UKIP’s Gerard Batten sets out why he wants to be Mayor of London, capping the Mayor’s precept, embracing Britain’s common culture and funding special interest groups:
Why do I want to be London’s Mayor? I am a Londoner and I have lived and worked in London all my life.
I was not an elected politician until the age of 50 when I was elected to the European Parliament in 2004. Unlike many politicians today I have actually worked in the real world. I am not a career politician but I am a professional politician.
I got involved in politics because I passionately believe that Britain should be an independent, self-governing nation. Now I want to be Mayor because I am fed-up with the mess in London that Ken Livingstone is responsible for and I believe that I could do a better job than any of the other candidates.
What kind of Mayor will I be? I will put an end to divisive minority politics and multiculturalism. I will only recognize one class of Londoners: those who live, work and pay taxes in London.
There will only be one official language: English. Cultural diversity is a good and enjoyable thing when it occupies people’s private space, but when it starts to occupy the public and political space it becomes divisive, damaging and dangerous.
Anyone who chooses to live in Britain and become a British citizen should also be prepared to embrace Britain’s common culture and express their loyalty to our democratic political and legal institutions. If they cannot do that then they are living in the wrong country.
As Mayor I will concentrate on the essentials. Any elected politician responsible for spending public money should remember where it comes from: from businesses and individuals that have to struggle to pay the taxes that pay for the grandiose projects of politicians.
As Mayor I will only spend money on those projects that benefit London and Londoners equally. I will axe any spending that does not fulfil that objective. There will be no money for special interest groups, politically correct issues, or the celebration of peoples’ sexual preferences.
I wish them all well but I won’t be giving them any public money. Under my administration there will be no money for cronies, quangos or conmen.
My priorities will be to tackle crime, to get traffic moving again, and to reduce the tax burden on Londoners. Crime is out of control in many parts of London. The police should be put back on the streets preventing and detecting crime.
I will give the police only one target: to drastically reduce crime in London. Traffic is grinding to a halt while the motorist is persecuted and squeezed for revenue. I will scrap congestion and emission charging: they don’t work and are irrelevant.
I will cut tube fairs and make tickets more flexible. Council Tax is too high and continually rising. In 2000 the Government promised that the cost of the Mayor, Assembly and their staff would only be 1.56 per household per year, it is currently running at over £300.
I will cap or reduce the Mayor’s precept by concentrating on essential spending only.
Many voters may say, “I agree with Gerard Batten, but he can’t win can he?” Well, think again. On past experience only about 35% will bother to vote in these elections. If enough people make the effort to vote then they can change things. If they don’t bother then they will just have to put up with more of the same.
In 2004 the UKIP Mayoral candidate came fourth and UKIP won two seats on the London Assembly. We proved we can win, and we can win again in 2008. The London Assembly elections are conducted under a system of proportional representation and that is why we can win.
The Mayoral elections are conducted under a ‘single transferable vote’ system. That may sound complicated – but its not when explained like this: let your heart make your first choice for who you want to be Mayor, let your head make the second choice for who think will be Mayor. That way you will get what you want and you can make your voice heard in London.
