UKIP vs. Europe
Anna Sonny, 7 January 2013
The Eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has recently enjoyed a rising wave of popularity. The decision by Rotherham’s Labour Council to remove three eastern European foster children from a couple because they were UKIP supporters turned out to be rather timely for the party; it sparked public outrage just before the by-elections, and possibly helped propel UKIP up the opinion polls.
Despite often being regarded as a single-issue protest party, the by-election results show that UKIP are edging their way into mainstream British politics. In the three elections, UKIP came second in two and third in the other, siphoning votes away from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and even the BNP. Nigel Farage, UKIP’s party leader, tweeted after the elections, ‘If UKIP’s a protest vote then there are a lot of protesters out there.’ The Liberal Democrats, who have been sliding down the polls since joining the coalition government, made history by becoming the first major party to ever come eighth in a by-election. As the British party that is the most in favour of the EU, this poor performance does not do much for pro-EU sentiment in Britain. With polls at the end of 2012 showing that UKIP had shot to a record high of 15 per cent, the much discussed rise of the anti-EU party looks set to continue this year.
This is bad news for David Cameron’s Conservative Party, which is now looking increasingly unlikely to win a majority in the next general election. Unlike the Conservative Party, UKIP’s stance on Europe is resoundingly clear – find the nearest exit. By plucking off disenchanted Tory supporters, UKIP may force Cameron to finally take a definitive stance on the EU. To date, Cameron’s European policy could best be described as vague. Some believe he is stalling on clarifying his position on the question of Europe in case a few too many of his party supporters oppose it; others have suggested he is biding his time as Europe tries to negotiate its way out of the financial crisis.
In the meantime, French President François Hollande has accused the UK Prime Minister of treating Europe like an ‘a la carte menu’, picking and choosing the laws that most appeal to him. On issues of trade and the single market, the Prime Minister is keen to remain at the forefront of negotiations, but is adamant that the UK must hold onto its sovereignty and claw back powers from Brussels. Cameron’s statement in December that ‘all outcomes for Britain are imaginable’ came as a clear sign to many that he could envisage Britain exiting the EU. He also added: ‘I believe the choice we should make is to stay in the European Union, to be members of the single market, to maximise our impact in Europe, but where we are unhappy with parts of the relationship we shouldn’t be frightened of standing up and saying so.’ It is unlikely, however, that other member states will approve of this two-tier Europe, structured by the demands of what is seen on the continent as a recalcitrant Britain.
At the last European parliamentary elections in 2009, barely 35 per cent of Britons bothered to vote. A recent YouGov poll, however, suggested that 67 per cent would like a referendum on the EU and another survey reported by the BBC found that 50 per cent of Britons would favour an exit. It seems that British public opinion on the EU is slowly turning from apathy to antipathy. Cameron’s speech on Europe, scheduled for early this year, is expected to shed some light on Britain’s future in the EU. But it seems that anti-EU sentiment in Britain has already set in; as UKIP makes the steady transition from the fringes of British politics towards the mainstream, it is becoming increasingly clear that Britain will not make the same journey within the political sphere of the European Union.