The Brexit Party candidate in Peterborough has no policies – he can’t be allowed to get away with it

Millionaire Mike Greene is likely to become a lawmaker in our country without a shred of scrutiny as to how he would vote on anything other than Brexit

If the bookies are correct, and the Brexit Party is on course to win the Peterborough by-election, then we will see a seat that voted Leave in 2016 and Labour in 2017, elect a candidate whose one issue party pretend to be all things to all people. But they will be going to do a job where they will need to have a policy offer on more than just whether we leave the EU or not.

To maintain this illusion they have deployed a tactic of refusing to issue a manifesto or even be drawn on any policies outside of Brexit. This may seem a moot point to some, but actually it is quite concerning. A manifesto is essentially a record by which voters can judge what issues parties prioritise, and what MPs stand for so that if they’re elected, voters can judge them on what they’ve achieved.

As someone who was involved in Labour’s 2017 manifesto and developing Labour’s economic strategy over the last few years, I strongly believe that clarity of purpose in policy is essential. It is why political parties must, as much as possible, spell out their policies and how they intend to implement and fund them.

Labour’s 2017 manifesto did this with its adjacent document “Funding Britain’s Future”, which laid out how Labour would pay for its programme.

If we now let the Brexit Party avoid this essential aspect of democracy then we risk allowing candidates to deceive their way into parliament, hoodwinking voters in the process. This is the clear tactic at the heart of the Brexit Party’s aversion to policy. It is demonstrated by Nigel Farage who refuses to even acknowledge that he was an advocate of the privatisation of the NHS as leader of UKIP.

Yet since Andrew Marr was rebuffed by Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party has rarely been challenged on policy detail. This only further plays into their strategy, and undermines our politics.

It is not surprising then that his new apprentice in Mike Greene, the candidate for Peterborough, is standing on a largely policy free platform. Rather than a manifesto he has “four pledges” alongside no-deal Brexit that make up his offer to the electorate. Only one of these pledges has anything close to something resembling a policy, the others are empty sentiments. But even this policy falls apart under scrutiny.

Mr Greene pledges to build a thousand homes a year in Peterborough, which as the sole MP for his party in parliament would be almost impossible to deliver. One presumes these thousand homes will not be built by his own hands or out his own pocket – but there’s no detail to suggest otherwise, so it’s anyone’s guess really.

It’s not even an ambitious target either – he is offering to build fewer than the current Conservative council took credit for building in 2015 and what Labour locally promises to deliver. It certainly won’t help the almost three thousand people languishing on the council housing waiting list in the area.

These questions desperately need answering. Especially when you consider that Mr Greene has been accused of “profiteering” from our broken housing market in our country – he was a director of a company that profited from buying and selling freeholds of hundreds of new homes.

This wealthy man – who’s even starred in the show The Secret Millionaire – lives in a mansion and says he is best placed to represent the people of Peterborough, yet cannot even give his potential constituents detail on his flagship housing policy. He is likely to become a lawmaker in our country without a shred of scrutiny as to how he would vote on anything other than Brexit.

What this represents is the diminishing of substantive politics in our country. But we cannot risk allowing the money men behind the Brexit Party to come in and exploit the country at this crucial moment; and their success is only maintained if we keep allowing their candidates and leaders only to talk on Brexit.

They are competing for a place in Westminster, not fighting a referendum. Now is the time to hold them to account on a range of issues that affect the whole country, just like any other political party.

James Mills is a former strategic advisor to Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn