Ukip had one MP, Douglas Carswell, when the vote for the recognition of Palestine occurred in UK parliament and he abstained. As a Conservative MP Douglas Carswell spoke of his support for Israel and its action. The party leader Nigel Farage has been critical of Muslim voices that criticise Israel and in particular Israel’s right to exist. He claims to “have detected quite a sharp rise in anti-Semitism, not just in this country, but across the rest of Europe too”. During an EU debate on the recognition of Palestine Farage said the EU has no legal right to recognise states.
Nigel Farage has called on the UK government to take in more vulnerable Syrian refugees, however suggested the UK should only offer shelter to some Christians fleeing violence.
UKIP manifesto 2015
On intervention
“Since 1997, Labour and the Conservative/Lib Dem Coalition have deployed our Armed Forced to conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Libya and Iraq, while maintaining the ‘War on Terror’. They proposed military action in Syria. More recently, Parliament approved air strikes over Iraq on Islamic State. Latest deployments include deterrent exercises in Poland and the Baltic States and a little- publicised, but substantial, deployment to Nigeria.
These interventions have stretched the UK’s Armed Forces to the limit and damaged our reputation in the international community. They have caused social problems here at home and jaded the British public’s attitude towards involvement in future conflicts. Iraq is a much more dangerous place today. So is Libya. Britain’s increasing involvement with European Union expansionism is putting us increasingly, unnecessarily, at loggerheads with Russia.” (Page 67)
On Islamic extremism
“UKIP acknowledges there are real, existential threats around the world. The rise of Islamic extremism is at the forefront of this and, indeed, is possibly the most important battle of our generation. But the fight with and against this ideology is not best fought on a battlefield 3,000 miles away, but at home, where we have significant problems of radicalisation and incitement to terrorism.” (Page 67)
On Israel and Palestine
“In the Middle East, UKIP wants to see nations at peace, but acknowledges that sectarianism, fuelled by historical Western involvement, has rendered this all but impossible within a generation. We want to see a peaceful, two-state solution in Israel and the Palestinian territories.” (Page 67)
On international aid
“Despite this severe economic hardship, MPs and peers in all parties except UKIP voted to massively increase foreign aid expenditure, borrowing money that will increase the national debt we leave to our children. It is now enshrined in law that we must pay 0.7 per cent of our Gross National Income (GNI) on aid every year.”
“UKIP will repeal recent legislation committing aid spending to 0.7 per cent of GNI. We object to taxpayers’ money being sent to already economically thriving countries; countries with poor human rights’ records; and to money being spent on politically correct vanity projects that do nothing to lift developing nations out of poverty. We also believe charity should begin at home.
UKIP will bring overseas aid spending into line with that of the United States, which has a very similar level of deficit and overall debt as a percentage of GNI to the UK. USA aid currently stands at 0.2 per cent of GNI and this is what we will match.” (Page 69)
“When DFID’s budget is reduced, we see no reason to keep DIFD running as an independent Government department. We will close DFID and merge its essential functions into the Foreign Office, retaining a single Minister for Overseas Development.” (Page 69)
On Nuclear disarmament
“Faced with rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, which have developed advanced nuclear capabilities, UKIP does not believe now is the time to be talking about or proposing nuclear disarmament and we support Trident renewal.” (Page 65)
Quotes
Nigel Farage - (leader of Ukip and PPC for South Thanet):
Speaking about the drowning of hundreds of migrants in the Mediterranean Nigel Farage said “It was the European response that caused this problem in the first place. The fanaticism of Sarkozy and Cameron to bomb Libya. They have completely destabilised Libya, to turn it into a country with much savagery, to turn it into a place where for Christians the place is now virtually impossible. We ought to be honest and say we have directly caused this problem”.
“There were no migrants coming in these quantities before we bombed the country, got rid of Gaddafi, however bad he might have been, and destabilised the whole situation. I have not got a problem with us offering refugee status to some Christians from those countries.”
“When Isis say they want to flood our continent with half a million Islamic extremists, they mean it. There is nothing in this document that will stop those people from coming. Indeed I fear we face a direct threat to our civilisation if we allow large numbers of people from that war-torn region into Europe.”
“The clear demand for the rapid implementation of a common EU migration and asylum policy, to be confirmed in a vote in the European parliament, would be wholly unacceptable to a United Kingdom that already has levels of immigration that are too high, and as Isis have previously threatened, could lead to half a million Islamic extremists coming to our countries and posing a direct threat to our civilisation.” "I think perhaps one of the reasons the polls show an increasing level of concern is because people do see a fifth column living within our country, who hate us and want to kill us."
“Our failed policy of state sponsored multiculturalism has led to a 5th column inside many of our [European] countries, however the number of those [home-grown extremists] is mercifully small compared to the number of Islamic extremists committing the most bestial acts on a daily basis right across that region.”
On Gaza: "I don't have a solution for it. I don't think anyone in the world does. Do I think Israel has a right to exist and defend itself? Yes. Do I think Israel is over-reacting? It looks like it is. Although I'm reminded that when Hitler sent the doodlebugs here we bombed their cities to the ground. It looks like they're over-reacting, but think about it, we did much the same kind of thing. Do I think there needs to be a two state solution? Ultimately there has to be, longer term."
Douglas Carswell - (Ukip’s first elected MP):
(Comments were made while a Conservative MP)
"Israel is often criticised for its policy on settlements and the closure of territories. It is easy to make those criticisms, but I believe that they are unfair and that the UK Government must not join in with them. What else is Israel supposed to do? Her actions are essentially defensive, not aggressive. Israel has dismantled settlements in trying to seek a two-state solution, limited the growth of settlements and removed illegal posts. In Gaza Israel went so far as to remove posts, despite considerable criticism within Israel for doing so, and has been paid for that with numerous rocket attacks.
As for the closure of territories, it is easy to portray the erection of the security barrier as a hostile act. We have all seen the photographs of the 5 per cent. of the wall that happens to be made of concrete, but again I believe that Israel's actions are essentially those of a defensive liberal democracy. It built the security barrier to prevent suicide bombings and sniper attacks. What would the Government of any western democracy do? I believe that, if the United Kingdom bordered not the North sea, St. George's channel or the Irish sea, but territories that Israelborders, and if there were numerous suicide attacks from within those territories, we would similarly want to put up a security barrier.
I have visited Israel and the west bank and I found it interesting that, although it is easy to talk about where the barrier should be, and about the 1967 barrier, one is quite often talking about someone's back garden, where a family happen to spend their afternoon. I simply do not agree about the issue. The barrier needs to be built where it will provide security, not where we, using very outdated maps that take no account of an expansion, think it should go. Having said that, where there are disputes in Israel and Palestinians have objected to the siting of the barrier, there is judicial scrutiny. The process is not arbitrary. There is a mechanism that allows people who are concerned about where the barrier is being built to challenge the decision through the courts."