the cost of energy > in our homes and encourage energy- > intensive businesses that are failing > because of flawed energy policies. **Roger Helmer MEP,, Energy Spokesman** Every political party except UKIP has thrown its weight behind the 2008 Climate Change Act. Set to cost us an eye-watering £319 billion by 2030, this Act has no basis in science, and its aim of cutting greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050 is unachievable. It is a textbook exercise in legislative folly, brought about by nothing more than a competitive cross-party 'dash for green.' While our major global competitors in the USA, China and India are switching to low-cost fossil fuels, this Act forces us to close perfectly good coal-fired power stations to meet unattainable targets for renewable capacity. If we carry on like this, the lights are likely to go out. **UKIP will repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act and support a diverse energy market based on coal, nuclear, shale gas, conventional gas, oil, solar and hydro, as well as other renewables when they can be delivered at competitive prices. We will also withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, to enhance our industrial competitiveness.** ### Cutting Domestic Energy Prices According to government figures, 2.3 million households are living in fuel poverty, meaning they spend more than 10per cent of their total income to heat their homes to an adequate standard of warmth. **In addition to removing VAT from domestic fuel and scrapping 'green' levies to reduce household bills by an average of £170, we will review the ownership and profits of British utilities and the impact on consumers of steadily rising prices. We will not hesitate to table legislation to address any excesses we uncover.** > CUTTING THE COST OF Energy policies pursued by **INTENSIVE ENERGY USE Labour and the Tories are arguably increasing global Repealing the Climate Change emissions and causing Britain Act and leaving the EU means to lose jobs and investment. we can also reduce high They have created a lose-lose commercial energy prices situation, but only UKIP is and prevent energy-intensive awake to the problem. businesses from being driven offshore. Problems in the** ### Investing in Shale Gas steel industry have been well publicised, but similar British demand for energy issues apply to aluminium, already exceeds our home-chemicals, fertilisers, glass, produced supply and unless we ceramics and petroleum reduce this deficit, we will be refining. Such companies may importing more and more energy. move to countries with lower This risks both our energy and environmental standards, and pur economic security: bills will increase emissions, thereby have to be paid for in foreign rendering the 2008 Act even currency over which we have more futile. no control, and fossil fuel cost * Prevent energy companies charging extra for customers who use pre-payment meters, who do not pay by direct debit, or who require paper billing * Remove taxpayer-funded subsidies from unprofitable wind and solar schemes as soon as contractual arrangements expire. and distribution can be severely affected by international conflict. It would be foolhardy not to maximise home produced energy and this is why UKIP will invest in shale gas exploration. If 'fracking' is viable in Britain, we will have tapped into a source of energy that is cost-effective and delivers domestic fuel security and stability. Careful utilisation of this method of gas extraction has the potential to create jobs, improve our industrial competitiveness and boost our economy. This makes it too great an opportunity to ignore. By any measure, shale gas extraction is far safer and cleaner than coal, on which Britain's Industrial Revolution was based. **UKIP will not, however, allow drilling for shale in our** **national parks or other areas of outstanding natural beauty. The Conservatives may be prepared to do this, but we are** **not. We will always respect local environmental issues.** ## Real Democracy UKIP's fundamental belief in radical democracy marks us out from the other parties. We want real devolution, with an English Parliament. We will abolish the House of Lords, hold binding referenda on the issues that matter most to people, and introduce a fairer voting system. Constitutional Affairs Spokesman strongly advocate. > There is a growing disconnect between > people and politicians. People feel their > voice isn't heard, and that their vote > doesn't change anything. UKIP stands for > a fundamentally different kind of politics > that puts power back in the hands of the > British people. Leaving the European > Union is the first step on that road. **Jonathan Arnott MEP,** **The fabric of the historic Palace of Westminster is in desperate need of restoration, but perhaps it is not just the building itself that is falling apart. Are the decaying walls symptomatic of what is happening inside the** **mother of parliaments?** Government has become bloated and unmanageable. Politics is corrupted by self-interest and big business. An unaccountable elite revels in mutual back-scratching and cronyism. If the best interests of the people of this country are to be well served, our current political system needs urgent reform. UKIP believes it is time to make our nation truly democratic, and this is how we will do it. ### Proportional Representation All votes should matter, so we will introduce a voting system that genuinely reflects the will of the people as a whole. In the 2015 general election, UKIP got 12.6 per cent of the vote but only one seat, while the SNP won just 4.7 percent of the national vote but took 56 seats. The current First Past the Post (FPTP) system we use for electing MPs to our national parliament is bad for voters, bad for government, and bad for democracy. **UKIP wants a fairer, more proportional voting system that makes seats match votes, and ends the inbuilt advantage the establishment parties have over smaller parties. A proportional** **electoral system that delivers a parliament representative of the number of votes cast, while retaining a constituency link, is one we** ### Scrap Postal Voting Abolish the on Demand House of Lords Originally intended to increase It is time for the House of voter turnout and enhance Lords to go. Attempts at democracy, postal voting has reform have proved counter-had the opposite effect, fuelling productive. The House of "massive, systematic and Lords Act 1999 replaced the organised fraud" that would majority of hereditary peers "disgrace a banana republic," with appointees, which only according to England and Wales's increased the Prime Minister's senior and most experienced ability to put cronies into Election Commissioner. UKIP will the upper chamber. The reserve postal votes only for those House of Lords is now who can show a genuine need. stuffed with party donors Otherwise, voting must be done and fundraisers, ex-MPs, and at polling stations. favoured former employees. Stuffed is the right word: the House of Lords is the second biggest legislature in the world, after the Chinese National People's Congress. The average cost of each peer is £115,000 per year. ### A Fair Deal for All Four Nations The public widely regards the United Kingdom's current devolutionary system as fundamentally unfair, particularly to the English. UKIP will put England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the same footing by instituting a new English Parliament. It will sit in the chamber vacated by the House of Lords, have its own First Minister, and its 375 members will be elected under the Additional Member system of proportional representation, one or more from each traditional county or large city and 125 top-up seats. All four nations will have broadly similar devolved powers and none will have power over matters affecting the whole of the UK, such as foreign policy, defence of the realm, or constitutional matters. ### A Smaller House of Commons Our national parliament will be given two primary areas of responsibility: to act as an oversight body for the regional Parliaments and Assemblies, and to deal with all matters not devolved to them. The size of the House of Commons will be halved to 325 directly elected members from across the four nations of the United Kingdom, according to a system of proportional representation. **These changes will reduce the number of politicians eligible to sit in the legislature from 1475 to 700, a net reduction of 775.** ### The Citizen's Initiative If 10,000 people sign an approved parliamentary petition, the government must respond. If over 100,000 people sign it, the petition must be debated in parliament. However, this is not real democracy. Responses to petitions are often cursory, sometimes derisory, and debates rarely take place in the House of Commons chamber, so are usually badly attended and easily dismissed. **We will pass legislation allowing citizens to influence our legislature directly, by giving them the power to initiate binding referenda on the issues of most importance to them. Every two years, a national referendum will be held on the issues gaining the highest numbers of signatures on approved petitions. The outcome of these referenda would be legally binding and included in the Queen's Speech.** **UKIP will lead the way in saving the Union and ending friction in the current devolution settlement. Our policies will end the need for tactical voting, which undermines democracy** **and freedom of political choice, cut the cost and size of government, and give people a real say in how they are governed.** **UKIP is the real party for the people.** ## Keeping it Local UKIP believes in localism, the kind that puts real power into the hands of the people. Our councillors put party politics last, and believe in rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done. > Councillors exist to serve their > communities, and one of the best ways > to do that is by offering them a say in > what happens on their doorstep, through > the use of binding referenda. This will > reinvigorate local politics, and shape > our neighbourhoods to the benefit of > everyone, not just powerful developers, > or the most determined lobbyist. **Peter Reeve MBE,, Local Government Spokesman** When it comes to key local issues such as out-of-town supermarkets, incinerators, and major housing developments, UKIP believes in holding binding local referenda. Why should politicians and planning authorities have the final say? UKIP is the only party to operate a 'no whip' system, so our councillors can always vote in the best interests of residents in their wards, because they are not bound by party politics. We oppose the 'cabinet' system of local governance, which puts too much power in the hands of too few people. We advocate a committee system, which brings more openness and transparency, and facilitates cross-party collaborative working. Collecting rubbish bins promptly and regularly, removing fly-tips, filling potholes, fixing broken or dim streetlights, providing enough parking, and keeping parks and libraries open: these services should be running smoothly before councillors even think about spending money on the next local vanity project. UKIP believes in keeping Council Tax as low as possible. We seek to cut excessive allowances for councillors, executive pay and bonuses, keep advertising and promotion budgets to a minimum, build partnerships with neighbouring councils to reduce costs, and abolish non-essential jobs and red tape. UKIP will end the use of council procurement cards, which operate like credit cards, encouraging over-spending and waste. Staff should stick within agreed budgets. UKIP will review the many statutory duties placed on local government, to assess whether the cost burden on councils and taxpayers can be reduced. Councils should only be doing what they do best, not what national government wants to wash its hands of. UKIP: the party with local, common sense, cost-cutting policies for local government. ## UKIP's Five Year Fiscal Plan ### Phased Budget Changes 2017-2022 Budgetary Savings Net EU contributions Overseas Aid phased down to 0.2% of GNI HS2 cancellation DECC budget cuts (excluding levies) NHS medical insurance recovery from migrants and visitors ineligible for free treatment Barnett Formula replaced with needs based allocation of spending Total savings All figures in £bn 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 8.30 8.70 9.30 6.09 9.43 10.84 11.26 11.70 1.38 3.86 4.76 5.45 5.55 0.52 1.06 1.08 1.08 1.10 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.50 3.00 4.50 5.50 6.50 9.99 17.95 30.18 32.79 35.05 ### Tax and Expenditure 2017-18 Income Tax Personal Allowance £13,500 and Higher Rate Threshold £55,000 by 2021-22 NHS provision 2.00 Social Care provision 1.20 Carers Allowance increased to level of Job Seekers Allowance Bedroom Tax abolished 0.50 Inheritance Tax Threshold Increased to £500,000, 0.93 transferable (£ 1 million per couple) Increase Armed Services personnel by 20,000 0.20 over 5 years Veterans Administration 0.12 Increase in Police, Prison Officers and Border 0.60 Force Staff (includes ex-service personnel) Higher education tuition fees abated after 5 years 1.86 for STEM students Higher education maintenance grants reinstated 1.30 Hospital car parking fees abolished 0.21 National referenda Remove VAT from domestic fuel and hot takeaway food 1.10 Additional investment in Northern England east to west rail projects Business Rates cut - 20% relief on premises with a 0.89 rateable value up to £50,000 Provision for other policy items 0.60 Contingency Total spending 11.51 Net budgetary impact –1.52 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 1.57 3.15 3.86 5.43 3.00 5.00 8.00 9.00 1.45 1.65 1.75 2.00 0.41 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.99 0.86 0.76 0.77 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 0.32 0.35 0.35 0.44 1.40 2.10 2.10 2.10 1.91 2.01 2.04 2.08 1.60 1.65 1.70 1.75 0.21 0.22 0.22 0.23 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 1.75 1.78 1.80 1.83 0.60 1.40 1.80 2.20 1.24 1.29 1.32 1.35 0.70 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.00 1.00 1.00 18.09 24.82 29.46 33.34 – 0.14 5.36 3.33 1.71