Why Vote UKIP?

In his blog today, John Redwood appears to argue that there is very little point in voting UKIP as there is no possibility of them getting a majority in Parliament. He argues that they didn't even manage to come second in any of the Police & Crime Commissioner elections and this shows that they don't have the support that they claim.
I tend to agree with the facts that he puts forward, but not with the conclusions that he draws from them. I support UKIP because I want Britain to withdraw from the EU and to become an independent nation once again. I have reached the conclusion that the present Tory leadership is extremely unlikely even to attempt to withdraw and are talking of a "revised agreement". I suspect that the only referendum we are likely to be offered is whether we prefer the status quo or would prefer the revised agreement.
But another reason that I will vote UKIP is because I have yet to discover what are the policies of the present Conservative Party under David Cameron & George Osborne. When Mrs Thatcher was leader it was very clear what the party’s policies were but now, I haven’t a clue when it comes to the issues that really matter.
We were promised lots of things but so far zilch! On the other hand, things that weren’t mentioned such as gay marriage are gaining prominence, and whilst they are perhaps worthy of discussion, they are of little importance in the present crisis.
“Improvements” to the NHS seem to have resulted in the closure of the A&E department at our nearest hospital requiring a journey of at least twice the distance. My GP has just retired early because, as he said to me, “I went into medicine to treat patients, now I’m expected to spend much of my time doing paperwork and the changes will make things worse. Enough is Enough”. The only Minister who appears to be doing anything is Michael Gove, but I imagine he will be ground down by the forces opposed to change and elitism.
The public finances show no signs of being brought under control, the number of quangos abolished can be counted on the fingers of one hand, others having been merged and are still effectively there. Money is being wasted in foreign aid and ending up in dictators’ Swiss bank accounts whilst the EU demands, and will no doubt get in some devious way, even bigger sums.
Now I'm not stupid enough to think that UKIP will cure all these issues, nor do I believe that they will get a majority in Parliament in the foreseeable future. But what choice do I have? I would like a true blue Tory government, and if I thought there was any chance of getting one I would vote Tory. But in the present situation where all the old parties seem to be trying to claim the leftward-moving middle ground, there is very little difference between any of them. The LibDems appear to be opportunists and like blackmailers, the more that get, the more they want. In practice, I feel in many issues they are further left than Labour.

UKIP did well in the Corby by-election, getting well ahead of the LibDems and their vote was almost equal to the Labour majority. Clearly if the Tories and UKIP had been able to agree on a suitable Eurosceptic candidate and pulled together in the constituency, Labour could have been beaten. It illustrates what could happen to the Tories at the next election if they don't reach an accommodation with UKIP. The trouble is that Nigel Farrage has made it clear that he would not trust Cameron (after his "cast iron" guarantees) and that would present the Tories with a problem.

However, under the present circumstances I think that if UKIP wasn’t there, I’d either not bother to vote, or I would vote Labour. There is no way I can support the present wishy-washy turquoise Tories.