The sound and the fury – Why Labour needs to face UKIP head on

Like many Labour activists I spent last Saturday knocking on doors and interrupting peoples’ weekend activities (gardening, cleaning and, in one happily unprecedented case, getting dressed…) with questions about their voting intentions.

Sometimes Labour supporters want to talk but, as we all know, too often the anti’s buttonhole us and that wastes valuable voter ID time. So when a man in Ilkeston said he’d vote Ukip instead of Labour, I should have scarpered and marked him as ‘X’. But I wanted to know more.

I’m astonished at Ukip’s appeal in the Erewash constituency I grew up in. And with Ukip’s 17% polling and the memory of Eastleigh fresh in my mind, I pocketed my leaflets and asked him to tell me why.

The issues he reeled off weren’t surprising: ‘It’s immigration- it’s out of control’ he said ‘And red tape from Brussels.’

But what immigration? In Ilkeston, the heart of the East Midlands, I’ve rarely seen a non-white face. Where I work in Tower Hamlets immigration is reflected on the streets, but in Ilkeston? There’s no problem with immigration here, I asked him, is there?

Now he changed tack: the problem was unemployment. When (local company) closed hundreds of semi-skilled workers lost their jobs and are still stuck on the dole.

And what did that have to do with immigration? He thought it meant fewer jobs for local people, though there’s no evidence of this here, and statistics show immigration actually brings net benefits to the UK.

Immigration as an employment problem may be a popular theme.But it’s wrong.

So what about Europe? I’ve worked in Brussels for a Labour MEP then for the Government negotiating red tape reduction. If you ask businesses about Europe most strongly support the single market but bemoan its ‘bureaucracy.’ The man on the doorstep was no different, echoing popular calls to cut EU red tape as the panacea to economic stagnation.

But, like immigration, this doesn’t bear scrutiny.

It’s rare for anyone berating bureaucracy to name specific EU regulations to ditch, and there are many we should actually applaud – it’s EU legislation that underpins basic employment protections like equal treatment for women and entitlement to paid holiday.

Back on the doorstep neither of us has persuaded the other, but I’m convinced Labour can learn from conversations like this.

In Erewash Labour activists are campaigning hard for the May elections and we’re nervous about Labour switchers to Ukip. But this conversation shows Ukip can simply be a vote for none-of-the-above and we should tackle this protest vote head-on.

Let’s debate with Ukip and see their weak policies evaporate when challenged with facts. And let’s listen to the underlying concerns of potential switchers. Leave immigration to the nasty party and let Labour focus on genuine progressive solutions like regional infrastructure and inward investment.

We might not wipe out Ukip but we’ll turn down their volume and dampen their fury that fuels their appeal by tackling the real factors behind a protest vote.