Introduction to Our ManifestoSuzanne Evans Deputy Chair, Policy//At the last general election, leaving the European Union was UKIP’s dream. //When we produced the UK’s first ever fully costed and independently verified manifesto, we outlined a vision of how strong and democratic Britain could be if we grasped the opportunity to become an independent, sovereign nation once again. //  Now, Article 50 has been triggered, and we dare to believe our dream will become reality within the next two years. //UKIP sets out in this manifesto six ‘Brexit Tests’ which need to be passed before we can say we are finally free of the EU. // Whoever forms the next government must take note. //While some parties tear up their previous manifestos, UKIP is a party that likes to stick to its principles. // The £35 billion we will use to finance our public spending priorities has again come from reasonable cuts to the foreign aid budget, // scrapping HS2, // amending the Barnett Formula// and the savings we will make in two years’ time by leaving the EU. // For the second general election in a row, UKIP’s spending proposals do not involve raising any taxes. //UKIP’s policies have been developed not to catch the public imagination – although we think they will – but to deliver what Britain really needs// and what we can afford. // These are our spending priorities for the next parliament: Invest an extra £11 billion every year into the NHS and social care by the end of the next parliament, //raising caps on medical school and nurse training places, // and increasing funding for mental health and dementia//•Raise the threshold for paying income tax to £13,500, // cut taxes for middle earners, // abolish the TV licence //and cut VAT on household bills//•Scrap tuition fees for science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine students//•Provide up to 100,000 new homes for younger people every year//•Maintain all pensioner benefits and the pensions Triple Lock//•Protect disability and carer’s benefits//•Spend a genuine two per cent of GDP on defence, plus £1 billion every year//•Fund 20,000 more police officers, // 7,000 more prison officers, // and 4,000 more border force staff //•Revive our coastal communities and fishing villages//•Cut Business Rates for the smallest businesses//•Commission a dedicated hospital ship to assist our armed forces// and deliver humanitarian medical assistance worldwide//Then there are the policies that only UKIP is prepared to commit to: reducing net migration to zero, // putting integration at the top of the political agenda, // abolishing the House of Lords// and creating an English parliament. //Our country needs radical social, // economic, // and democratic change. // Brexit heralds a huge potential to shake things up, //but it will take a political party like UKIP to stand up to the tyranny of the status quo, // if we are really to pull Britain Together.