May 7th - Why I will be voting UKIP!

So, here we are, at the last of this brief series of pre-election posts, with the one for which you have all been waiting - the positive one!

So why am I not only supporting the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), but also suggesting that it is the Party that disciples of Jesus throughout the UK should support?  Well, I know that one ought not to judge a book by its cover.  I know that no one man (or woman) makes a political party.  However, I have to say that one reason why I am supporting UKIP is Nigel Farage!  I have, like most people, watched a great deal on the political scene over recent weeks (and before!).  I have listened to the leaders of the various political parties being interviewed by a range of political commentators.  Only one has consistently answered the questions that have been asked.  I may not have agreed fully with every answer - but I admire basic honesty, and integrity.  I also like my potential statesmen to look like statesmen - not lads off to the pub for a drink!  Interestingly, the only one who has fulfilled those basic criteria is the one who is seen, most often, in a pub - Mr Farage.  I just get a 'good feeling' about the man - and I am teetotal!

However, it is policy that is the real nub of the argument.  So what are the UKIP policies that have persuaded me to support the Party?  Well, first and foremost, UKIP was the only Party, with any worthwhile representation in British politics, to oppose the redefinition of marriage.  Indeed Mr Farage is on record as having said that "... all the while we are signed up to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ... we have the risk that our established church, and possibly other faith communities could ultimately, under discrimination laws, be forced to conduct services that they find anathema.  If we get rid of the ECHR, and it doesn't have the dominant place over our society, we'll look at it [the ACT] again."

UKIP also believes that the last government has shown contempt for families in which one parent (usually the mother) stays at home to care for the children.  As a Party, it is totally supportive of stay-at-home mothers.

Staying with the family, in general, Louise Bours, UKIP's Health spokesperson, has voiced concern over girls as young as 10 years of age being given a contraceptive implant through the NHS, and the generally casual attitude towards under-age sexual activity that appears to be condoned, if not encouraged, by the traditional parties.

Of course, there are specific areas in which UKIP has been badly misrepresented by the main-stream media, and the other political parties.  Perhaps the worst of these has been on the issue of immigration.  How often am I informed that "UKIP is a racist party"?  Yet nothing could be further from the truth!   In spite of what is parroted by the opposition, UKIP is NOT "anti-immigration"!  What it does support is CONTROLLED immigration - a totally different kettle of fish.  There are seven points in the Manifesto - and I would defy any right-thinking person to produce a reasonable objection to any one of them.  (Link to Manifesto at the end of this post!).

Then there is the issue of Foreign Aid.  "UKIP want to stop helping other people", is the usual cry.  Rubbish!   What UKIP would do is to direct foreign aid - no longer sending million of pounds sterling to countries that neither need, nor want, it - e.g. India, with its own space exploration programme; or to countries in which human rights are consistently breached.  Rather, they would target such aid to specific needs, such as the current earthquake and avalanche disaster in Nepal.

Not only will the defence of the realm be a major commitment on the part of UKIP, but they will also look after military veterans in a way that the other parties do not seem to think necessary!   UKIP is, as far as I know, the only Party to have specific sections in its Manifesto regarding Small Businesses, and Animal Rights!

However, the policy for which UKIP is best known - and that on which it was founded - is the ending of the UK's membership of the European Union.  Those who are of my vintage may recall that what we entered into (although, personally, I voted against!) in 1972 was a "European Economic Community".  The Conservative Prime Minister, Edward Heath, stated, quite categorically, that those who feared a loss of British sovereignty were wrong.   Towards the end of his own life, he admitted that he had misled the British public, and that he had known, all along, what would happen.  The EEC was to be a trading bloc - and a UK, independent of the current EU - with its unelected Commissioners 'calling the shots' would be able to enter into such an agreement again.  However, being free of the shackles of the EU would enable us to also enter trading agreement with other countries - not least the former Commonwealth countries who have been blocked by trading tariffs since those early days of the EEC!

I could go on, but permit me to make just one further point: Nigel Farage has said that Britain is a Judaeo-Christian country, and that we need to "start standing up for our values".  Allied to that statement is the assurance that UKIP would not permit the Islamic system of Sharia (Islamic law) to operate, as it currently does, in parallel with UK law.  They would ensure that "... all communities are aware of, and adhere to, the supremacy of British law."  UKIP is also the only Party that has issued a specifically "Christian Manifesto" - Valuing Our Christian Heritage!

Although, as charitable foundations, neither Christian Concern, nor The Christian Institute, are permitted to support any specific political party, I believe that each has gone as far as is legally, and ethically, possible in encouraging disciples of Jesus to support UKIP!

So, am I supporting UKIP because it is a Christian Party?  Sadly, it is not.  There are a number of issues that I continue to have with the Party, and even its policies.  However, compared to the alternatives, it is streets ahead and, of course, if thousands of the disciples of Jesus join the Party then, just as the more UKIP MPs are elected on Thursday, the greater the influence the Party will have on the ensuing government, the greater the influence those believers will have on the Party! 

On Thursday, please use your vote.  If you have a UKIP candidate on your ballot-paper, please vote in his/her favour.  If you haven't, my only advice would be to 'spoil your vote' by writing "None of the above" at the bottom, and drawing a large X across all of the candidates' names!  Oh, and do remember to take your own, black ink, pen.  The pencils that are provided make changing a vote much too easy!

Whatever you do, take confidence in this: the Lord already knows the full result, and He is still in control!  Hallelujah!

The full Manifesto.  https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ukipdev/pages/1103/attachments/original/1429295050/UKIPManifesto2015.pdf?1429295050

Manifesto summary.  http://www.ukip.org/manifesto2015

Christain Manifesto.  http://www.election2015.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/UKIPChristian_Manifesto-1.pdf

Charity should begin ... ... where it is most needed!

So, "Hurrah!" for the UK.  Through its government, and announced by its Prime Minister, it is immediately donating no less than £6million (some reports speak of £10million) to provide much-needed relief for the hurricane-stricken Philippines.  It certainly sounds impressive to those of us who are unlikely to earn even £1million in a full lifetime.  And the need is certainly obvious.  The pictures that we have seen on our television screens, and in our newspapers, are of total devastation. 

However, before we pat ourselves (or the government) on the back too much, let us remember another donation in the form of foreign aid.   India is receiving a £1.6billion package of aid, over a period of eight years (an average of £200million each year!), and that in spite of the fact that it recently spent at least £52million (accurate figures are difficult to come by!) on a space exploration programme to Mars!  At the same time, many of its citizens (some would claim that it is a clear majority!) live in abject poverty, not a great deal, if at all, better than the current living conditions of those survivors of Typhoon Haiyan.

Obviously, I am not privy to the goings-on of national governments, but it seems to me to be something of a travesty that such a large sum should be given by the British taxpayer to a country in which the elite, reportedly, drive Rolls Royce Phantoms (the most expensive car in the Rolls Royce 'stable'), Ferraris, Aston Martins, and even the Bugatti Veyron, with an eye-watering price tag of almost £1.5million; while a relatively paltry £6million is provided for the saving of human lives.

Perhaps it is, indeed, time for the whole British foreign aid programme to be looked at more carefully, to ensure that any such aid goes to those who truly need it - and not to fund the lavish lifestyles of the political elite, of despotic rulers, and of unnecessary space programmes!

Aid, vaccinations, and promises.

Unlike some, I applaud the Prime Minister for his brave move in committing the U.K. to providing £814 million to provide vaccinations for children in some of the poorest of the world's developing countries.  He was obviously aware that his announcement would be unacceptable to the "charity begins at home" brigade, but he went ahead and did the honourable thing. 

His very words were telling.  "I think there is a strong moral case for keeping our promises to the world's poorest and helping them, even when we face challenges at home." he said.  "When you make a promise to the poorest children in the world, you should keep it."

However, I do hope that Mr Cameron will quickly realise that, when one makes a promise to anyone, there is a strong moral case for doing all in one's power to keep it.  On that basis, I look forward to his announcement that, after all of the pre-General Election blustering about a referendum on our continuing membership of the dysfunctional gravy-train that is known as the European Union, and that costs us almost £50 million EVERY DAY (not including euro-zone bail-outs), one will be announced in the next Queen's Speech.

Mind you, I'm not holding my breath!

Thank you, your Eminence.

With my cultural, and religious, background, I am constantly amazed at the fact that I regularly appreciate the pronouncements of various senior figures in the Church of Rome.  I recall, many years ago, actually telephoning the offices of the archdiocese of Glasgow to express my gratitude to the late Archbishop (later, Cardinal) Thomas Winning; I have publicly expressed my gratitude in the letters page of The (Glasgow) Herald newspaper; and, once again, I wish to do so - this time to Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

The Cardinal is widely reported, today, as having made the (in my opinion) very valid point that aid packages from the U.K. government to certain countries should be conditional on a firm commitment, by the relevant foreign government, to religious freedom; and a pledge to protect Christians and other religious minorities.

He is reported as stating that "To increase aid to the Pakistan Government when religious freedom is not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down is tantamount to an anti- Christian foreign policy.  Pressure should now be put on the Pakistan Government, and the governments of the Arab world as well, to ensure religious freedom is upheld.  The provision of aid must require a commitment to human rights."

His comments were made at the launch of a Report into the persecution of Christians - a subject that is frequently aired on this blog - and follow the recent murder in Islamabad of Shabbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in the Pakistani Cabinet and an outspoken critic of the country’s blasphemy laws.  It is to be hoped that the words of such a high-profile clergyman will have some positive effect on the situation.

However, I was also interested in the reported response of the Foreign Office.  According to The Herald, Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office Minister, said the UK Government shared the Cardinal’s concern about the plight of Christians.  Mr Burt pointed to how Mr Hague (the British Foreign Secretary) had set up a new Advisory Group on Human Rights, which identified religious freedom as a key human rights issue at its first meeting in December. He also stated that: “It is vital that Pakistan guarantees the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their faith or ethnicity. We will continue to press for religious freedoms to be upheld in Pakistan and around the world.” (my emphasis!).

I would love to know how the present British Government manages to make such high-sounding comment with regard to the persecution of Christians in other countries, while apparently ignoring the increasing marginalistion of Christians in the U.K.!  I suspect that Mr & Mrs Bull (B&B owners); Lesley Pilkington (Christian counsellor); and Mr & Mrs Jones (former foster parents); would wish to take the minister to task in the light of the recent cases in which these people have been involved - interestingly, all at the instigation of the homosexual lobby (funded by the taxpayer, in the form of the Government-funded Equality and Human Rights Commission.)

My other concern is that while Cardinal O'Brien is standing up, publicly, and making his voice heard, the voices of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (and those of the other Presbyterian denominations); the hierarchy of the Episcopal Church in Scotland; the General Secretary of the Scottish Baptist Union; the leadership of the Congregational churches, the Methodist churches, Independent churches, and anyone from the Brethren movement, are deafening only in their silence!

Many of us need to seek forgiveness, for failing to speak out on behalf of our persecuted brothers and sisters.  The solemn words of the Lord Jesus, as recorded in Matt.7:21-23 and Matt.25:41-46 are worth pondering!