Tories must avoid the temptation of launching personal attacks on UKIP and its supporters, a senior Conservative has warned.
Liam Fox, one of the leading figures on the party’s Right, said that becoming “caught in short-term tactical battles” with Nigel Farage’s party by attempting to embarrass it would not go down well with voters.
Instead, he urged Tories to win over UKIP supporters at the general election next year by arguing that voting Conservative was the only way to stop Labour. Dr Fox said that a “totemic” tax cut, a strong commitment to weaken the EU and tougher immigration rules should be used to win their support.
“We need to avoid the trap of attacking either the individuals who represent or stand for UKIP or the voters who vote for them,” Dr Fox said. “I don’t think voters like it and I don’t think it’s a way to carry out a decent democratic system. What I think we ought to do, however, is make it very clear to people what the consequences of voting for UKIP will be.
“If you’re voting UKIP because you’re demanding an EU referendum, then the surest way to avoid getting it is to end up with a Labour government.
“If you’re voting UKIP because you want tighter immigration controls, then the last things you’re going to get from Labour or the Liberal Democrats are those very tighter controls.”
With May’s European elections on the horizon. Mr Farage is talking up UKIP’s chances of topping the poll. New figures have shown UKIP’s membership ballooned by two thirds to 32,500 last year. Ken Clarke was criticised by Tory colleagues for describing UKIP as “a collection of clowns” before last year’s local elections.
Privately, senior UKIP figures realise that they have taken a big gamble by suggesting that they can top May’s poll, ramping up expectations. “We know the risks — we’ve bet everything on red,” said one.
Dr Fox, the MP for North Somerset, said that “loosening” Britain’s ties with Europe was vital in winning back the trust of voters. “We are likely to see across Europe nationalist parties and parties on the political extremes doing well, because [voters] believe they have been sold out by the traditional mainstream parties,” he said.
The former Cabinet minister repeated his call for tax cuts and hinted that VAT, or other indirect taxes, should be lowered. “We probably do need some totemic promises, so that people can see the direction of travel. I favour cuts for small business, but I think we might also want to look at how we reduce some of the indirect taxes that people pay.”
Calling for a “maturing” of the debate around immigration, he said that while only those who could contribute financially to Britain should be allowed to settle, migrants were needed to support an ageing population. “With our low birth rate, to maintain the ratio of people working to people in pensions, there will need to be some immigration.”
He urged his party “not to panic” about its standing in the polls, despite continuing to trail Labour, saying there was “a large number” of floating voters.