to little avail, Poland sensibly stayed compact and kept men behind the ball. A draw was a fair result and, given the tensions of the evening, probably the best one.
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COLUMN this week is about UKIP, the British political party campaigning for withdrawal from the EU.insurgents rarely prosper in British politics. Two big things help explain this: voting rules and sniggering. Britain s first-past-the-post voting system is rather brutal to small parties. And if electoral rules do not snare a would-be demagogue then mocking laughter probably will. It is a brave politician who stands before British voters, face red and voice shaking with fury. There is always the risk that at some climactic moment a heckler will interrupt, posing a variant on the ancient British question: just who do you think you are?, Then, to explain the rise of Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), an insurgent (and at times quite angry) outfit devoted to Britain s withdrawal from the European Union? Once a near-irrelevance, UKIP haunts the thoughts of politicians across Westminster. The explanation lies in Mr Farage s talent for turning both Britain s voting system and its traditions of pomposity-pricking mockery to his advantage.does not need to win a single House of Commons seat at the next general election to have an outsized impact. The party just needs to threaten, credibly, to siphon off enough Conservative votes to deny David Cameron s party victory in a decisive number of seats: a disastrous fate in a first-past-the-post system. In happier times such a menace might unite Conservatives against UKIP. These are not happy times.by grim economic news and a string of government U-turns, the Conservatives are some ten points behind Labour in the polls. Almost two-thirds of Tory voters say that they would like to leave the EU. On the party s right, the fact that Mr Cameron wants to stay in the union (and argues that an EU referendum is needed only if Britain is asked to hand more powers to Europe) fuels suspicion that he is not a proper Conservative. His decision to go into coalition with the pro-European Liberal Democrats after the 2010 general election fits the same narrative (right-wingers think he should have chanced a second, snap election). UKIP draws some support from the left and boasts a hard core of voters furious at all big parties, recent gains have come disproportionately from Tory ranks. UKIP s current policy platform is a land grab of terrain ceded by Tory modernisers. It includes a five-year freeze on permanent immigration, increased military spending, a return to selective grammar schools, calling global warming not proven and ending smoking bans in pubs.Farage has begun briefing that local Conservative associations have begged him to consider joint Tory-UKIP candidates at the next general election. Recent opinion polls put UKIP within a point or two of the Lib Dems in either direction (though polls traditionally understate Lib Dems local strengths). UKIP s next goal is to increase its foothold in local councils, he says, building grassroots networks in conscious emulation of the Lib Dems.good cheer can workMr Farage is adept at maximising his clout within the British electoral system, he is-as importantly-good at the derisive bit of politics. He is skilled at supplying disillusioned voters with arguments to sustain their rage. Yet ...
