The former Prime Minister, Sir John Major has recently launched an attack on UKIP, by calling us "profoundly un-British in every way". This is rich from a man that signed the Maastricht treaty, thus gave away many British powers to an unelected European Union and tried to get us into the Euro. He also ranted that UKIP are "anti-politics, anti-foreigner, anti-immigrant, anti-aid" and "I don't know what they are for".
Let's set this straight once and for all, Sir John, this is what we are for.
We believe in freedom, democracy and a sovereign nation. We don't want to be ruled by unaccountable and un-democratic foreign institutions where we have no control and little influence on proceedings, a place where we can't even initiate legislation. We believe in the very British principle of an elected government, as first enunciated by John Wycliffe 'of the people, for the people, by the people'. Something you clearly no longer believe in any more, Mr Major.
We are for free trade with the whole of the world, not over regulated trade with the protectionist, restricted and out dated single market, in an uncompetitive Euro-zone, shrinking year on year.
He calls us "Anti-foreigner" when it was his party who sent vans around London saying 'illegals go home', and his party perpetuates discriminatory immigration rules which favour EU Citizens, over non EU citizens. When in fact our party is the only party promoting engagement with the whole world, with a policy that treats all immigrants fairly and equally, in visa based system. He clearly has not examined our party, our MEP's have more ethnic candidates than Labour, Greens and The Liberal Democrats put together. We have Sikh, Muslim and Jewish branch chairmen and hundreds of candidates across the country, whose origins are from Britain, Europe and the rest of the world. To call us this is ignorant and completely untrue but such statements are those of the desperate and unwise. This lie will not wash with voters and they'll see through this, they're not stupid he is.
We're supposedly "Anti-politics", when we're engaging with many people who have never voted before, we stand in elections (and we don't seem to be doing too bad) and we're the only party that promotes democracy, as we want to leave the democracy hating European Union, while wanting local referendums on major issues in the areas. We're pro politics, maybe the establishment parties could learn a thing or two.
He says we're "Anti-Aid". We're happy to provide emergency relief to respond to floods and tsunamis and earthquakes. But we don't feel to need to spend 12 Billion a year on aid, which we provide to organisations like the UN and the EU to distribute as they wish, which is often spent, propping up dictators (or in the case of the EU, using it to persuade Iceland to join the EU). We wish to give targeted aid, not to UN back NGO's but directly to those who need through targeted aid.
"Anti-immigrant" is the line that really got me. I only ever seem to hear this on a regular basis from commentators and politicians like Sir John Major, who are in the majority, white middle class elitists, who believe they have the divine right to pass judgement on what they think is is racist, when they haven't got the faintest clue what real racism is as they have never experience it in their lives. They disgracefully undermine its meaning, by using it freely as a political attack, to save their sorry political skins. UKIP candidates and representatives, like me, Pauline McQueen, Amjad Bashir, Sarinder Duroch and others in our party know what real racism is. This is an insult to individuals who has suffered at the hands of real racial abuse. So Mr Major, if you think I am racist because I support a migration policy based on ability, not ethnicity, based on skills and not nationality, open to the whole world not restricted to the EU based on an open Australian styled points based system then I will debate you, any time, any place, anywhere of your choosing, but I doubt you will, you'll be just like the rest of the political opportunists.