VB asked each of the prospective parliamentary candidates to send us a 500 word manifesto to share with VB readers. Ed
My name is Mike Tarrant and I am standing as the parliamentary candidate for the U.K. Independence Party. I have lived on the island since 1988. I am married with two adult sons. I have a background in both local and private finance and currently work as a finance officer for a number of Island schools.
I am standing for election as I feel that none of the three main political parties are addressing the problems and loss of identity that Britain currently faces.
Today 72% of all our laws come from the EU and all told there are currently over 120,000 EU directives and regulations in force in the UK. Britons have never had the chance to vote on this loss of sovereignty.
In a nutshell I want the laws I live by to be decided by our own government and not by an unelected body that does not reflect the wishes of the British peoples. I also wish to be represented at Westminster by politicians who I can trust and do not abuse their positions or their expenses.
I believe that the current voting system is undemocratic and works against any party other than the Labour, Liberal and Conservative parties and needs to be changed to be more representative. It also leads to the creation of a “professional politician” class with men like Cameron and Clegg who have never done a days work outside politics.
This is of course a national election but my priorities on a local basis if I were elected are as follows:
* Increase employment on the Island and to offer more job opportunities to our school leavers and university graduates. Offer loans to unemployed Islanders who manage to get jobs on the mainland to enable them to buy season tickets on the ferry services.
* Work for recognition that the Island has one of the lowest per capita incomes in England and force the Government to address this problem.
* Clean up the Isle of Wight Council and make it more accountable. Put all chief and senior officers on fixed term contracts and pay them realistic salaries based on results. The
* Work to introduce “Direct Democracy” whereby 5% of the national or local electorate can demand a binding referendum on any issue.
* I would work to create good relationships with all the bodies representing the working and cultural life on the Island to understand their problems and if possible – try to do something constructive to help.
This Country needs the UK Independence Party. A vote cast for us is a vote that truly means something positive and is not a negative vote. “If it takes a hundred arrows to kill a dragon – all of those arrows count”.
We must at all times do what we conceive to be right and bother our heads or burden our souls with whether we’ll be successful – because if we don’t do the right thing, we’ll do the wrong thing and we’ll be part of the disease and not part of the cure.
Michael Tarrant’s leaflet on The Straight Choice
Michael Tarrant on My Next MP
