The Manifesto Mk1

As most of you know, I've been working on a new party manifesto, ostensibly for UKIP, but as much for my own purposes. It's about time I put all my ideas on record.

Throughout the course of the general election I criticised all of the parties for their lightweight and intellectually incoherent manifestos, particularly that of the Reform Party; the largest party which best represents my views, albeit poorly.

My view is that parties of the right, even with only modest resources, could and should have offered better. I criticised Reform particularly for its absence of an intellectual foundation.

In light of this, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. Today I'm publishing my own manifesto, which I believe should fill the void. My work is based on a foundation of national conservatism, outlining avenues for democratic reform, immigration control, economic revival, revitalising communities, and normalising the British state (among other things).

At 41,000 words, it is extensive, but by no means definitive, and I intend to carry on the work, expanding and improving it over time. This is provisional. Each section needs at least some refinement. This initial draft is an appeal for debate and feedback.

This effort is given freely, for parties of the right to adopt and modify according to their own persuasions. There is no longer an excuse for the rank amateurism we have seen.

This is more detailed than most manifestos. It is intended as an instruction manual that will inform a summary manifesto and party communications strategy. It is also a to-do list in the event of taking power. If parties know what they're doing and why, their manifestos will be coherent and they won't be making it up as they go along.

I do not demand any party adopts this work. I merely make reference to its existence so that no party can claim they do not have the means or the time. I happen to know that any one of the Reform MPs could pick up the phone and convene a gathering of some of the best policy brains in the country within a week, and for less than £60,000 (chump change for any one of them) could commission a research-based manifesto that would blow my own humble efforts out of the water. If I can do it, so can they.

I believe this work best represents the attitudes and values of the contemporary right, going beyond "90's brain" civic nationalism, but stopping short of nativist ethnonationalism. It is fundamentally a centre right, traditional values, conservative manifesto, but one that recognises the need for radicalism on energy, immigration and governmental reform.

I expect to take criticism for some of my approaches, some of which will be in bad faith. Please remember, though, that it's actually impossible for any one person to have an absolute command of every policy area. I certainly don't. This is my best effort with very limited input or help from others, and I'm the only one who's actually bothered to attempt it.

As such, though I welcome criticism, I ask you to at least not be a dick about it. I'm just some bloke with a mediocre education, who has never written anything this long before, with no particular insider knowledge of government, and I never claimed to have all the answers.

Here I'm just attempting to set out an intellectual and moral framework for policy, in the hope that it will raise standards. A party that does not recognise the necessity for an intellectual foundation is one that will end up on the scrapheap.

Ultimately, this is just a starter for ten, and much more research is required. If this offering is, in your view, a heap of crap, the ball is on your court to do better - and I'll salute you for trying. There is at least a template now. The document is available here:

https://turbulenttimes.co.uk/manifesto.pdf

You can support this initiative by subscribing to my Substack or by donating here:

https://paypal.me/petenorth303

This has been a lot of work and I have bills to pay. Thank you.