Without – I hope – tempting fate, is this day, the day that Nigel and UKIP take their first confident steps on the path to Government ?
It seems likely – without making oneself a hostage to fortune – that UKIP will sweep the board at Rochester. An emphatic win might well result in a trickle of Tory defectors to the UKIP machine. That trickle could become a stream, resulting in a seismic shift in British politics.
Almost too delicious to contemplate ! Can you imagine the gnashing of left wing teeth ? The first step in releasing our country from EU serfdom.
By: Bruce - 15th April 2015 at 20:53
Works ok from my iPad John. Does take a while though. Perhaps the site is busy.
By: John Green - 15th April 2015 at 19:08
I still can’t open the link you posted.
By: Bruce - 15th April 2015 at 15:23
To be fair, the UKIP manifesto is the best thing I have seen from them – well produced, but ultimately quite self effacing, as it accepts in many parts that they wont win, and is actually a manifesto of ‘How we will conduct ourselves during coalition talks’. Bit of a shame that after they went to all the trouble of having their costings ‘approved’.
I still haven’t looked at the LibDem one, but I am struck by how dull the Labour offer is – much the same as it was last time. They need some better writers. There are a lot of credible, and indeed creditable policies in there – they are just put across so badly.
I found things with which to agree in all of them (so far), but they haven’t really changed my mind!
Bruce
By: John Green - 15th April 2015 at 14:40
Unfortunate that the UKIP spokesman put up for the Radio 4 lunchtime newsfest had exactly the sort of voice that you’d expect of a UKIP spokesman, or alternatively a chap from Dorking who keeps all his socks neatly sorted in colour order.
Moggy
Are you some kind of student Philistine ? Nothing wrong with a tidy sock drawer!
By: charliehunt - 15th April 2015 at 14:35
Bruce – I have to admire your sense of belief and optimism. Mind you all the smaller parties can afford to sound aspirational!
I reckon that when it comes to ticking boxes on the 7th the majority will tick the box which they believe will most improve their lot. Just as they always have.
By: Moggy C - 15th April 2015 at 14:08
Unfortunate that the UKIP spokesman put up for the Radio 4 lunchtime newsfest had exactly the sort of voice that you’d expect of a UKIP spokesman, or alternatively a chap from Dorking who keeps all his socks neatly sorted in colour order.
Moggy
By: Moggy C - 15th April 2015 at 14:07
Unfortunate that the UKIP spokesman put uf to the Radio 4 lunchtime newsfest had exactly the sort of voice that you’d expect of a UKIP spokesman, or a chap from Dorking that keeps all his socks neatly sorted in colour order.
Moggy
By: Bruce - 15th April 2015 at 13:41
All of that may be so – but they do represent an aspiration of how they view the future of the country.
I have yet to read todays two, so it is too early to form an overall view. I have been impressed by parts of the three I have read so far, although the Green one IMHO, brings idealism to a whole new level. Still, it is important to get the ideas out there, as no doubt some of them will inform the larger parties in due course.
So, the last one which is of relevance to voters in England is in:
UKIP manifesto:
Bruce
By: charliehunt - 15th April 2015 at 10:55
To my mind the manifestos are an irrelevance. They are issued to attract as many voters as they can but the likelihood of any of the commitments having to be adhered to is remote. Only two parties have any chance of a majority and if as seems likely neither will achieve that, then a coalition of some sort, informal or formal will result, in which case manifestos will be cherry picked to enable policies to be enacted. None of the parties, other than Tory or Labour needs to worry about their manifestos being held to account because they will not be in a position to implement them.
By: John Green - 15th April 2015 at 10:50
Keep drinking the Koolaid, John.
You’ve obviously tried it – has it worked for you ?
By: Bruce - 15th April 2015 at 10:40
As the other two manifesto’s that directly affect the UK are out today, I will add the links here.
First, at 158 pages (!!) The Lib Dem creed:
UKIP to follow when it is published later.
By: Meddle - 15th April 2015 at 09:53
Keep drinking the Koolaid, John.
By: John Green - 14th April 2015 at 13:59
..”not a two page sheet of commitments…”
Two thoughts for you: Eighty pages or just two, what matters, as you’ve rightly commented is ‘commitment’. That is what a manifesto is; a promise to do certain things.
I believe that most people as well as not being able to properly read and write, have the attention span of an inebriated gnat. So, eighty pages could be somewhat overkill.
So far as UKIP are concerned, if they do issue a beefed up variety of manifesto I’m sure that it will contain the seventeen or so pledges made in the two page variety. We’ll see.
By: Bruce - 14th April 2015 at 12:56
On the subject of manifesto’s, three are now readily available as follows:
Green:
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/manifesto/Green_Party_2015_General_Election_Manifesto.pdf
Labour:
http://b.3cdn.net/labouruk/e1d45da42456423b8c_vwm6brbvb.pdf
Conservative:
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/manifesto2015/ConservativeManifesto2015.pdf
At 80+ detailed pages each, those John are Manifestos, not a two page sheet of commitments.
I still look forward to reading UKIP’s effort in due course, as I also do for the LibDem effort.
By: Bruce - 8th April 2015 at 14:19
Indeed we are. I reiterate, no party has yet produced a formal manifesto. It is suggested elsewhere, that UKIP will wait until 2 weeks before the date of the vote.
There is a huge amount of flannel on social media, claiming that this party will bring back hunting with dogs, or destroy the NHS and so on, all apparently based on published doctrine.
Lets wait and see.
Bruce
By: John Green - 8th April 2015 at 12:02
I wonder if we are working, not so much from the same hymn sheet, as using the same calendar !
We are surely in election time.
I am aware that parties publish as late as possible so that others cannot steal their thunder.
Let us see what other policy statements (manifesto) are made by UKIP and compare the existing with the new.
By: Bruce - 8th April 2015 at 11:47
Bruce,
This is not a ‘trick’ question. It is genuine.
Sorry John, I didn’t see it first time around.
Quite simply, the manifesto is the document produced at the time of the election, that says ‘Manifesto’ on the front cover.
Until that is published, all else is guesswork.
Parties are deliberately publishing them quite late, in order to make sure that ideas are not copied by others. As of today, there is no formal manifesto for any of the main parties.
I am sure that you will see a statement on defence when the UKIP document is published.
By: AlanR - 8th April 2015 at 11:19
Yes… because the people the radio and TV stations choose are carefully hand picked, or to put it specifically, the positive ones are largely ignored and the negative ones are favoured to be aired. No biased opinions there… Yeah… Sure…
There is always that possibility, but the station I listen to on the radio is one the first to try and rubbish UKIP.
By: John Green - 8th April 2015 at 10:04
Bruce,
Perhaps you would explain to me the salient differences between my understanding of the content of a political manifesto and yours ?
Bruce,
This is not a ‘trick’ question. It is genuine.
By: John Green - 8th April 2015 at 10:02
Re 702
EElightning
I very much like this comment. Its usefulness lies in providing more evidence of how a party is viewed by the people who use social media. I’m not particularly internet savvy so, had overlooked this ready means of contributing to the pool of opinion.
It has of course, nothing at all to do with what appears to be the ascending popularity of UKIP.
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November 20, 2014 at 11:51 am