Ukip kicked off St George’s Day by pledging to make today a national holiday. Although early morning press conferences have been abandoned by the other political parties, Ukip turned out the media bright and early to talk about patriotism and promised to make St George’s and St David’s Day national holidays.
The party’s cultural spokesman Peter Whittle said they wanted to tackle the ‘cultural self-loathing’ Ukip believes has developed over Englishness. It was pointed out to Whittle that St George was an immigrant himself — from Turkey — but Ukip apparently wouldn’t have a problem with him entering Britain because he would be a ‘skilled migrant’, being able to slay dragons and all.
Happy St. George’s Day to all! http://t.co/Jju1ccgEHd pic.twitter.com/lU8sytSSIu
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) April 23, 2015
On a serious note, Ukip is focusing on Englishness in particular because a lack of national pride is a key concern for its core voters. Its tough rhetoric does pose a question about whether the party is giving up on Scotland. There are similarities between what the SNP are doing and Ukip but the party’s economic spokesman Patrick O’Flynn denied any links, saying ‘we are a party that believes in the United Kingdom — not in one nation’. Unlike the Tories, Labour or Lib Dems, Ukip is campaigning to take money away from Scotland. O’Flynn said:
‘We think the funding settlement of the Barnett Formula is unfair and we know because public spending in Scotland per head is some £1,400 higher and you’ll see from our five year fiscal plan that by the end of the Parliament, we would be saving £5.5 billion on that. But no, our preference is as a party that believes in the UK and we are standing candidates in the UK and we have indeed elected representation in every nation so I don’t think that parallel holds at all. The SNP agenda is much narrower and more parochial.’
When I asked him for a specific example of something Ukip has done to appeal to Scots, O’Flynn pointed to the election of the controversial MEP David Coburn:
‘What we’ve done for Scotland is giving them an extra party to choose and the good people of Scotland elected an MEP in the Ukip colours whose definitely broadened the range of issues being discussed.’
Given the dislike of the SNP south of the border, it’s no surprise Ukip is trying to distance themselves from the Nats. But both are parties keen on promoting nationalism and stirring up tensions inside the union. And realistically, it’s hard to see how Ukip could have much electoral success in Scotland — so why should they bother?
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