Before Nigel Farage’s speech, Ukip unveils policies to appeal to working man, focusing on immigration controls and British values

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The UK Independence party would scrap inheritance tax, slash immigration by almost 80%, allow employers to discriminate in favour of British workers and make sure foreigners have medical insurance, it said as it unveiled the first of its general election policies.

Other proposals floated at the Eurosceptic party’s annual conference included a luxury goods tax, which could see extra tariffs on shoes costing more than £200, handbags more than £1,000 and cars more than £50,000, a move the party believes could raise money from the wealthiest.

The party’s economic spokesman, Patrick O’Flynn, suggested a VAT rate of 25% on such luxury goods.

The conference, which is taking place at the racecourse in Doncaster, home Ed Miliband’s safe seat, is pitching strongly for the blue-collar vote.

The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, is expected to paint Ukip as the party of the working man and criticise Labour for abandoning its traditional heartlands.

Before his speech, a string of Ukip speakers delighted the conference hall with a range of policies designed to appeal to its core vote, with a focus on cutting taxes, tougher immigration controls and stronger British values.

Farage is likely to promise in his speech to cut taxes by £12bn, claiming this could be paid for by leaving the EU and slashing spending on foreign aid.

In his speech, O’Flynn also said the party would create a new middle income tax rate of 35p, thought to be for people earning between £42,000 and £55,000. He said ultimately Ukip wanted a flatter income tax system with a 20p standard, 30p intermediate and 40p higher rate.

Steven Woolfe, Ukip’s migration spokesman, committed the party to bringing down immigration to 50,000 by introducing an Australian-style points system that encourages migrants to have skills. He would also make sure immigrants without ID are turned away at the border by withdrawing from the Dublin treaty.

Amjad Bashir, the party’s communities spokesman, said jailed criminals would be forced to move out of their neighbourhood when they were released, and making nuisance noise would be made a criminal offence.

The audience also cheered Peter Whittle, the culture spokesman, who decried multi-culturalism; Jane Collins, the employment spokesman for saying Ukip would stop employers being sued for discriminating in favour of British workers; and Louise Bours, the health spokesman, as she called for NHS managers to be regulated and foreigners to have medical insurance.

In a more surprising move, Bours also committed the party to working with the Unite union to stopping the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), a trade deal opening up the NHS to US health providers, although the government has already promised this will not happen.

The conference also focussed on the Rotherham grooming scandal, as several Ukip MEPs attacked Labour, PC attitudes and “liberal leftie” social engineering for turning a blind eye to child abuse.

Collins, a Yorkshire MEP, said local politicians were afraid to speak up about the abuse of white girls by Asian men in case it offended minority voters.

Labour is for the first time fighting back against Ukip’s challenge, portraying Farage as “more Tory than the Tories” and a man leading the party of extreme tax cuts for millionaires and plans to make people pay to see their GP.

Farage will brush off the criticism by saying Ukip would protect the NHS from abuse, keep it free at the point of access and improve the most essential services.

He will hope the conference passes with less drama than last year, when he sacked the then MEP Godfrey Bloom, who had overshadowed the event with a sexist joke.

Some of the colourful fringe events at the conference include meetings about “how to tear chunks out of Labour”, an address by two Christian B&B owners sued for banning a gay couple from staying overnight, and a session on the case for independence in southern Yemen.

The party is growing in strength after topping the European elections and winning a swath of council seats. It is particularly strong in southern coastal areas such as South Thanet, where Farage is standing next year, and Clacton-on-Sea, where the Tory defector Douglas Carswell is expected to win a byelection this month.

There is speculation that Ukip could announce more Conservative defectors at its conference, potentially Chris Kelly or Brian Binley.

Labour insiders are increasingly worried about Ukip’s threat in some northern areas, particularly Heywood and Middleton, where the party has been out in force in recent weeks while Westminster MPs have been concentrating on winning the Scottish referendum.