ANKARA
Britain’s U.K. Independence Party unveiled its election manifesto on Wednesday, pledging a “low-tax revolution,” tighter controls on immigration and a speedy referendum on EU membership.
Unveiling the manifesto in Thurrock, Essex, party leader Nigel Farage claimed UKIP was the only party which had “self-confidence and belief in the nation.”
Central to the right-wing party’s bid was an 18 billion pound ($26.6 billion) “big tax giveaway” funded by 32 billion pounds in cuts to government spending.
"UKIP has a plan, we genuinely want to make working people better off,” Farage said. “And we will do that by leading the charge and making the argument for a low tax revolution.
"We genuinely want to make work pay and for people to have incentives to do better. And we believe that will unleash a kind of economic dynamism that has not been seen in this country in a long time."
UKIP, which currently holds two parliamentary seats thanks to defections from the ruling Conservatives, would raise the level at which people start paying tax on income to 13,000 pounds to ensure the minimum wage is not taxed; hike the threshold for the higher, 40 percent, tax rate to 55,000 pounds; and introduce a new 30 percent rate.
The party also plans to scrap inheritance tax, whereby people are taxed on the capital they inherit from their family.
Other policies included an extra 3 billion pounds annually for the National Health Service; an end to hospital car parking fees, which is an issue that has provoked public outrage in the country; and a pledge to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense, which is the NATO target.
In a move to show its commitment to Britain’s armed forces, UKIP also pledged to fund 6,000 new police, border agency and prison officer jobs for veterans and said military personnel overseas would not pay income tax.
The cost of these policies, which Farage said had been verified by the independent Centre for Economic and Business Research think tank, would be paid for by 32 billion pounds worth of cuts.
The 12 billion pound foreign aid budget would be slashed by three-quarters while leaving the EU would save the UK 11 billion pounds every year, he said. Scrapping the HS2 rail project and reducing funding for Scotland would save 5.5 billion pounds by the end of the next parliament.
On immigration – widely seen as the issue, along with EU membership, that has propelled UKIP on to the national stage – the party said it would introduce a five-year ban on unskilled immigration and a points-based system for skilled migrants, whose numbers would be capped at 50,000 a year.
These migrants must already have health insurance to access the publicly-funded health service and would be unable to claim benefits unless they had contributed for five years and committed no crimes.
Farage also pledged a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU as soon as possible.
"We want our country back, and then and only then can we actually control our borders," he said.
The center-right Conservative Party, whose voters are seen as the most likely to defect to UKIP in May’s general election, attacked the manifesto’s credibility. “UKIP saying their numbers add up is like Labour saying they’re not going to raise your taxes,” a Conservative spokesman said, referring to the center-left opposition. “We all know that Nigel Farage doesn’t have a credible plan for Britain.”
Senior Labour figure Jon Trickett accused UKIP of being a “party of Tory policies, Tory people and Tory money,” using the synonym for the Conservatives.
He added: “UKIP don’t represent working people - like the Tories they stand up only for a privileged few.”
