Kaz wrote:So why would UKIP be any different? They all promise the moon before they get into power
Well let me try and answer that one for you. It's something which has not been seen in Westminster but has been seen elsewhere.
First, there is no way that Farage will gain a majority of seats in Westminster. In fact he won't even be the largest, or even the second largest.
But.
If enough people think about it, he could come third, well ahead of the Lib dems and just ahead of the SNP.
UKIP is a single issue pressure group party. Yes, everyone, today, has to offer a "full package" of policies in order to be considered as even a protest vote. Is it any wonder they are promising what people want to hear?
However, reality is that they are a pressure group party with a single goal. Exit from the country called the European Union and a move to the trade agreement called the EEA or the European Economic Area.
So first of all, listening to what they are saying is not really the issue. Listening to what they will _force_ others to do is much more what this is about. In my nirvana, UKIP come third and coalition with the Tories to "keep them honest" on immigration and the EU referendum.
However you might want to consider what they are offering. Every word they say is feasible. WM and I commented on this a while back. They are making no ridiculous claims. They are not promising to "change the world" or give us wonders and wealth. They are promising to represent the people much more than ideals and they are promising to take back power from the EU so the UK can run it's country the way the UK thinks fit. Which, in my extensive experience, is significantly different from every other country in the EU.
Now there is another party who started out like this. It's called the SNP. They were a joke. They never really succeeded in Westminster and they never got enough people interested in leaving the union.
Until.
Blair gave the extremities their own assemblies. after 8 years of absolutely shameless politicking, of shameless destructive policies for Scots and Scotland, the people of Scotland called time and voted with their ballot box. They voted in the SNP.
Who were the SNP? Nobody. Never in government, never considered as real players. They promised simple things, education, health, old age benefits. They were derided. They were called dreamers who could never deliver.
So what happened? Well actually they took over and started to change things. They told Westminster where to shove it and started putting Scottish money where Scots wanted it and not on the quango's and waste bins defined by Westminster. They did so well at it that in the next election they won an outright majority in a PR system. Something almost never seen in any other PR system in the world.
So when you say "They all promise the moon before they get into power" I suggest you go back and re-read what the UKIP is offering. Then ask yourself, "is it possible?". Compare the totally outrageous statements coming out of the left wing parties. There is no money to do what they claim and, as has been proven over the last 4.5 years, they do not encourage an economy, they stifle it. One thing for Blair to win the best economy seen in the UK since the beginning of WW1, from which he could stifle and take money from to buy votes. Another thing entirely to stifle an economy emerging from the biggest fall since the 1930's.
I see this next election as an opportunity to balance the books, to force the dreamers to the table and honour their promises. But this will not happen if everyone thinks they have to keep on voting for the same old tired retread ideas with the same old tired retread politicians.
There are two options in the UK to avoid that. SNP in Scotland and UKIP UK wide.
Anyone who votes for the status quo, not liking the status quo, has nobody to blame but themselves.
