I have done three previous posts so far in this series. The first was about why the elections matter. The second was a detailed look at voter turnout. The third was all about the different parties and alliances. The next few posts look at the manifestos of the major UK parties.
It goes without saying that one of the most prominent parties in the upcoming 2014 European elections is UKIP, with it’s charismatic and controversial leader, Nigel Farage. Lets not forget that, at one time, he was a Conservative. However, both him and his party have gone in a significantly different direction, which favours withdrawal from the European Economic Area, various pieces of legislation and the European Union as a whole. Whilst he is not against the original idea of the EU, he (and UKIP) feel that it has grown into something else that is harming our country in a number of ways.
In the European Parliament, the UKIP MEPs (including Farage), are members of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) Alliance. The alliance has 35 MEPs and Farage is a joint Chair. Many people and groups feel that the likes of UKIP will increase their numbers after the upcoming vote, which means they will have more influence and be able to progress with their agenda. As I noted in a previous post, it’s important to participate and if you agree with them, vote for them. If you feel someone else can do a better job, then choose someone else. Don’t be apathetic.
The look/design of the document
First of all, here’s a link to the manifesto.
Ok, so there’s not a lot to go on. The Conservative manifesto document is 74 pages and the UKIP one is 6. Yes, 6. It seems that the number of pages is directly proportional to their level of willingness to be involved in Europe.
However, one page is the cover. One is a big picture of a smiling Nigel Farage. One is a picture of a young (and female) supporter saying why she will vote for them. From a marketing perspective, the second picture shows that UKIP isn’t necessarily just the party of old men – which is a common perception. If they are interested in including plenty of pictures though, why didn’t they include one of an MEP or another party member. I think it will be important for UKIP going forward to show people that the party is more than just Nigel Farage and the occasional offensive local Councillor.
Anyway, taking the above into account, I am sure you can work out that it means there’s only three page of actual content. That content is mostly criticism and the actions mainly revolve around withdrawal and why this is good.
There’s plenty of bullet points, subheadings and short sentences. There’s not an awful lot of sources mentioned either. I would say it is closer to a campaign leaflet at a general election than a comprehensive document about their approach to a massively important and influential institution.
Attendance
Page 3 of the document (if you include the cover) is the first with actual content and you will find the following:
“In the meantime, your UKIP MEPs will continue to go to Brussels and Strasbourg with a mission unlike that of any other party”
I found that statement interesting. The following is from a Financial Times article published in February:
“Public figures analysed by the FT show that Mr Farage attended only one of 42 meetings of the fisheries committee on which he sat for three years. Paul Nuttall, his deputy, attended two out of 56 environment committee meetings.”
The article goes on to note that UKIP MEPs typically miss a third of the votes. It isn’t just this year either. In a Daily Express article from 2013, it’s noted that Farage has the fifth worse attendance record of 752 MEPs. This Independent article from 2012 mentions the fact that Farage has missed 447 votes in three years. Paul Nutall missed even more (456).
All you have to do is go on Youtube and you will find a number of pieces of evidence that shows Farage is there – sometimes. However, the quote from the manifesto implies that UKIP MEPs are regular attendees. It’s classic marketing spin.
Here’s another piece from page 3 of the manifesto:
“All UKIP MEPs, though, have one over riding goal: to make ourselves redundant, by getting Britain out, and returning to the UK the power to govern ourselves”
Aside from the questionable use of punctuation, this statement shows that turkeys are wanting to vote for Christmas. It seems this is more important to them than working from within the system to deliver real reform and create something that is better for all. However, it has to be mentioned the MEPs from the UK are supposed to be their to represent the interests of those who elect them.
Business
From page 3:
“It’s our 4.8 million smaller businesses that suffer from the burden of EU laws and regulation”
That statistic is actually 4.9 million. I found it on the Federation of Small Businesses statistics page and it’s confirmed in this government document. They do not compile information about trading with the EU.
Aside from the statistic, you have to question whether they are all suffering from the regulation. If you look at the 2012 Small Business Survey, business leaders stated what the believed to be obstacles to success. The economy and taxation were at the top with 38% and 12% respectively. Regulation is ranked 5th out of 6 obstacles with 8%. This is only up by 1% from 2010. At no point in the report is there a mention of whether the regulation is related to the UK or Europe. In section 8 of the survey report, ‘Health and Safety’ and ‘Taxation’ are listed as the main, specific, regulatory problems. Once again, there is no mention whether it’s EU or domestic. 4768 small businesses were surveyed in 2012.
The manifesto also states that only 5% of businesses trade with the EU. Is this SMEs or all businesses? Is it based on a survey? If so, how big is the sample? I found that this ‘5%’ statistic comes from a Business for Britain report called ‘The British Option‘. BfB conducted research that found two thirds of business leaders supported an EU referendum and 46% say the costs of the EU Single Market outweigh the benefits. However, it’s important to note that this was a survey of 1,024 business leaders. The Small Business Survey has a greater sample size and was conducted over several years. There is also nothing in the evidence on the site (or in the report) that says whether the businesses surveyed were small, large, or a mixture. As the the aforementioned 5% stat, there is nothing that states whether this comes from the survey of 1,024 people, or whether it’s from something else.
Leaving the EU won’t necessarily put an end to free trade. Farage has stated in the past that the UK would set up it’s own agreements that benefit the UK. Some companies may leave the country due to lack of EU integration, but that’s not guaranteed. It’s extra paperwork though and there’s unknown expenses.
I successfully contacted Business for Britain and they said they would get back to me with a response about the statistic, but they have failed to do so at the time of typing.
Immigration
“Outside the EU, we can manage our borders and decide who we want to come and live and work in the UK. EU rules stop us from doing this”
Not necessarily.
What would the number of people be? How would you decide who is eligible? These are important questions that should be answered in a manifesto.
Eurostat shows that many countries who are more deeply integrated into the EU (e.g. those in the Schengen Area – a borderless zone which we have an opt-out from) have lower immigration numbers year on year.Some of the countries are bigger in terms of geography, population, GDP or a combination. It is true that being part of the European Economic Area means that there is a certain amount of freedom of movement and that doesn’t necessarily help immigration numbers. However, we are not part of Schengen and have greater border controls as a result.
We also have a higher number of people refused entry, according to Eurostat (there are a greater number of attempts though). Most are sent back and immigration in 2012 was lower than the four previous years.
The biggest problem isn’t necessarily EU regulation. You could blame weak border controls/enforcement.
Whilst the numbers of immigrants in Britain has increased over the years, there can be steps taken to reduce numbers without withdrawing from the EU. There are also many immigrants who work hard and contribute to the country. Whilst Farage has stated that in the past, I don’t feel it’s mentioned in the manifesto and it should be.
The environment
There are two important quotes from page 4. First, there’s this:
“The 2008 Climate Change Act costs an estimated £18bn per year – that’s more than £500 for every household in the UK. We will scrap this act.”
The EU is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and the Climate Change Act is a UK law. The Act was introduced to show that the UK was willing to take more of a leadership role in this area. Withdrawal from the EU would mean that the country is no longer compelled to have formal legislation. However, this could be seen as anti-environment. With that in mind, you have to look at polling information to see how much people care about the environment. According to this, 56% of those surveyed think that climate change is caused by human activity. This UK ERC article shows that not everyone is open to the idea of creating new nuclear power plants to tackle climate change and this Ipsos-Mori poll shows that Labour, Conservatives and the Lib Dems all have the environment as an important issue and get the support of people as a result.
Then, there’s this:
“The EU Large Combustion Plant Directive will shut many vital oil and coal-fired power stations in 2015. OFGEM warns that plant closures could cause blackouts.”
Some plants opted out and shut down after being given extra time. You have to wonder why they don’t try to comply with emissions values? Perhaps it’s a case of too much expense. The closure of plants or possible reduction in power could cause problems, but it is not necessarily guaranteed to cause blackouts. Ofgem was critical of revised estimates from the National Grid and that criticism is likely to be what influenced UKIP in this area. However, this article shows that although Ofgem feel the risk has increased, it doesn’t believe actual blackouts will happen. What is true is that there’s not enough construction of alternative energy plants or nuclear power stations, although it has increased over the years. What’s the main problem – the directive or lack of investment from the UK government?
It seems that UKIP doesn’t care too much for the environment.
Other policies
Page 6 is the only place where you see content that doesn’t just focus on business, immigration and the environment. It goes over various policies, but the text for each one is very brief. It doesn’t necessarily do a good job of convincing the people to vote for them. It does hover show (or attempt to show) that UKIP isn’t just about immigration.
Some of these policies include calling for an end to what many call ‘health tourism’ and campaigning to prevent votes for prisoners (something put forward by the European Court of Human Rights). On these two issues, I actually agree with UKIP. The party wants visitors to show evidence of health insurance as a condition of entry. I see no massive problem with this, although I am always open to debate and new evidence. If you disagree with their policy, then leave a comment. The policy about prisoner voting has cross-party appeal. When you’re in prison, you should have certain privileges removed. It is a punishment. Article 21 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that everyone has the right to vote, but it says nothing about whether you should still be able to do it if you commit a crime.
Finally…
It’s interesting that many of the policies that are more likely to have more widespread appeal are covered by brief statements at the end of the document. However, this manifesto is clearly designed to highlight the areas that UKIP want to focus on. It is far too short though and doesn’t do enough of a job of inspiring confidence. It doesn’t show what UKIP have done in Europe so far. It misses out important details and doesn’t actually give you any details about current or potential UKIP MEPs. It is clear that they don’t particularly care for the environment and feel that many of the country’s problems can be solved by just withdrawing from the EU.
The UKIP manifesto states that being a member of the EU costs us £55m a day. This is wrong. For the accurate UK contribution figures, please see my first post in this series. In addition, you will see from this article that the net contribution for 2013 was £8.6bn (Treasury figures). This works out as £23,561,643 per day.
My next post about these elections will cover another manifesto, but it won’t necessarily be the post right after this one. Watch this space.
So, what do you think?