“UKIP want to leave the EU dummie,” you may say. Well yes,
this is a glaring difference in UKIP’s party ethos. However, this difference if
anything, could help in highlighting Labour’s and indeed the political establishments
(as the ‘Kippers’ like to say,) inequitable approach to immigration policy. As
it currently stands and as Peter Hitchin pointed out some weeks ago on the BBC’s
Question Time programme, EU migrants are treated under a completely separate legal
system as to those from farther jurisdictions. Non-EU migrants are considered
under EU law as EU citizens which is fantastic for them. However, due to high
levels of immigration the last coalition government effected policies which
have led to a silly mess. Non-EU spouses require an annual income of over £18,600
before they can be with their partners and cuts to the student visa scheme has
probably inadvertently affected productivity and helped build our skills deficit.
It must be stated that Non-EU Immigration has actually quite significantly by
52,000 in 2014 but this is ‘by the by’ when looking at the polls on voter
concerns. If UKIP’s prospective candidates bang the drum on this ethical discrepancy
in Labour immigration policy, it will no doubt resonate with voters.
Labour want also to tackle inequalities in the unskilled work
force by, and I quote, ‘Making it illegal for
employers to undercut British workers.’ Isn’t that that what UKIP want, in a round about
way through their supposed points based system? Now I am not making a judgement
about whether either policy is legitimate. I have barely examined where the
money is coming from. However I think that the differences in policy on
immigration between the Labour Party and UKIP are slim. It is more a question
of perception, voter perception, and UKIP have been nudged by all parties into
the role of the ‘Nasty Party 2.0’
With
ill-advised comments on benefit tourism, HIV, ‘Bongo Bongo Land,’ and ‘half
blacks,’ it’s no surprise everyone went to town on UKIP for being the ‘Racist Party.’
However, fundamentally on the question of immigration policy I would say their
comments have been rather less ‘off colour,’ than those of Labour’s immigration
spokesperson Yvette Cooper, as she stumbled yesterday over the question of
taking in asylum seekers from the Mediterranean. In short Labour don’t want
them here. Nigel Farage may distinctly lack eloquence when he speaks his mind
but is he really any different from any other senior politician, they are all
quite good at gaffs