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11 Apr, 2007

UKIP in libertarian clothing

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Nearly all the papers cover the launch of the UKIP local election manifesto yesterday. The Guardian is typical - "UKIP trebles candidates for local elections".

That report is one of the few that also covers UKIP's policy review. At the launch, UKIP leader, Nigel Farage sought to present his party as “a libertarian band of bureaucracy-busters that would slash council tax, put power back in the hands of local leaders and give people more control over their lives." The Guardian

In part, this is about Farage’s attempt to shed UKIP 's image as that of a single issue party.  However, the party’s constitution, website and the majority of its policies serve only to strengthen its single-issue credentials.  The constitution is quite clear:

"The principal aim of the Party is that the United Kingdom (" UK ") shall again be governed by laws made to suit its own needs by its own Parliament, which must be directly and solely accountable to the electorate of the UK ." UKIP Constitution

Perhaps Farage, like Cameron and Blair before him, will seek a 'Clause 4 moment' of his own to convince us that he really does want to break with the single issue past.  Whether he could carry his party with him is another matter, not least because, by developing a 'full range of domestic and foreign policies' UKIP will look dangerously like the thing it is campaigning against: all the other parties.

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