Ukip manifesto 2017: Paul Nuttall's key policies

The Week unpicks Ukip's main pledges and spending proposals for the general election

Paul Nuttall, UKIP manifesto
Paul Nuttall announces Ukip's manifesto for the general election
(Image credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images)

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall launched his party's manifesto with a flagship pledge to introduce a "one in, one out" immigration policy.

"We've got a population problem in this country," he said.

Ukip was the first political party to resume political campaigning following the Manchester terror attack, with Labour, the Lib Dems and the Conservatives announcing they would not be campaigning until Friday.

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Nuttall defended the party's decision saying: "We took the decision that the best way to show these people they will be beaten and they will not win is to get back into the saddle and launch our manifesto.

"The one thing they hate more than anything is our democracy and the democratic process should continue," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Key policies in the manifesto include reducing net migration to zero within five years and a ban on wearing face coverings in public places.

Here's what Ukip promise:

Economy

The party wants the country to become a "low tax, low regulation economy". Rail project HS2 will be scrapped and expenditure of foreign aid will be reduced to 0.2 per cent of GDP. Ending UK contributions to the EU will save £35billion a year by the end of the next parliament, the party estimates. This means "no tax increases are needed to fund our manifesto plans".

Tax

The personal tax allowance threshold for paying income tax will rise to £13,500 while there will also be a tax cut for middle income earners with the 40 per cent income tax threshold rising to £55,000. The party will also cut VAT on household bills. The manifesto aspires to remove inheritance tax completely.

Business and employment

Employers will have to advertise vacancies to British individuals before they open positions up to foreign applicants. Business rates will be cut by 20 per cent for businesses operating from premises with a rateable value of less than £50,000.

Families

The party will implement a screening programme for girls identified to be at risk of FGM from birth to age sixteen, consisting of annual non-invasive physical check-ups. There will be a ban on the wearing of the "dehumanising" burka and any other full face coverings in public places as it "prevents the intake of essential vitamin D from sunlight", the party claims. The primary school day will be extended with schools offering wrap-around childcare from 8am to 6pm during term time.

Housing

A Housing Development Corporation (HDC) will be established to acquire primarily brownfield sites in order to provide up to 100,000 new homes for young people every year. The party will also use all revenue raised from Right to Buy sales to boost community housing and change the law to allow mortgages to become inheritable.

Healthcare

The party has pledged an extra £11bn for the NHS and adult social care budgets by the end of next parliament that would be funded by an £11bn reduction in foreign aid spending. They will increase spending on mental health services by at least £500mn every year. The party will raise the cap on medical school training places from 7,500 to 10,000 and estimate this will provide 10,000 additional GPs by 2025. Only British citizens or foreign nationals who have paid UK taxes for at least five consecutive years will be eligible for free non-urgent NHS care. Ukip will guarantee the right to remain for 167,000 EU nationals who work in the NHS.

Education

Sex education will no longer be provided in primary schools and there will be a moratorium on new Islamic faith schools. The manifesto promises to scrap tuition fees for STEM subjects, which are science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine. A grammar school will be opened in every town.

Brexit and immigration

The EU flag will be banned from public buildings. The party will introduce a "one in, one out" system of immigration with the aim of reducing net migration to zero over a five-year period. A Ukip government would not pay a divorce bill regardless of the result of Brexit negotiations and would name 23 June as Independence Day (this would be granted bank holiday status in the UK). A moratorium would be placed on unskilled and low-skilled immigration for five years after the UK leaves the EU. A "social attitudes" test would be introduced as part of a points-based immigration system, which the party says "would stop people who believe women or gay people are 'second-class citizens' from entering the country". The party would also "return the colour of the British passport to blue".

Security and defence

The party will fund the employment of 20,000 more police officers, 7,000 more prison officers, and 4,000 more border force staff. Ukip will commit to spending two per cent of GDP on defence and the ministry's budget will be given an extra £1m per year. It would keep Trident.

Benefits and pensions

Ukip pledges to maintain the triple lock on pensions which sees them rise by whichever is the higher value: inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent. The state pension age would be flexible – those who wish to retire at an earlier age would have a reduced pension.

Government

The party would abolish the House of Lords and close the Department for International Development. First past the post would be replaced with an unspecified proportional electoral system.

Extras

Any UK national who goes to fight for Islamic State would have to forfeit their passport and would not be allowed to return. Ukip would repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act and withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement.

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