Why You Should Vote UKIP on the 7th May

The Berlin Wall was an excellent idea - if the East Germans were free to leave to the West its population would have continued to dwindle, starving the state of resources and ending socialism with a prolonged whimper. This is because the only real constraint on the growth of the government is the size of its tax base – if a significant number of people emigrate its finances would be squeezed. The larger the geographical area of the government the relatively more authoritarian it will be since the costs of moving outside its jurisdiction will be higher than for a smaller country.

Imagine a scenario of modern city states. You live in Milan but the tax burden has increased and ID cards have been introduced, however the relatively more liberal Turin is under two hours drive away. You need not learn a new language, nor practically sever your ties with friends and family to live under a lighter yoke. In such a situation many would move to Turin putting strain on Milanese finances , effecting genuine pressure for a  less onerous overlord.  The smaller the state, the more similar it is to an actual business - if I don't like Byron Burger and frequent Hub Box instead, the former could eventually fold so they have to respond to consumer demand to stay afloat. Contrast this with voting within a large state - even if you voted for the winning party, which most people don't, there's no real pressure on them to follow their manifesto commitments as the money keeps rolling in: it's like signing a five year catering agreement with Heston Blumenthal to provide rib-eye steak every day and then for Heston to subcontract the deal to the Animal Liberation Front who will only make vegan sausages. All I can do in five years time is to vote for Gordon Ramsey and hope.

Now you may be thinking where does the UKIP fit in here? It's simple: the European Union. Under the European Communities Act 1973 European Law supersedes UK law: it has effectively declared itself sovereign over all the member states - it is an embryonic transnational state. The EU has a flag, an anthem, a president, a parliament and again wants an army. The project has always been primarily political, rather than economic - note the Treaty of Rome 1958, the founding treaty, goal of "ever closer union". The logic of the EU is a federal Europe: effectively a United States of Europe (USE). In such a situation you couldn't just jump on dingy to Dublin to escape the talons of Westminster, you'd need a plane to Paraguay.  As such, the USE would likely be as liberal as Uncle Joe's USSR. Therefore the primary present political goal is to leave the EU.

The only party with a chance of putting on pressure for a fair EU referendum is UKIP. Cameron is frankly a liar: when he was vying for the Tory leadership he gave a cast iron pledge to party members that as Prime Minster he would have a referendum on the Lisbon treaty; even before he became PM he reneged on his promise. All Tory PMs since 1970 have been radically pro-EU with the exception of the later Thatcher Prime Ministership at which point she was promptly stabbed in the back. If the Tories have an outright majority without any deal with UKIP, either the EU referendum won't happen or it will be so skewed as to make Saddam Hussein's Iraq elections look free and fair.

Now you may fear, and rightly, Red Ed's Labour Party and so wish to vote for the Tories as a lesser of two evils. However, the practical difference in the policies of both parties in government between 1979 and today is negligible. Vote for Red, Blue or Yellow and the ruling class wins. For instance, whoever is Home Secretary will continue to arrogate more power to the state in the name of national security: be it the Charles Clarke's Civil Contingencies Bill (aka Blair's Enabling Act) or Theresa May's Snoopers' Charter.

In the case of a Labour/ SNP coalition this does offer something genuinely different: a return to old school socialism. It would be a bleak time indeed, however it would foster such anti-Scottish sentiments that there could well be a referendum on England leaving Scotland! Not only would this reduce the jurisdiction of the state but also mortally wound the Labour Party.

Finally, if you want a genuinely less burdensome state in the long run your only option on May 7th is to vote UKIP. If you disagree on immigration, the NHS and defence it doesn't matter. The only structural limit on the power of the state is its geographical size - the SNP want to turn the area north of Hadrian's Wall into the People's Republic of Scotland; after a number of years so many would try to leave they'd either have to take inspiration from Berlin's Wall or become a half decent place to live, otherwise it would make Greece look like El Dorado.