An interview with Frances Fox UK Independence Party Candidate for Peterborough together with her election agent Alan Aldridge broadcast on 13th April 2010 at 07:40 in the Paul Stainton Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Peterborough.
STAINTON: Keep them coming please, relevant tunes that can stir this election campaign, that we can give to the political parties to enlighten their electioneering, to lift up their politics and manifestos, tunes that will make us vote for them. UKIP have never looked the happiest bunch, let’s be honest. But members of the party in Peterborough have taken to wearing black for their election campaigns. So we’ve come up with a relevant tune for them. (MUSIC: FUNERAL MARCH). Well it’s either that or this. (MUSIC: MEN IN BLACK). Guys, which do you prefer, Men in Black or the Death March?
ALDRIDGE: Well ..
FOX: The tune is Land of Hope and Glory.
ALDRIDGE: Yes.
STAINTON. That’s your .. that’s .. have you got an official tune?
ALDRIDGE: The tune for Peterborough is Land of Hope and Glory.
STAINTON. Aah. Right. OK.
ALDRIDGE: We play it at the start of all our meetings.
STAINTON: Oh OK.
ALDRIDGE: The idea about the black ..
STAINTON: Yes.
ALDRIDGE: .. is because every day we remain in the EU is a black day for the UK.
STAINTON. Right. I see.
ALDRIDGE: So I took the .. that’s my decision to dress in black for the duration of the election.
TSIANTON: Yes. Let me introduce you properly. Alan Aldridge ..
ALDRIDGE: Yes.
STAINTON: .. UKIP agent for Peterborough, and Frances Fox, UKIP Parliamentary Candidate. Good morning.
FOX: Good morning.
ALDRIDGE: Good morning.
STAINTON: So you’re wearing black because you claim it’s a black day because we’re in the European Union?
ALDRIDGE: That’s right.
STAINTON: Frances you’re not wearing black though. You are today but ..
FOX: Yes. I am today but not every day.
STAINTON: No. It would have been a good statement. Why not you Frances? That would have been a great statement, wouldn’t it for the election?
FOX: Well I like to change my clothes every day.
(GENERAL LAUGHTER)
STAINTON: So it will be Land of Hope and Glory blasting out as you launch your manifesto. What does UKIP stand for Frances?
FOX: It stands for the people of this country. Whereas the three main parties are not concerned at all, otherwise they would have done things before.
STAINTON: Right. Main policies? I mean, just anti-Europe? Is that it?
FOX: No. Well it is because you can’t do anything.
STAINTON: It is. That’s it.
FOX: Yes. Because they won’t allow us to do anything. All the directives they’ve sent out, they cost businesses money. And if they change them, that’s another cost.
STAINTON: People are a little bit more worried, aren’t they, about the national debt at the moment, than Europe?
FOX: Well why are we giving money to Greece then? If we’ve got such a .. we are in a recession. And yet we’re giving millions of billions of pounds to other countries. We can’t afford it. And unless we get our country back on its feet, how can we help other countries in the future?
STAINTON: What if other countries said that about us, though, if we were in dire straits? What if they just left us to burn?
FOX: Well we are left. Because there’s no-one giving us any money are they? The EU don’t even cover the cost of the immigration into this country.
STAINTON: In relative terms, Frances, we’re quite a rich country really aren’t we, in relative terms? We’re going through a bad patch, but ..
FOX: If we’re that rich, why can’t our children get jobs?
STAINTON: Well .. a lot of our children don’t want jobs.
FOX: No. I don’t agree with that.
STAINTON: Well I can take you down Broadway, if you like. I can show you a few seventeen eighteen year old children stood outside the Labour Exchange that don’t want jobs.
FOX: Yes but what about the others that do want jobs? What about those that don’t even sign on? They have to live on temporary jobs.
STAINTON: Yes. So you think all our young people are up for jobs then?
FOX: I don’t say all of them. But you can’t say anything about everybody all at the same time. Life is different, isn’t it?
STAINTON: How are you going to get young people jobs then? If you’re so committed to getting them jobs, then how? How are you going to do this?
FOX: That’s what I’m trying to think about. I think that they ought to be trained on the job. I never had an education. But I learned on the job, how it got to be done. Why can’t our youngsters? They talk about education education education, but when they go on a job the education doesn’t count. Because they’ve got to do what the firm wants them to do.
STAINTON: What are the main policies for UKIP across the board, Alan? What are your main pledges? You can’t just campaign on Europe, can you?
ALDRIDGE: No. But as Frances says, so much is governed by Europe that there’s very little you can do without getting out of Europe. Because they control eighty five per cent of our laws. So unless you do get out of Europe, how can you take control of what you do? It’s not just immigration. It’s jobs, and the finance of the country is bound so much by the EU. All our firms in this country have so many regulations imposed by the EU, that it makes our firms less efficient. And it’s more difficult to run a business in this country.
STAINTON: The Party .. and this is quite a good selling point I think .. the Party wants a flat rate tax of 31% on incomes over eleven and a half grand. It’s more openness about tax. You’ll get rid of National Insurance?
ALDRIDGE: That’s right. That covers both. And the thing is that the Party’s slogan is “Straight Talking.” So the people have had enough of years and years of politicians promising barrel-loads of promises, and not delivering.
STAINTON: Frances, there are big posters up around Peterborough at the moment, talking about immigration. What is your party policy on immigration? Can anybody come here, or nobody?
FOX: Well they’re going to have a five-year moratorium aren’t they. Because we have got to get it all sorted out. No-one is against immigration, but we’re going to suffocation. And that’s what’s happened since the Conservatives and New Labour have been in power. They’ve not taken any notice of it at all. They don’t care about people.
STAINTON: When you say they don’t care about people, we have to welcome some people in, don’t we, where ..
FOX: I’m not talking .. immigration controlled is OK. But now because it’s got so bad, we have to make sure they have a permit to work here.
STAINTON: How are you going to control it, though? Because it’s an open door at the moment, isn’t it If you don’t ..
FOX: But it won’t be an open door if we got our own control of our country. We have to regain control of our borders.
STAINTON: Let’s give you an ideal scenario then. You’re running the Government. Nigel Farage is pulling the strings and all that malarkey down at Downing Street. You’re in charge of the country. What would you do on day one? Do you just close the borders?
FOX: Ah. You’ve got me there. I really don’t know that part.
STAINTON: Alan?
ALDRIDGE: You’ve got to start proceedings. The European Union won’t let you close the borders.
STAINTON: Well I’m saying you’ve pulled out. You’re in control. Nigel Farage is walking down Downing Street shaking hands and kissing everybody.
FOX: I don’t know about kissing everybody but I bet everybody would be pleased.
ALDRIDGE: You’d start to bring in measures that did control your borders. They talk about tripling the border controls. And unless you start controlling your borders you’re never going to solve the problem.
STAINTON: Are you confident that UKIP is going to get more MPs in this election Frances?
FOX: Well I think so. I’m not going to say that I’m going to win, because we have all the parties against us. The BNP against us ..
STAINTON: So you think you’re going to lose?
FOX: No I don’t think I’m going to lose. I think I’m going to put up a bloody good fight for the people of our country.
ALDRIDGE: And Peterborough.
FOX: Peterborough, yes.
STAINTON: (LAUGHS) Listen, good luck. i hope it goes well for you. And your theme tune will be blasting out across Peterborough throughout the campaign, Land of Hope and Glory.
ALDRIDGE: Yes.
FOX: Yes.
STAINTON: And hopefully we’ll see you on election day, and you won’t lose your deposit.
FOX: Well. If I lose my deposit .. I don’t think we will, do you? Have you been round talking to the ordinary people? You haven’t got time have you?
STAINTON: That’s what we do on this show. We’ve got more listeners than Radio Five.
FOX: Everybody that talks to us is worried about the state of this country. They don’t like it one little bit.
STAINTON: This just in on text: “The economy wouldn’t survive without the European Union trading arm. We wouldn’t survive.
FOX: Well how did we survive before then?
STAINTON: This is the people talking by the way, not me.
FOX: That’s what they say, but we import more from .. we export more to the EU than the other countries.
ALDRIDGE: The EU sells more to us than we do to them.
STAINTON: Ok. It’s been interesting talking to you. And thank you for coming on. this morning. Alan Aldridge UKIP agent for Peterborough, and Frances Fox UKIP Parliamentary Candidate for Peterborough as well.
(FULL LIST OF CANDIDATES)