Nigel Farage launches Brexit Party election ‘contract’

Nigel Farage launches Brexit Party election ‘contract’ pledging to scrap BBC licence fee, abolish the House of Lords and hold more referendums – as he targets FIVE MILLION Labour Leave voters ‘betrayed’ by Jeremy Corbyn

Nigel Farage today launched a Brexit Party ‘contract’ for the election battle – pledging to scrap the BBC licence fee, abolish the House of Lords and hold more referendums.

The MEP unveiled the policies as he said he was targeting five million Leave voters who have been ‘betrayed by the Labour Party’.

Mr Farage stressed that he was not issuing a full manifesto because no one believed them any more – but insisted the Brexit Party’s plans covered almost every area of national life.

Its ideas include phasing out the ‘anachronistic’ licence fee, getting rid of the House of Lords, introducing a proportional representation voting system and holding referendums when five million people sign petitions.

The party also wants to cap annual net immigration at 50,000, slash the foreign aid by 50 per cent, and doing away with inheritance tax.  

The event in London came with just three weeks to go until the nation goes to the ballot boxes on December 12.

He has already pulled candidates from 317 seats won by the Tories in 2017 to avoid splitting the Eurosceptic vote and handing victory to Mr Corbyn.

However, the party is standing in more than 270 constituencies. 

Nigel Farage said he was targeting five million Leave voters who have been ‘betrayed by the Labour Party’

The Brexit Party is not producing a full manifesto – but Mr Farage set out the broad outlines of its positions. 

‘We need the Brexit Party to hold Boris Johnson to his word,’ he said. ‘We need the Brexit Party voice there in the House of Commons or we’re not going to get anything like what we voted for three-and-a-half years ago.’ 

Key points from the Brexit Party’s election ‘contract’ 

  • Scrapping the BBC licence fee
  • Allowing citizens to call referendums if five million people agree
  • Abolishing inheritance tax
  • Investing £2.5 billion in fishing and coastal communities
  • Giving businesses zero-rate corporation tax for the first £10,000 of pre-tax profits
  • Abolishing privatisation in the NHS
  • Establishing 24-hour GP surgeries

Mr Farage said their plans could be paid for by £200billion of savings by cutting the foreign aid budget, ceasing EU payments and scrapping the HS2 high-speed rail link. 

On immigration, he said the UK was facing a ‘population crisis’ as a result of the policies which had been adopted in the 1990s. 

He said the numbers allowed to settle in the country should be capped at ‘about 50,000’ a year and he called for firm action to deter illegal immigrants trying to enter the country. 

‘We would very much want to get immigration numbers down to what for 60 years were very acceptable and very workable post-war levels,’ he said. 

‘We think a strong message that says if you come here illegally across the Channel or in the back of a container that you wouldn’t be allowed to stay will prevent further human tragedy, and it’s the right thing to do.’ 

He called for the television licence to be phased out, saying the current system of funding the BBC is an ‘anachronism’.

‘I do understand that it’s an important global brand for this country but I would propose that we phase out the licence fee over time,’ he told the event. 

He also called for VAT to be removed from family fuel bills – something that can only be done outside the EU.

‘We can use Brexit as a means to help the average family,’ he said.  

Mr Farage said Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in Stoke-on-Trent today) had made clear Labour would not honour the result of the 2016 referendum

Mr Farage said Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in Stoke-on-Trent today) had made clear Labour would not honour the result of the 2016 referendum

 

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