8,000 UK veterans form
new political party to
start
‘war with the politicians’
Veterans across the UK have joined together to
form a political party that has swelled to 8,000
members in just a month to run in the next general
election – and claims to be at ‘war with the politicians’.
Chairman Danny Mitchell, an ex-military aircraft
technician, founded the UK Veterans’ and People’s
Party with six other veterans in mid-May after
becoming disillusioned by how politicians were
campaigning during the election.
Danny believes ‘career politicians’ have not
done enough with their lives to understand
what needs to be done to ‘fix’ Britain –
whereas
he believes veterans have.
Other key policies include deprivatising the NHS
and discounting pharmaceutical drugs so that
patients get the medication they need easier and cheaper.The party plans to stump up candidates
across the UK during the next election and their
policies include slashing politician’s salaries and
a tougher stance on immigration using a
points-based system.
Mr Mitchell, who served with The REME
(Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers)
as an Aircraft Technician and Mechanic, from
Haydock, Merseyside, said: ‘The British forces,
since their establishment in 1707 have become
renowned as world leaders in conflict around
the globe.
‘This time we consider it is a war with the
politicians.
We will take it to their door and show them
first
hand what we’re made of. Courage, honour
and integrity.
‘I think that what we are doing is based on
logical and common sense.
‘We have been working on our manifesto,
which will likely be ready in around four weeks,
and my colleague Damian McAndrew has been
working on education reform and political reform.
’‘Everybody will be treated with respect, there
will be openness, we will listen to everybody.
We will
honour our forefathers and be tolerant to all
religions.
The UK Veterans’ and People’s Party have vowed
to support Trident as a nuclear deterrent,
a topic that prompted heated debate during the
recent general election.
However they said they would support a
worldwide nuclear amnesty if it was ever agreed.
One of the party’s more controversial policies
is another ‘deterrent’, the death penalty, which
Mr Mitchell claims 95 per cent of the party
support, particularly in light of current events,
to hold
terrorists accountable for their actions.
Mr Mitchell said: ‘Everybody in the military
understands punishment. If you do something
wrong, your punishment will be equal.
‘Just because I have an 8ft sledge hammer in
my shed doesn’t mean I need to use it.
‘If you take someone’s life then yours may be
taken too. I’d say 95 per cent of our members
[are for bringing back to death penalty].
It’s a deterrent like nuclear missiles –
it doesn’t have to be used.
‘Imagine you are Michael Adebolajo who
killed fusilier Lee Rigby. The man consciously
decided what he was going to do so it’s justifiable
that he would lose his life too.
‘If [capital punishment] is carried out in a
humane way, it’s over and done in a minute –
lethal injection, hanging.’
Going back to the party’s roots, Mr Mitchell
also touched on the treatment of veterans in
the UK, branding it a ‘sham’, and vowed to
honour them as one of the key principles of
the party’s policy.
‘The [treatment of] the military forces is a sham.
When we leave the army, they shake our hands,
give us a pat on the back and say there you go.
Mr Mitchell said: ‘No matter how you look at it,
the British forces are the only forces in the
world to have never lost a war.
‘The British government do not care. In America,
the government can’t bend over backwards
enough for their veterans.
‘However, we do not believe that the fact that
we are veterans will affect our leadership in
any way.
‘Veterans accept a natural chain of command,
as will like-minded civilians. Any post within our
party will be gained by skillset, this may mean
it is filled by a civilian or a veteran.
‘The best person for the job will get the job.
With one voice, we will stand united.
‘However, the fact that the Party has been
founded by veterans may unnerve some
politicians who may have sent their new
colleagues in the house into dangerous
situations in the past.’
Mr Mitchell said: ‘Current politicians and the
sham that is the government are all in it for themselves. Strongly against ‘career politicians’
who ‘go to university with the intention of
becoming politicians’, the UK Veterans’ and
People’s Party has pledged to slash politicians’
wages,
hold them accountable for their actions and fix
things using ‘common sense and plain English’.
‘They go to university with the intention of
becoming a politician. They think what’s gone
on before them is acceptable.
‘From my point of view, if you want to fix
something, you need to understand why
it’s broken.
‘I’m an ex-marine aircraft technician and I
have spent 20 years fixing stuff that’s broken.
That same logical process is the only way
you can fix anything.
‘These politicians don’t understand how to fix
things because they’ve never had to fix anything
before.
‘All politicians need to be held accountable for
their actions.’ One key focus of the party is to
re-organise the NHS, with a plan to cut
micromanagement and bring back matrons
on hospital wards.
Mr Mitchell said: ‘We would like to see cuts
in senior management roles and matrons back
on wards rather than being office based.
‘We’re also keen to see discounts on pharmaceutical
drugs.
‘The ambulance service is currently graded as an
‘essential’ service and we’d also plan to see
this upgraded to an ’emergency’ service.
This would be centrally-funded in order to
relieve financial strain on the NHS.
‘If we get into power, we will overhaul the
NHS and deprivatise it. It has been stripped
apart to its bare bones.
‘Until career politicians started pulling the
NHS apart, it worked perfectly well for 15 to
20 years.’
John Graham, the PR officer for UK Veterans’
and People’s Party, said: ‘We have started
our political party to make a change in this country.
‘The politicians just won’t listen anymore and
that’s why we as veterans have gone down
this route.
‘We now have five years to build the party
to be in a position to have candidates in
next general election.’
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