http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7600575.stm

He said the party, which campaigns for Britain’s exit from the EU, had to shift its reputation for negativity and relentless “knocking”.

“We have not been offering good positive alternatives and what I want us to do is to paint a vision of a 21st Century relationship between Britain and our European neighbours.”

In his keynote speech, Mr Farage said: “David Cameron could kill the Lisbon Treaty stone dead.

“All he has to do is say that there will be a referendum on the treaty after the next election”

“This would strengthen the arms of the Polish and Czech presidents in their refusals to ratify Lisbon and make any attempt at a second referendum in Ireland impossible.”

“So if Cameron were as Eurosceptic as he claims, he would do this. He could stand up this afternoon and announce a retrospective referendum.

“So the question has to be, why doesn’t he do this? Is he not as Eurosceptic as he claims?”

UKIP achieved a breakthrough at the most recent European elections, in 2004, when it gained 2.7 million votes, or 16% of the vote, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fourth place.

“We are the party that says we want to trade with Europe, we want to be friendly with Europe, but we insist that we should make our own laws in this country because the best people to govern Britain are the British people themselves.”

He also said the British position on enlargement into Ukraine and Georgia was lunacy and fraught with danger for the entire E.U.

He accepted David Cameron will be the next Prime Minister in saying “Let’s not kid ourselves on this – he will be prime minister”.

___________________________________________________

I think his speech is the most honest in stating its position and I think it gives the most reasonable approach to Europe and for Britain.
I also think it is the least problematic in terms of foreign policy, our democratic deficiencies, the issue of sovereignty, and would satisfy the general feeling in Britain to be one with Europe but not governed by Europe.

I’ll be voting UKIP in the next Euro Elections in 2009, and I’ll be voting UKIP in the General Election unless David Cameron promises a referendum on Europe.

And the middle.

I favour abandoning the term completely and concentrating on selling workable, balanced and productive policies. Adding an ambiguous/meaningless description to a policy merely muddies the waters by encouraging debate about whether “social justice” is being achieved rather than about whether benefits are paid in the correct amount to the correct people, access to universities is available to all who merit a place and so on.

Reply: To me social justice means opportunity for all

1. One of the biggest threats to the economy is militant union action driving up wages. The TUC conference is near. Whilst the brothers (and sisters) themselves are unlikely to pay any heed whatsoever to common sense, it’s just possible that their members may well see reason and be reluctant to follow lemming-like action making the chances of them losing their jobs more likely.

2. If, by some fluke, the economy drags itself out of this imprudent mess in time for the next election – Darling will no doubt claim that of course it was Labour’s virtuoso management that saved us from a new Great Depression!

On the other hand he might be getting his retalliation, for being sacked, in first by effectively quoting the renowned philosopher Stan Laurel – “This is another fine mess you have got me into”.

The past decade’s constant attention to presentation rather than content has undoubtedly been the worst aspect of the Nu Lab regime. It has brought about a total cynicism in the minds of the electorate. That is the legacy of New Labour – an enslaved, impoverished, dejected, cynical and disbelieving nation.

What is needed now is realism, confidence, honour, competence and decency. New Labour has demonstrated at length that it simply cannot offer any of these. Time for it to be ejected from office, never to return.

Reply: Not so – and the leadership today is especially keen on tackling divided Britain

yes but so many backbench MPs fall from the same socio-economic groups, teachers, local govt workers, researchers, lawyers, all groups where it is perfectly possible to return after a 5 year break

one of the problems with politics is that for anyone in a fast paced high tech industry (for instance) a 5 year sabatical in parliament would permanently cripple their career, and therefore we miss a balanced cross section of the indistries that create the nations wealth in the commons

far too many labour MPs will return to schools, and return to Quangos, and return to local govt employment, many more of them should be facing a life on the dole

The lower paid need to be encouraged into self improvement – not dependency . Ronald Reagan was right – lower taxes help to cut poverty rates via more social mobility . Complex egalitarian redistribution just hits the middle classes while trapping the poor in poverty – Labour’s tax credit fiasco proves that beyond dispute .

The Tory response must be that as tax loopholes are closed and as cuts in the kind of public sector waste that John Redwood often highlights take effect tax credits can be phased out and all tax payers can keep the first £14,000 p/a free from income tax .

This would turn the Conservatives into a mass-movement radical one nation Party pledging to cut taxes for everyone in a way that favours the lower paid while giving the coping classes some help.

Labour’s £2.7 billion £120 rebate is rather like the 2p off income tax that Jim Callaghan granted under pressure in 1978 – a timid , grudging gesture that with any luck the Conservatives when in office will do on a bigger scale . Just as Thatcher & Major cut basic rate income tax by 10p to 23p – let us hope that Cameron will raise the basic personal allowance far higher than £6,035.

Lady Thatcher was right to say that the facts of life often turn out to be Tory . Government is too big and those who can least afford it are paying too much tax – the economy would respond very well to fewer QUANGO’s and a bigger basic personal allowance as would the voters !

social justice for me is that someone who has worked every day of their adult life, paying handsomly to the tax pit, should get world class medical attention in their 60s and 70s etc, if the deal was 3rd world health provision then they shouldnt have been taxed so heavily all their lifes and they would have been able to save to fund it themselves

i agree with most of what you say john, but you need to be clear that social justice is not state benefits for wastelands of unemployed who can never escape cos the schools are so crap, rather it is a fighting chance of success for all

I would also say that drastic public spending cuts in 2009-10 are needed to reduce the PSBR by at least £10 billion or £15 billion via an all out attack on government procurement costs , Whitehall consultants , QUANGO’s , the New Deal & civil service recruitment not to mention changes to public sector pensions . This would get the PSBR back down again and should public spending growth in real terms be restricted to just 1% in real terms untill the budget was balanced then interest rates & inflation might fall thus paving the way for an economic recovery . Looking at giving the Bank of England its debt management powers back could boost liquidity while regulatory changes to boost the UK’s capacities in relation to water , transport and energy could boost employment now and provide an infrastructure on which an economic recovery can be built to last . Mortgage & construction industry red tape needs an overhaul to tackle scams and cut costs so we can get the housing market moving . Moving back to the old inflation target of RPI-x would boost confidence as it is more reliable and setting it at 2% would make a recovery last by stopping the price spiral .

Paying private firms to get the jobless into work and merging JSA & IB to discourage economic inactivity might help secure long term cuts in unemployment as might changes to Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit so that they casue the working poor less of a poverty trap while discouraging long term unemployment . Paying private frims to get the jobless into work can be funded by cutting the employment training schemes that largely do not work .

Thanks to coporate tax breaks being ended and greater control of public spending rates of corporation tax could be cut untill a 15% flat rate was in place . Taxing the working poor so that they are trapped in poverty via meanstested credits costs a lot of money to administer while the poor suffer so no credits and a basic personal allowance of £12,000 p/a ( for all taxpayers so the pensioners tax allowances do not over complicate the tax system ) might well boost social mobility and encourage hardwork .

There are both short term measures to help those suffering the most and longer term policies that could if introduced pave the way for economic recovery . Axing CGT , taxing gains as income for the first two years and leaving them tax free after then while axing stamp duty on shares would if funded by speeded up asset sales in 2009-10 help the Square Mile when the UK needs a stronger stockmarket the most . 2009 will be tough alright and fostering enterprise might not a bad move . Any long term revenue loss from this policy could be offset by tighter restraint of public spending in 2010 as thses tax changes would be permenant – but the asset sales used to fund them in 2009-10 would be just temporary .

There is much that government can do to tackle these problems so that the recession is kept to a minimum while a recovery can be speeded up .

Far better, surely, to campaign against general ’social injustice’, such that there will be no post-code lottery over health or education or bin emptying (unless you choose to move to purely local taxation and electoral control of local services).

True social justice must comprise of no unfair penalties for the poor or the beter off – but there will be no happy medium where everybody wins small prizes…