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Nigel Farage was happy to trail UKIP’s performance in the European elections as an “earthquake” underneath the feet of the established political class. The tremors, touted by Farage before voters went to the polls, were genuine: the party stormed to take the biggest share of the vote, 27.5%, with 24 MEPs.
It was the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had topped a national election. It means that UKIP, sometimes derided as a joke, now has MEPs in Scotland, Wales and every part of England. The Westminster mainstream was not laughing about that.
Whether this bloodying of the nose of the coalition and Labour translates into seats in Westminster for the party remains to be seen. As PE went to press, UKIP was preparing, through candidate Roger Helmer, to contest the Newark by-election.
Helmer, who sometimes speaks on energy and science issues on behalf of UKIP, was one of several MEPs contacted by the Campaign for Science and Engineering (Case) before the European elections to explain party views on research. Case was simply looking to Helmer to set out UKIP’s “EU science and engineering policies covering research, skills, innovation and evidence-based policymaking”. It will not have been encouraged by his response.
As the central plank of UKIP policy was withdrawal from the EU, “we are not primarily concerned with planning or designing policy at European level”, said Helmer. As long as Britain remained within Europe, his party would look to secure EU research funding for the UK, but he claimed: “Every pound of EU funding received by projects in the UK typically costs the British economy £3, when you consider the overall balance of EU membership net and gross costs, and offset the administrative costs of applying for, and managing, EU programmes.”
Helmer added: “And then we end up spending the money on priorities that we may not have judged ideal if we had originated the programmes at home. They give us back a little of our own money, they tell us how to spend it, and then they expect us to be grateful.”
Leading industry bodies are not impressed by what some see as UKIP’s ‘little Englander’ sabre-rattling. Terry Scuoler, chief executive of manufacturers’ organisation the EEF, said that the European election results demonstrated a failure on the part of the major parties to engage with the electorate over Europe.
“The main parties need to wake up to the uncomfortable message this sends, and work together to outline a positive future for Britain in the EU, with growth, competitiveness and job creation as the priorities, alongside reform,” said Scuoler. He hoped UKIP would abandon the concept of refusing to engage in the EU, as it puts the UK “at a significant disadvantage in representing our interests in the political processes of the parliament and commission”.
Scuoler added: “The UK must play a leading role in the EU if we are to have any hope of winning the argument for far-reaching reforms, including a reduction in the number of EU commissioners and departments, in a bid to ensure Brussels is focused on driving growth, competitiveness and economic stability.
“There is a growing consensus in favour of what the EU calls ‘industrial renaissance’, and the UK can, and should, be at the forefront of championing and delivering this vision.”