Toby on Tuesday 

'Attack of the Clones'

 

Last week, Parliament was dissolved and the General Election really got going. One late surprise in Thirsk and Malton was the announcement by Philip Tate that he would be standing as an independent candidate opposed to fracking for shale gas. I know him to be a man of complete integrity, passionately committed to the cause for which he is campaigning. Although I believe him to be over-pessimistic about its consequences, in a world of spin and focus groups politics desperately needs candidates driven by their beliefs and not simply by a wish for office. On this basis, the greater the range of candidates standing, the better it will be for our democracy.

The sad truth is that the three old parties, Conservative, LibDem and Labour, have in effect merged into a single entity called ‘the political class’. Over the coming weeks, voters will need a microscope to identify any real difference between their manifestos. All three believe in squandering £50 billion on the unwanted and damaging HS2, to remain in the whole failed EU project with its porous borders, including borders on Syria, Iraq and Iran if the Euromaniacs have their way and Turkey joins the ‘Club’, to enforce an 80% reduction in carbon emissions under the ludicrous Climate Change Act just as our population is heading for 100 million, to dissipate £13 billion a year on Overseas “Aid” and to redefine marriage. All of this will be paid for by dismantling our defences at a time of looming international danger. In essence, all three parties are now interchangeable.

And it is on defence, that essential insurance policy in a troubled world, that their contrast to UKIP becomes all-too clear. As our excellent Defence Spokesman, Mike Hookem MEP, has put it so succinctly, “UKIP are determined to stop the neglect of our troops and increase the UK’s operational capabilities. We also pledge to properly meet our minimum 2 per cent GDP NATO spending commitment and restore the defence budget to pre SDSR 2010 levels. This will mean an extra £3 billion per year being available for defence spending.” Astonishingly, he was supported last week by none other than General Lord Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009, who wrote in the Daily Telegraph, “It is not just the Conservative Party that refuses the 2 per cent GDP commitment but the Labour Party too. Perhaps both parties are mutually comforted by a balance of refusal. Only UKIP takes the contrary view.” It may be stretching the imagination, but it is almost as if the Conservative and Labour parties were planning for a “Grand Coalition” with each other after 7th May just to keep out the Scottish Nationalists – an outlandish idea perhaps, but one which has already been strongly floated by the Conservative’s Ken Baker and Labour’s Gisela Stuart.

And UKIP will also ensure that the latest bizarre ruling that the European Convention on Human Rights should apply to soldiers in foreign war zones never becomes a reality. Our Supreme Court ruled last year that European Human Rights legislation should be available to those fighting British troops, opening up our armed forces to endless prosecutions by our enemies. Already, more than 1,200 public law claims have been filed against the Ministry of Defence over the Iraq War, as well as a further 1,000 private law claims. It beggars belief at a time of increasing global threats that Britain’s fighting power should be threatened in this way, irrespective of the slashing of our defence budget. This is all part of the obsession of the political class with what it calls ‘soft power’, i.e. Overseas Aid etc. While certainly soft, no power accrues from it and instead it makes us the laughing stock of the world, from Moscow to Buenos Aires and Baghdad.

On 7th May there will be a chance to kick out our failed political class. And as to Philip Tate’s anti-fracking campaign, whatever their candidates might say here, all three old parties are committed to shale gas. UKIP’s common sense view is that Third Energy should be allowed to proceed with its trials at Kirby Misperton, with an underground pipeline to Knapton Generating Station. These trials should be closely monitored by an inspection team that would certainly include Mr. Tate, before a final evidence-based decision is made on the security of the technology. Ample time should be allowed before any further development is permitted. But Thirsk and Malton will benefit from Mr. Tate’s intervention, as it will from any candidate who is serious about his or her cause, not merely greedy to have the two letters M and P after their name!

Until next Tuesday!
Toby