UKIP manifesto

I recommend that all should read the UKIP manifesto – I recommend that none should vote for them.

The UKIP manifesto has a section on protecting the environment which meets, head on, the belief of many of us that Brexit will almost certainly be bad for the UK environment by saying ‘Brexit will not put our countryside, our marine environment, or our wildlife at risk. The idea that our membership of the EU has been only good for our environment is quite simply false. In some ways we have benefited, but in others our natural environment has suffered as a consequence of EU policy.‘.

It also says ‘The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy has damaged our countryside. The Common Fisheries Policy has devastated fish stocks around our coastline. The way the EU – and our government –  embraced diesel proved to be disastrous, even fatal.‘

Stuart Agnew, agriculture spokesman, says ‘Brexit offers us the chance to restore our seas, rivers, coasts, farmland, and uplands, and address the catastrophic collapse in quality habitat and wildlife species in our country, and the loss of the specialist craft trades and skills we need to manage them‘

Like the Conservative manifesto, UKIP do not promise to keep existing EU environmental protection after Brexit but nor do they say what they will change. This is a big issue for me.  This is what their environment spokeswoman and MEP, Dr Julia Reid, says ‘After Britain leaves the European Union, UKIP will review all EU environment legislation. We will review all current EU environmental rules, keeping those which have enhanced our environment, such as improving the cleanliness of our seas and beaches, and amend or repeal legislation which can be shown to have had a detrimental effect‘. That’s not reassuring enough for me.

Here are my thoughts on likes and gripes (restricted to the environmental issues).  Some of the policies are repeats from the 2015 manifesto – these are highlighted here in purple (and we all believe in recycling).:

Good things:

• ‘End the obscenity of discards and make best use of all fish caught‘
• ‘Introduce a time-limited, paid licence fee option for selected foreign vessels to fish within the UK’s territorial waters, while the UK fishing industry re-establishes itself‘ – quite clever, but may not be legal as other nations may have established historical rights to fish.
• ‘UKIP will promote evidence-based environmental schemes, and safeguard protection for Britain’s wildlife, nature reserves, areas of outstanding natural beauty, countryside, and coastlines in a new Environmental Protection Act, prioritising policies to protect our precious countryside for future generations‘ – can’t argue with that but it would be good to know a bit more wouldn’t it?
• ‘Current legislation does not go far enough in protecting natural woodland habitats. We will amend the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to give ancient woodlands ‘wholly exceptional’ status, putting them on a par with listed buildings, registered parks and gardens, and World Heritage Sites‘ – dead wood protected by UKIP promise!
• ‘Prioritise brownfield rather than greenfield or agricultural land for new housing‘.
• ‘Support farming and wildlife though grant schemes prioritising the preservation of natural habitats‘ – sounds good but very vague.
• ‘Match fund grants made by local authorities for rural capital projects which enhance the local environment or help recovery from environmental disasters‘
• ‘Protect dolphins by banning the use of pair trawling for sea bass‘
• ‘UKIP will amend planning legislation to promote inclusion of trees and open space into new developments.‘
• ‘We will investigate the practicality of introducing a deposit scheme on plastic drinks bottles to encourage recycling‘
• ‘UKIP’s Single Farm Payment will be more ethical [than the current EU version]. It will end EU discrimination in favour of larger, intensive farms, and support smaller enterprises. Subsidies will be capped at £120,000 per year and, to make sure payments reach farmers, not just wealthy landowners, we will pay only those who actually farm the land‘ – I would vote for that, but you won’t see much support from many land-owning NGOs.
• ‘Anti-Microbial Resistance is a problem for society as a whole. UKIP will consider transferring some support to those livestock producers who commit to farming without antibiotics.’
• ‘To qualify for subsidies, land must be used for genuine agricultural purposes and meet Entry Level Stewardship conditions (2013 rules), meaning it must be managed to certain environmental standards. Organic farms will be paid 25 per cent more, and additional support will be given to hill farmers. There will be no set-aside, cropping or rotation restrictions.’
• ‘Ban the export of animals for fattening and slaughter’
• ‘Tightly regulate animal testing, and continually challenge companies concerned regarding its necessity’
• ‘Install CCTV in every abattoir and deal severely with any animal welfare contraventions’
• ‘Triple the maximum jail sentences for animal cruelty’
• ‘Impose lifetime bans on owning and/or looking after animals on any individual or company convicted of animal cruelty’
• ‘Keep the ban on animal testing for cosmetics.‘
• ‘UKIP will invest in shale gas exploration. If ‘fracking’ is viable in Britain, we will have tapped into a source of energy that is cost-effective and delivers domestic fuel security and stability‘ – big ‘if’!!  And needs to encompass ‘safe for the environment and people’ in viable,  on which I have some doubts, but otherwise, unpopular though it is, I agree.

Bad things:

• ‘UKIP will repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act‘
• ‘Offer local referenda to overturn unpopular development approvals‘ – sounds good but would this not lead to chaos? Probably aimed at windfarms.
• ‘UKIP will continue to make available to the agriculture sector funds that would normally be paid to them via Brussels. We will introduce a UK Single Farm Payment (SFP) that operates in a similar way to the present EU system‘
• ‘Remove taxpayer-funded subsidies from unprofitable wind and solar schemes as soon as contractual arrangements expire‘
• ‘Launch an inclusive, collaborative consultation with the fishing community to draft a new Fisheries Bill‘ – and will poachers be re-writing the Game Act? This looks like pandering.

Overall assessment: D.  I will never vote UKIP for reasons largely unconnected with the environment but there is quite a lot of good stuff in here which we have to take at face value (as with other political parties with few MPs and no track record of government).  There are signs of fresher thinking than in some other party manifestos – a certain independence of view – and it goes further than others in spelling out how farming payments might look after Brexit.  However, that’s about as nice as I can be about it.  It’s a pig in a poke dressed up with some pretty and attractive flowers.  The commitment to repeal the Climate Change Act and the lack of commitment to existing environmental protection measures means that this manifesto would be an environmental disaster if enacted. It is nowhere near as good as those of the Greens, LibDems or Labour, but it is actually just a shade better than the Tory manifesto.