It’s now getting to the time where we are all needed to talk about UKIP and UKIP policies wherever we are: in the streets on action days, but also on the doorsteps, in the pubs, in the shops, in the post offices.
We’ve heard often enough that UKIP is anti-immigration and only wants us out of the EU, but has no other policies. It’s up to us to show that this is wrong.
We don’t need a university education in public speaking to do this – all we need is taking one issue, mention it in passing and ask ‘did you know what UKIP wants to do about this?’ Believe me, it works!
So here’s an example which is close to my heart: our Armed Forces and the way the Military covenant – that is, government being obliged to look after our veterans – has been broken by this and the previous governments.
Since there are already hints that there will be more reductions in our Armed Forces should Cameron win, we can ask, can we not, what is going to happen to all those who will be thrown out on their ear?
Mike Hookem has laid out some great proposals at Conference in September, which you can read here. That will give you some ideas, but the man point, to keep it short and simple, is the proposal to give all who have served for 12 years or more jobs in the Police and Border forces.
You may have heard of Rotherham in the last few days, and you may have heard of how the South Yorkshire Police was involved in not investigating properly, for more than ten years, and how some of these officers even did worse.
You may have heard about Nigel Farage being stuck in Jane Collins’ election shop in Rotherham by “demonstrators”, because the same South Yorkshire Police didn’t do their duty Your neighbours, people in the street may also have heard of this. So what can be done? Can something be done? We can ask, and talk about this.
This is where one of Mike Hookem’s proposals comes into play: giving jobs in the police in preference to those who have served our country in the Armed forces for 12 years and more. Why would this work? Because these men and women have a personal authority which is lacking in our police forces today. I don’t mean the wielding of batons – it’s about how they project authority.
Here’s a personal example – you can laugh and titter, I did so myself: in the gym I had newly joined, one of the trainers who checks out that I don’t do anything stupid, was showing me round, and then told me to get changed. When I was too slow off the mark he said in a loud voice – there’s the door (to the changing rooms). I was through that door like a bat out of hell! No thinking on my part, just plain action.
Sadly it was the wrong door, so we creased up laughing. The point is though that he, a former corporal, knew how to get eejits like me to do what was needed, just using his voice, not even shouting.
Now how would you, how would your neighbours, or the bloke in the pub who is cross about those UAF ‘demonstrators’ messing around, like to have people like that in the police? People who don’t need to threaten verbally but who get people to obey just like that?
That’s what UKIP offers in one of the policy points laid out by Mike Hookem: offer jobs to those who have left the Armed Forces, for example through redundancies (or ‘austerity cuts’). They have learned to get the job done with no fuss, to get eejits to behave, no sweat.
It’s a win-win: our former soldiers get jobs, and our safety is in better hands. What’s not to like!
That’s an example of what we can talk about, in the streets, on the doorsteps … and did you notice this: immigration and the EU weren’t mentioned at all!
Photo by lovestruck. 
“and did you notice this: immigration and the EU weren`t mentioned at all”
Keeping our powder dry?
For goodness sake we still are the United Kingdom Independence Party, when I last looked – we are not a party of protest, we are the only party guaranteed to right the wrongs this country is suffering under the rule of these mountainbacks who RULE us through our cipher of a parliament.
If you want to open a subject, here`s one approach.
Immigration – do you realise this country is full up and the majority of our services are strained to breaking point.
Do you think it is equitable that Jobs are not primarily for British Workers? Do you think it is fair that British citizens should wait years for council houses when immigrants seem to get them with very little effort IMMEDIATELY? etc.etc.
For god`s sake when are we going to start winning this election?
Its`s the only referendum we are Guaranteed to get and it is our last chance to prevent our absorption into the
Union of Socialist Totalitarian Republics of Europe (USTRE for short)
I understand your anger because I share it, but there’s a risk that uncommitted voters may tune out if they ONLY hear about the EU/immigration problems too many times. There are other policies to talk about and if we don’t, UKIP is spuriously attacked for not having any. Like today for instance on BBC News just before they broadcast Nigel Farage’s speech live from Castle Point, Essex at about 11.40am. The on-scene reporter said, “Well, we hear that the UKIP leader’s speech will be heavy on rhetoric and light on policies.”
Oh, yeah? – you heard that from whom? was my reaction. Not content with telling us what Nigel’s speech would be like before he had even begun it, this reporter repeated the SAME WORDS as above within seconds. He might have got it in a third time for all I know, but I had turned over in disgust to Sky TV to watch the speech on there. Sky managed to miss the beginning of Nigel’s speech, but at least they didn’t pre-empt it with their own evaluation. However, they cut it off after about 5 minutes, so I switched back to BBC. The Beeb continued a while longer, until Nigel started talking about actual policies, then – you’ve guessed it – they whisked it off the air. The main newscaster, a woman, said “That was Nigel Farage in Essex in a speech that was HEAVY ON RHETORIC AND LIGHT ON POLICIES.” (my caps) I began to look for the tell-tale signs of pre-programmed robots on the BBC News – odd tics and jerks and strange lit-up eye blinks. I saw only the jerks.
My point is that if UKIP supporters don’t talk about other policies, they’re not likely to be heard by the voters via mass media.