UKIP pledges to waive tuition fees for technology-related degrees, cut data collection and oppose the EU's eCall tracking initiative
Free university tuition for STEM subjects, but little about online civil liberties in UKIP manifesto
UKIP has pledged to waive tuition fees for students studying science, technology, engineering or maths at university in its manifesto launched in Thurrock, Essex this morning.
"UK students taking approved degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM), mainly at universities funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, will not have to repay their tuition fees. This is on condition that they work in their discipline and pay tax in the UK for at least five years, after they complete their degrees," promises the UKIP manifesto.
It has also promised to fund an increase in the number of places available in UK universities in anticipation of an increase in demand.
However, it will formally ditch the long-held government target of 50 per cent of school leavers going to university. Intriguingly, perhaps, it also pledged to support home schooling, as well as a continuation of the coalition's free schools initiative.
Consistent with its stance on immigration, UKIP is also promising to invest in new technology to improve border control "to ensure all passport and visa holders are counted in and out and to identify over-stayers, including those on student visas".
It also promised to cut down on the level of data collection in the NHS, potentially imperilling such programmes as the care.data initiative that has been the target of privacy campaigners who fear that it will expose people's health records. It has also pledged to cut down on the level of data collection taking place in the education sector, too.
More explicitly, UKIP has promised to oppose "pay-as-you-go" road toll schemes, including the EU's "eCall" system, which it suggests will enable the authorities to track road users across the European Union.
"From October 2015, the EU will require all new cars to be fitted with the ‘eCall' system. Ostensibly a road safety measure, this system tracks vehicles using GPS and reports back to a central database.
"This capability would enable introduction of a Europe-wide road pricing system, on a miles travelled basis, which the EU transport commissioner is keen to introduce. We will scrap mandatory fitments of eCall and allow owners who already have eCall installed to disable it on their vehicles," pledges the manifesto.
It also called for a review into criminal offences with a view to updating the criminal justice system over a wide range of potential offences, including "sentencing procedures and processes for internet/cyber crime" - among a number of other offences.
The manifesto was equally hazy over online surveillance and civil liberties issues, but promised to improve the management of the security services by uniting them under one director.
"UKIP will create a new over-arching role of Director of National Intelligence (subject to confirmation hearing by the relevant Commons Select Committee), who will be charged with reviewing UK intelligence and security, in order to ensure threats are identified, monitored and dealt with by the swiftest, most appropriate and legal means available.
"He or she will be responsible for bringing all intelligence services together; developing cyber security measures; cutting down on waste and encouraging information and resource sharing," it pledged.
However, unlike the Labour and Conservative Party manifestos, UKIP didn't offer any policies or pledges on broadening high-speed internet access.
Read the IT highlights of all the major parties' manifestos: