UKIP Breakthrough in Wales

UKIP could make dramatic gains in forthcoming Welsh elections according to a YouGov poll commissioned by ITV Wales. The prediction that UKIP could gain 5 seats, putting the party on equal footing with the Conservatives, is based upon a dramatic shift in Regional List voting where UKIP ranks as the third party, on 12% of the vote.

The results of this poll are encouraging, but they tell us what we already know. As a party we are going from strength to strength. Voters are waking up to the fact that we are a credible alternative to the establishment parties who time and again let down the people.

For too long, too few parties have dominated politics. This enables them to drastically shift policy as they wish as they believe they are untouchable. This also means that worryingly, it is a select few people at the very top of these parties with power and influence, while voters and backbenchers are simply ignored.

This has become clear with the number of u-turns made by the Coalition Government in Westminster. Dismal policy making and broken promises are losing the establishment parties support.

UKIP’s recent success isn’t just about growing consternation with the EU. It’s about voters waking up to the fact that we offer a whole range of policies that represent what the people of Wales want.

UKIP is not just an alternative to a Tory vote. It’s an alternative vote to all the other parties that have failed, and will continue to fail, Welsh voters. These results show that people want UKIP as part of Wales’ political fabric to fight their corner on a range of issues.

Schmallenberg

Spoken by an English tongue, the word has an onomatopoeic resonance that sounds rather gruesome, slightly Frankensteinian and fitting of a fictional disease in a Fin de Siecle Gothic novel whose emblematic manifestation is embryonic mummification. Sadly, however, it is not a fictional disease dreamt up by an author with a taste for the dystopian. It is the latest virus to spread among livestock in Europe and will potentially wreak havoc in Wales this year and potentially for years to come.

SBV was first identified last year in the eponymous Westphalian German where it was originally discovered. It has since spread across Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemborug and France, before eventually crossing the Channel to arrive on the South coast of England. Invasion is now creeping northwards and spreading throughout the southern counties, up to Gloucestershire, where it may well be poised to filter across the border into South East Wales and beyond. Reported cases to date, with estimations changing on an almost hourly basis, sees the largest number of confirmed cases of 772 separate farms in Germany, followed by France with 277, Belgium with 166 and The Netherlands with 123, but by the time you are reading this, the number has potentially surged.

Despite the apparent sudden geographic spread, there is however no pattern to reported cases of infection. Scientists are certain that they are looking at a vector-borne disease, meaning infection is most likely passed through midges or biting insects as in the case of Blue Tongue. This would possibly suggest large under reporting of incidence, meaning the true prevalence of Schmallenberg remains worryingly unclear. There is also no reliable antibody test, thus positive virus identification is as yet impossible in many suspected cases.

Either way, even going by present statistics alone, we are dealing with an epidemic of significant scale.

Much like human conditions with similar causes, such as malaria which is transmitted by mosquito bite, it is not believed the virus can be transmitted between animals. However the defining symptom of Schmallenberg and its greatest potential risk to livestock is through its propensity to be passed from mother to foetus, where the greatest impact of the problem is observed.

As a result there is as yet no restriction on the movement of livestock. Many in the industry argue that to bore out such punitive restrictions at a time when the industry is likely to face an enormous economic blow would be overreactive and highly damaging. Yet this reveals a far graver problem. One can regulate to an extent the movement of cattle and sheep, but how does one restrict the migration of ticks and midges? Similarly with no reliable serological test and no vaccine, disease detection and prevention are extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The industry is therefore in a position of stalemate. Other than seek to mitigate the economic fall out of Schmallenberg on affected farms, little else can seemingly be done. There are no plans to cull infected animals, so the scenes witnessed during the BSE crisis in the UK are unlikely to be blighting television screens and turning the rural ideal into a horrifying post apocalyptic ovine bloodbath. Similarly real time farm closures witnessed during outbreaks of Foot and Mouth are unlikely to serve any real purpose, with knee jerk restrictions authored in a state of panic more likely to further blight an industry on the cusp of perhaps one of the greatest economic hardships this century.

However as I write this on a glorious sunny day at the start of March when clemency has at last touched our weather systems for the first time this year, the welcome return of the sun also hails the beginning of lambing season. In Wales the sight of newborn lambs frolicking in the countryside has become the pastoral idyll of springtime. Yet combined with the reproductive boom of biting insects, this spring could well signify the advent of desolation to a number of farms across the country.

Infection could spread exponentially over the warmer summer months, and only as the lambing season begins will farmers know whether they have been struck by the virus, or whether it is working its way through flocks as the majority of us bask in the first sunny spell of the year. Within a few months we will also approach the birthing season for cattle, finally revealing the true extent of the spread of Schmallenberg in the UK.

Vaccination meanwhile is still at least two years away, according to National Sheep Association chief executive Phil Stocker. However, Dr Dan Tucker, of Cambridge University, has suggested that livestock may develop immunity after they have been infected for the first time, likening the disease to human Chicken Pox. Yet other reports suggest that the sudden escalation and range of cases could be indicative of what may in fact be the second year of infection, which would suggest that the virus may be able to survive the European winter and could lie dormant until next year when it could strike again.

So far there is no indication that SBV can affect humans. Assessments carried out in the Netherlands concluded the risk to human health is likely to be very low but cannot be ruled out. Without wanting to scaremonger, the same was once said about CJD. However as the most likely vector for infection is through insect bite, one would imagine transmission is unlikely to come in the form of contaminated meat.

So what is Schmallenberg virus? As yet, there is little we know about it. It manifests in congenital defects seen in close to term and newborn lambs, calves and goat kids. Often the foetus or newborn will have twisted limbs or be still born. Farmers across Western Europe have also reported what appears to be mummified newborns. In mild cases neurological damage leads to signs of malcoordination and paralysis. However in adult livestock, the symptoms are far more subtle. Milk yields may be reduced in cows and in some cases fever and diarrhoea are also present, yet to the majority of the herd, something akin to a mild case of flu in humans would be hard to detect.

Due to it not being a registered identifiable disease, there is still no blood test available that could be used on farms, although scientists in the Netherlands and Germany are close to developing such a test. However this also means that financial protection is not in place for farms where stock may be heavily affected. Both Lloyds TSB Agriculture and the Bank of Scotland have both announced what they describe as a sympathetic and supportive approach to their customers, urging anyone with difficulties to contact their bank manager as soon as possible. The NFU are also working around the clock to draw up provisions in insurance policies and calculate the cost to the industry and how to mitigate a severe impact on farming in this country, however the true impact that will be felt is hard to even broadly estimate.

So far Schmallenberg has shown signs of virulent spread and reports so far had are likely to be only the tip of the iceberg. As the lambing season continues, the true extent of still births will be revealed, often ranging between 10 and 40 per cent and representing the loss of thousands of pounds per affected farm.

Agriculture has suffered repetitive disasters since the early nineties when BSE changed the face of farming in the UK for decades. Swine flu was then followed by avian flue, and of course foot and mouth still poses a risk alongside other hard to eliminate conditions such as TB. However one thing is for certain. Panic measures and extreme reactions can be dangerous and unnecessarily harmful to the agricultural sector, already suffering from rising fuel costs and increasing price of animal feed. What is needed is sensible, cautious and respectful regulation coordinated alongside active stakeholders in the industry. Focused delivery of protection and remuneration should be the intent of national governments, but there is also a call for sharing information, cooperating and creating a unified response across affected territories in Europe. Whilst I baulk at the sort of heavy handed treatment the EU has doled out on British farmers over the past few decades, it is mere common sense that laboratories, farmers and veterinary scientists in affected countries across the globe work together to try to reduce the spread of the disease, investigate its potential risks and ideally eliminate it altogether.

March signals the advent of vernal abundance. Lambing season turns Wales into a picture postcard of the Welsh countryside idyll. Yet Wales’ long tradition of sheep farming is likely to suffer over coming months. With over 100 farms in England, including cases in border counties, suggesting it will soon spread to Wales.

However panic measures would be unnecessarily harmful, especially a block on the movement of animals when the virus is likely carried by midges. I have written to the Commission asking whether they are supporting the development of a blood test and vaccine and what measures they are likely to enforce to mitigate the spread of the virus, advising against anything that could harm the sector. In recent months new legislation restricting pesticides has left farmers concerned. I have asked the Commission to investigate a possible link, as well as scrutinise other existing legislation that could prevent Schmallenberg being treated quickly and efficiently.

In situations like this, it is important the farming industry stands together. Any action taken should be decided in cooperation with farmers themselves.

The Non-Treaty-Treaty Veto U-turn Thingey

This week has seen plenty of dicsussion about David Cameron’s treaty “U-Turn”. In fact I was a little startled to not see the matter picked over on Question Time last night but one assumes the BBC hadn't picked the right members of the panel for that.

The Prime Minister has revoked his original standpoint of blocking a new compact observing tighter fiscal regulation and budgetary control governed by the European Court of Justice. That is now going ahead, but without the involvement of the UK or Czech Republic. What does this mean? Well before Christmas the UK vetoed a new treaty which would effectively see economic governance enforced to all 27 members of the EU by Brussels. Apparently we do not have a new treaty, due to the veto, and so instead 25 out of the 27 member states have drawn up an "intergovernmental pact" which is supposedly separate from EU jurisdiction (as we blocked it - you see, any new treaty has to be ratified by all member states) yet the European Court of Justice will preside over it and the meeting will take place within the governmental buildings of Brussels. In essence, they have I would propose illegally sidestepped the knotty issue of the fact that an EU treaty of fiscal governance was blocked, and gone ahead and effectively made one anyway. This poses the question of how a 25 state intergovernmental pact can use the jurisdiction of an institution of the 27 member state EU without it in some way being regarded as an EU treaty. It also leaves the UK vulnerable to decisions made under this new entente which could affect the single market or financial industry in the City of London as we are not part of it. Now I'm not suggesting I'd want us to be part of it, far from it. Instead we have been told that if new regulation encroaches upon UK sovereignty, the legality of the agreement will be called into question, which would effectively mean appealing to the ECJ to pass judgement on its own lawfulness. It is a strange situation that until put into practise, remains pretty hard to fathom. What is clear is that the EU is prepared to work above the law which it writes itself and bend the rules whenever it feels like it if not all parties are appeased by the decision making.

So when will this not-a-treaty-treaty come into force? Well Nicholas Sarkozy has stated that France will not ratify the new “treaty” until after the French Presidential elections, with his main contender, Francois Hollande, suggesting he would demand a rewrite if he were to gain power. This means the 25 member state agreement will not even be put into place until after the start of May, yet the Eurozone is likely to stumble quite dramatically before this legislation can seriously send out a message of calm to the markets. The initial bail out loan to Greece is set to mature on 20^th March with the possibility of an uncontrolled default looming large. The bubble of toxic debt currently hovering over southern European Euro countries could burst when Greece fails to start paying back the loan and with potentially disastrous consequences. If this were to happen, how much would the UK be dragged into the mess?

I have addressed two letters, one to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and one to Edwina Hart, the Welsh Government Business Minister, asking whether any contingency plans or impact assessments have been prepared for euro collapse and whether any public money has been set aside to rescue businesses should the single currency come to a timely end. We have heard how the UK Foreign Office has prepared a rescue strategy for British nationals if a collapse of the single currency leads to social uprising across Europe, but what about the equally pressing possibility that shockwaves from another crunch could smash against UK shores?

I am concerned that Welsh businesses are implored to trade further afield than the EU, especially with the fantastic links we have with the Commonwealth, yet the rhetoric from the First Minister’s Office suggests a vain clinging to the ideal of the EU as some kind of saviour for Wales. After all, if the single currency goes down, anybody who relies on trade with the countries involved will be equally damaged. So have Welsh businesses been encouraged to slough the bonds with Europe and look elsewhere? I have heard little to this end. Instead all we continue to hear are members of the political elite still championing the EU as of some kind of irreplacable benefit to Wales. The usual reasons, trade and regional funding, are constantly echoing around newspaper columns, but in truth, we can see how in fact the trade links established with the EU are the reason many businesses should be starting to panic, while recent damning reports confirming what I have always said about EU Cohesion Policy are coming to light.

It is interesting how recently the myth of structural funding has been overturned. For years Cohesion Policy has been championed as the greatest benefit for Wales of EU membership. Even though parts of West Wales are net beneficiaries of the funding, overall, Wales, like the UK as a whole, pays far more in to the pot than is ever returned. In fact, I have often argued that Cohesion Policy is essentially Brussels saying to Wales ‘You pay us millions, we will give back 65% and tell you how to spend it in return for you publicising how generous the EU is’. It’s simply propaganda funded by extortion.It would of course be far better for us to manage our own regional spending, but propagandist nationalists would suggest Westminster would leave us high and dry and only Brussels can be trusted to make sure we get a fair deal. Really? It is silly to believe this just to fulfill a patriarchal agenda when it is clear that this would surely not be the case. In Scotland and here in Wales the forces for independence vainly cling to the idea that membership of the EU in their own right would be the way forward, after all, the benefits of being part of the British pound and receiving money via the Barnett Formula from Westminster would need to be replaced with another pot of cash. I think not. If one can see how easily the UK can be defied when it suits the EU, imagine the rollocking smaller states would get from Brussels. Plus the EU would control the North Sea Oil, the whole of the Welsh farming industry, would force us to sign up to Schengen, and make all businesses stick to their frankly inept and dangerous working and competition laws which would render us wholly uncompetitive and wholly dependent upon Mother Brussels for everything (which is of course, what they want). Plus with a whole contingent of new members lined up to join, our needs would be increasingly disregarded. It is also part of EU law that any new member states must sign up to the Euro, a rather chilling prospect I think you will agree. Plus I can't see member states like Spain sitting back and letting Scotland, or potentially Wales, sign up to the EU independently when it has such problems with the Basque separatists and those who want to see an independent Catalunia. If Brussels were our look-to government and not Westminster, I would imagine people would soon grow sick and tired of the amount of legislation and control being filtered down from Brussels when the dream was to have a Wales standing on her own two feet. I would also imagine if that were the case England may well decide to break away from the EU and grow in wealth and freedom until the disparity across the Severn would be unimaginable and everyone was regretting not sticking with the devil we know.

However let's not go too far with this line of thought. The more pressing concern is what is going to happen over the coming months to the economy.

The unravelling narrative of the Eurozone crisis is far from over and I would venture to suggest that across the continent the public are becoming wearied and justifiably concerned about the direction what was once a simple free trade community has recently taken. What is left unaddressed however is whether public opinion alone can democratically overturn the burgeoning powers the EU bestows upon it’s self. Given the recent move in Brussels to compose an essentially illegal “treaty” one would suggest that democracy is slipping further and further away from EU conscience. Only time will tell how long this delicate balance between an increasingly agitated public and a wilful supranational superpower can last.

Propaganda Funded By Extortion

It can be hard trying to convince certain Welsh people about why leaving the EU would be so beneficial for Wales. So often they will call up the millions given to Wales through Cohesion Policy and suggest Brussels has really helped impoverished Welsh communities develop in the wake of huge industrial closures.

I try to explain that even so, we'd be better off if we handled our regional funding ourselves, but there must be something mesmeric about the swathe of blue plaques dotted on a handful of new buildings, positioned in some of Wales' most idyllic locations and prominently displayed on hoardings for events and occasions that makes people think "look at all the stuff Brussels is paying for". [Incidentally here are Brussels rules on blowing their trumpet]

Well finally, it's been calculated that Wales would be better off out of the EU. A recent report by Open Europe examined the costs of cohesion contribution against the value of regional funding in the UK. As a whole, the UK pays far more in than it gets back out. But this is not something that we didn't know before. For hardline Welsh nationalists, what matters is that West Wales is nonetheless a net contributor, and some cynics would suppose that if regional funding was governed by Westminster, greedy London would no doubt leave Wales high and dry. Perhaps therefore that at least for Wales, it's a good idea to stay in the EU. Even better, think some Plaidists, Wales should become a member in her own right.

Well thankfully the Open Europe report and some number crunching reveals that Wales is in fact a net contributor.

West Wales gains 40p for every £1 but balanced with the contribution made by East Wales of £2.90 for every pound, Wales overall pays £1.65 for every £1 received.

Cohesion Funding is often championed as the reason why being a member of the European Union is of benefit to Wales. I am delighted to see that this myth has finally been busted.

Cohesion Policy is essentially Brussels saying to Wales

‘You pay us millions into a central pot, we will give back 65% and tell you exactly how to spend it but you must then say how kind and generous the EU is’.

It’s simply propaganda funded by extortion.

Fight For Funds

It's not often I go with the begging bowl outstretched in Europe, but when thousands of jobs have been created under the auspices of an EU programme in Wales which is set to be cut in 3 years then I will do my utmost to protect my country.
Regional Development funds, structural funds, convergence, cohesion...It's all been in the press lately as it is becoming clear that East Wales could lose £280m worth of funding after 2013. Martin Shipton ran an article on it in today's Western Mail after meeting with us in Brussels yesterday. Regional Development funding accounts for a significant proportion of the very little the UK actually recoups from soaring membership fees. £280m that is therefore rightfully ours, in Wales, in the first place, given that the UK actually pays some £6bn to Brussels and will likely pay more year on year.
I have addressed the Budget Commissioner over the issue when he came to speak with my Committee on Regional Development. President Barroso recently visited Wales and was escorted around the Assembly on a Structural Funds Presentation. All the Welsh MEPs are working together to make sure that Wales doesn't lose out on the cash, and to guarantee transitory arrangements to protect us socially and economically if Brussels do decide to pull the rug from under our feet.
Below is video of me speaking in Parliament earlier today on the issue.

Keep your eyes on the press too, for they've got wind of the story, and for once, the EU is being reported.

Cardiff Yacht Club sees it's best launch yet

Yesterday we launched the UKIP Manifesto in Wales at Cardiff Yacht Club. Lord Pearson came across to speak, and I also had a little podium time.

Below is pretty much what I said:

How can they afford it all?

That’s the question being asked to all the parties.

They can’t.

They won’t.

Their promises are all empty.

Totally and utterly meaningless.

To pretend that the UK Government is the master of our country’s destiny is a deception.

Schools, post offices, hospitals, the law, the economy, business, trade, agriculture.

Everything in some way is connected to Brussels.

Westminster have so few powers left to enforce policy, it’s all just talk.

That’s why the central issue in this election must be membership of Europe.

UKIP are the only party to represent the majority view on this.

Repeatedly the British public show in polls and debates they do not want to be controlled by Brussels. Bearing in mind that the level of control the European Union exercise over us is heavily concealed, I am certain that figure would be far, far higher if the British Government had been honest with it’s people.

The Tories pledge to cut £6bn pounds of Government spending next year.

They will take this from your pay packet, close your local hospital, strip down the police, and lean on then taxpayer to not only pay off the debt, but happily accept this imposed frugality just after they’ve all been caught in Westminster unscrupulously filling their pockets with your money!

None of the parties are suggesting we would save £10 billion a year alone in EU membership currently affording schools, post offices, hospitals, new businesses, better roads, trade and agriculture in the other 26 member states.

You pay for all that.

Why are they giving your money to them, when we so desperately need it here?

Why should you, the British taxpayer, have to level off wealth across Europe, when you’re struggling to make ends meet?

That’s why the UK has never seen a referendum on Europe. We would all want out. But it’s not going to happen unless you vote UKIP.

Immigration.

Without doubt a key issue in this year’s election.

Under the labour Government, millions of people came to live in the UK, to enjoy a standard of living paid for by you. Every person living here, sending money back to their home country, is plundering the real economy, money earned and spent in Britain, like a constantly dripping tap.

The immigration policies of the other parties are like saying “we’ll monitor who comes in through the back door, but leave the front door wide open for anyone in Europe who wishes to come.”

They mean nothing at all while free movement of people in the European Union continues to see thousands file into the UK everyday looking to enjoy our higher wages, child support, free medical care, free education and all the other things our country has to offer.

Yes, we believe the UK is great and yes, lots of people want to come and live here, but it’s your country, but we won’t be able to support ourselves if the population gets much bigger.

That’s why we want a five year freeze on anyone wanting to settle here.

There’s not enough space.

There are not enough jobs.

There are not enough hospital beds, school places, social housing and money to go around.

We spend millions on translation costs, welfare support to children who don’t even live in the UK and have seen our national identity crumble at the mercy of political correctness.

Who are we?

What will we become?

We are told if we leave the European Union we’ll be nothing.

Who says?

We have the 6^th largest economy in the world.

London is the global financial capital.

We are a member of the G8 and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

It is Europe who needs us, not us who need them.

This is clear even by glancing at the Brussels budget: we put far more in than anybody and get far less back.

Westminster are giving your money to Brussels, who give it to people who live thousands of miles away.

I’m going to be totally straight with you.

It simply has to stop.

Some 120,000 directives from Brussels shape your daily life.

You won’t see any of these appearing in the manifestos of the other parties because there is absolutely nothing at all a UK Government can do if we don’t leave Europe.

The hours you work

The price you pay to heat your house.

The food you buy and eat.

Even the very laws that govern how you are expected to live are now made outside the UK.

It takes one judge in Luxembourg to overturn a British legal ruling and hundreds of years of British justice are reduced to nothing.

In truth, Westminster has about as much power as a corridor prefect in school.

The Headmaster lives in Brussels.

The true cost of the EU, per year, is around one hundred and twenty billion pounds a year.

That’s twenty times more than the Tories say they want to cut by dipping into your pockets.

If we left Europe, not only would we be able to control our future once more, every man, woman and child would directly benefit from all the money we could put back into the lives of each and every individual who contributes to life in the UK.

But we’re not a party that simply wants to leave Europe.

It is necessary to do this first and foremostly, but there are plenty more areas in which we represent the unrepresented.

We speak everyone who feels that nobody speaks for them.

We believe in selective education, nuclear power, an end to so-called devolution and unnecessary over governance.

We are committed to policies that would directly affect Wales.

Policies that will strengthen communities, enrich lives, protect individual interests and inspire the young.

Policies that actually mean something.

Take nuclear power. We have always been proponents of this highly efficient, advanced, renewable energy as opposed to inefficient, costly, unreliable and ugly wind turbines that blight the horizon.

It may have been fashionable to stick turbines everywhere but it was premature and silly.

Look at the announcement of a new power station at Wylfa? This will bring hundreds of much needed jobs to the area and provide renewable electricity for thousands and thousands of homes.

Now let’s look at devolution.

We are the only party in Wales that says no to the Welsh Assembly.

No to more jobs for the boys.

No to costly over governance and make believe democracy.

No to serving the political elite.

If almost half of people in Wales agree with us, why are there no Assembly members whatsoever supporting the views of half the country’s population, whom they are supposed to represent?

Because it means more money for them, even if it comes straight out of your pockets.

We would retain the National Assemblies but replace the representatives with local MPs from the same nation.

Most people in Wales are currently represented by around 8 elected politicians each with 20 more Assembly seats likely to be created under devolution plans.

This is wasteful and unnecessary governance, watering down politics and creating apathy when the general public don’t understand who represents them and how.

Our manifesto is straight talking, honest, clear and simple and we believe it speaks on behalf of the majority of people who say the policies of the three main parties bear little resemblance to the issues that matter to them.

We want to protect the lowest earners from jobs tax and encourage more people to leave the welfare state and find employment.

We want to get rid of the unnecessary quangos and the related non-jobs that define our economy and are under threat from Westminster cuts.

One in four people are paid directly out of taxpayers money.

It is a false economy.

We want instead to get these people into jobs in skilled manufacturing and business, created by scrapping EU red tape and attracting industries back to the UK.

We no longer make anything here, and that is a dangerous, post recession in a global economy.

We also believe we should shift focus away from Europe and towards the Commonwealth.

We would establish free trade with the 53 other commonwealth countries.

The Commonwealth has been shamefully betrayed and neglected by previous Governments, yet we share a common language, legal and democratic systems, account for a third of the world’s population and a quarter of all it’s trade, including countries like India, soon to be the world’s second largest economy.

We will be tough on crime.

Under the existing Human Rights Act the privileges of the criminal are often put above the needs of the victim.

This has got to stop.

By leaving the EU we can once again enforce strict and realistic measures for tackling crime and supporting communities.

We want to rebalance the law to protect people defending their homes, ensure life means life, double prison places, introduce boot camps for young offenders and allow national referenda on controversdial public law.

We are proud of the NHS and believe high quality healthcare should be available to all.

We wouldn’t cut frontline services but substantially reduce NHS waste and bureaucracy and the stranglehold of targets that jeopardise patient care.

We want to restore free dental checks and eye tests for every citizen in the UK.

We believe in a strong and varied education system, giving choice back to parents and students.

We would retain existing Grammar schools and build new ones, insist on higher qualifications for teachers, scrap the nonsensical target of getting half of all young people into universities when apprenticeships and professional training is better suited to a greater majority.

We would return to the grants system as opposed to loans that leave so many unemployed graduates in debt.

Our benefits system is out of control.

We want to simplify it and get people off long term welfare and back into work.

We also want to make sure welfare support goes to people who need it and people who can prove they are living in Britian.

By leaving Europe we could have a thriving agricultural sector, a protected fishing industry without waste and overfishing.

We could have open trade, exploring innovative ways to attract industries to the country that would become the backbones of proud and prosperous communities.

People in Britian have lost faith, not just in politics, but in their own country.

While so mnay people are clamouring to get in, more and more of us are becoming disenfranchised by remote governance from Brussels and self-intersted polticians in Westminster.

We pledge to put country before party.

We pledge to put the UK before Europe.

We pledge to put you first.

Think you. Think UK. Think UKIP.