This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/30/uk-should-be-prepared-to-ditch-talks-with-eu-says-new-ukip-leader

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
UK should be prepared to ditch talks with EU, says new Ukip leader New Ukip leader refuses to call for immigration cap
(about 5 hours later)
The new Ukip leader has said he does not believe the UK government will reach a deal with Brussels over the country’s departure from the European Union and should be prepared to ditch negotiations. The new leader of Ukip has said mass immigration is harming British culture but refused to call for a cap on the number of people who are allowed to come to the UK.
Henry Bolton, a former solider and Thames Valley police officer, was elected leader of the rightwing party during its annual conference on Friday, beating a populist anti-Islam candidate into second place. Henry Bolton used his first leader’s speech at the party’s Torquay conference to claim that immigration was overwhelming public services and British culture was being “buried” by Islam.
Bolton, a former Liberal Democrat who later worked for the United Nations in Kosovo and the European Union, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was an “assumption” to state the UK was on its way out of the EU, given conflicting reports about the level of progress made in the negotiations with Brussels. Bolton, a former solider and Thames Valley police officer, was elected leader of the rightwing party during its annual conference on Friday, beating a populist anti-Islam candidate into second place.
“I do not believe there will be a deal,” he said. He said the present rate of immigration was unacceptable and called for an Australian-style, points-based system for managing migration.
“I actually do not credit some of the people in the European Union with any wish whatsoever to have a smooth deal. There are other people who are more constructive in Brussels. But I think it’s going to be incredibly difficult to achieve a deal. He told the conference: “Immigration is overwhelming our public services, which themselves are being slashed – 25% off the police, for example, in some cases nearly 50% off local government.
“Housing and communities are being overwhelmed, it is harming our own culture, traditions and way of life.
“We must demand that our own concerns about our own British culture are heard and that that feeds into our policy on immigration.”
Earlier, he watered down Ukip’s past promises to cap immigration.
In 2015 the party promised a temporary block on low-skilled and unskilled migration and a limit of 50,000 high-skilled immigrants a year, while in 2017 the party committed to zero net migration.
The prime minister, Theresa May, remains committed to a target of reducing net migration to the “tens of thousands”.
But Bolton said: “Anybody who says put a figure on it is actually being entirely unrealistic and trying to paint politicians like me into a corner that gives you a nice thing to hang a comment on, but you’re not going to get it from me because actually we need to be a lot more practical and operational about it.”
On Brexit, he told the conference a transition period as proposed by the Conservatives and Labour was unacceptable and said Britain must be prepared to leave the European Union immediately.
He claimed May’s recent Florence speech, in which she set out plans for a two-year transition and made a first offer towards a financial settlement, showed “the UK does not want to leave the EU in anything but name”.
Earlier in the day on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Bolton said he did not believe the UK government would reach a deal with Brussels over the country’s departure from the European Union and should be prepared to ditch negotiations.
Bolton, a former Liberal Democrat who later worked for the United Nations in Kosovo and the European Union, said it was an assumption to state the UK was on its way out of the EU, given conflicting reports about the level of progress made in the negotiations with Brussels.
“I do not believe there will be a deal,” he said. “I actually do not credit some of the people in the European Union with any wish whatsoever to have a smooth deal.
“I do not believe we should be pushing this out and allowing the negotiations to be endless before we leave. It is absolutely crucial that this country is fully prepared to walk away because otherwise the European Union is just going to be negotiating forever on this and they would just string us along.”“I do not believe we should be pushing this out and allowing the negotiations to be endless before we leave. It is absolutely crucial that this country is fully prepared to walk away because otherwise the European Union is just going to be negotiating forever on this and they would just string us along.”
Anne Marie Waters, who has called Islam “evil” and has links to the far right, finished second in the seven-candidate race with 2,755 votes to Bolton’s 3,874 votes.Anne Marie Waters, who has called Islam “evil” and has links to the far right, finished second in the seven-candidate race with 2,755 votes to Bolton’s 3,874 votes.
Waters made her displeasure at the result clear.Waters made her displeasure at the result clear.
She tweeted: “Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0.”She tweeted: “Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0.”
Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0
Bolton distanced himself from the Islamophobic stance of his rival. Asked if he would ban burqas, garments worn by women in some Islamic traditions that include a full-face covering, he said he would not want to lobby for changes in legislation if they were not necessary.Bolton distanced himself from the Islamophobic stance of his rival. Asked if he would ban burqas, garments worn by women in some Islamic traditions that include a full-face covering, he said he would not want to lobby for changes in legislation if they were not necessary.
“I don’t think it’s about banning the burqa, is it? It’s about: what is the problem here? Now if we’ve got a security problem in identifying people, it’s not just about the burqa, is it? It’s about full-face covering, so if indeed there is a security problem with full-face coverings then the burqa is included that.”
Bolton said he would want to have a conversation with police officers before committing to a policy or change in law.
“I’m not going to make a unilateral decision on that myself without having those conversations because technology has moved on and I want to be assured that we’re not putting in place or lobbying for legislation that is not necessary,” he said.
Asked about Ukip’s relevance given the result of the EU referendum, Bolton said it was “a little bit of an assumption that we’re on our way out”.Asked about Ukip’s relevance given the result of the EU referendum, Bolton said it was “a little bit of an assumption that we’re on our way out”.
“We thought we were on our way out, we’d be fully out in March 2019,” he said. “But we’re clearly not going to be. The prime minister has made that quite clear – that we’re leaving in name only. We’ve got a transition period that may be around two years, but it hasn’t got an end date to it. We’ve got no progress on negotiations of any meaningful sort. “We thought we were on our way out, we’d be fully out in March 2019,” he said. “But we’re clearly not going to be. The prime minister has made that quite clear – that we’re leaving in name only.”
“It’s not just about leaving the European Union, it’s about leaving the European Union in such a way that we launch our country on to a path of prosperity, security and optimism. That’s an ongoing task. It doesn’t end on the day we leave the European Union, but of course the way we leave the European Union frames that future, it’s the launchpad for it.” Bolton’s election was immediately welcomed by Nigel Farage, Ukip’s former leader, who had reportedly planned to start a new party if Waters had won. Farage tweeted that Bolton was “a man of real substance”, while Arron Banks, the insurance millionaire who was Ukip’s biggest donor, said he was ready to engage with the party again.
Bolton’s election was immediately welcomed by Nigel Farage, Ukip’s former leader, who had reportedly planned to start a new party if Waters had won. Farage tweeted that Bolton was “a man of real substance” while Arron Banks, the insurance millionaire who was Ukip’s biggest donor, said he was ready to engage with the party again.