Ukip would fund plans to abolish tax for workers on the minimum wage and cut the rate for higher earners by quitting the European Union and ditching High Speed 2, Nigel Farage has said.

The party leader conceded the taxation reforms would "cost a lot of money" but said cutting ties with Brussels would save Britain £10 billion a year and insisted ending the controversial new rail route and curbing foreign aid spending would cover the rest of the bill.

Mr Farage is going after the "blue collar" vote and has put tax overhaul at the heart of Ukip's new manifesto, which is being unveiled at the party's conference in Doncaster - the town Labour leader Ed Miliband represents.

But the gathering, which is the largest Ukip has staged, will be overshadowed by events in Westminster following the recall of Parliament to vote on military action against Islamic State.

Mr Farage suggested the debate had been deliberately timed to push Ukip's conference down the news agenda.

He said: "I think there is an element, perhaps, in the Government's planning, that said today suited them. It certainly doesn't suit Ukip.

"I'm suggesting the Government could have discussed the security of our nation in Parliament yesterday, which was a completely free day."

Mr Farage said the party wanted to secure "a good number" of MPs in next year's general election and could "hold the balance of power".

He said: "We have argued for many, many years that people on low salaries should not be paying tax. They shouldn't be paying tax because that's a huge disincentive to come off benefit and shouldn't be paying tax because their living standards are going down every year with the increase in prices we see with electricity bills and all the rest of it.

"What we are saying today is we don't think anybody that earns the minimum wage - that's £13,500 a year - should be paying tax and, by pushing for this hard at our conference, I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the other parties actually adopted this line and we help to shift the agenda.

"No tax on minimum wage would cost just over £12 billion a year. It's a lot of money, I agree, but leaving the European Union would save us £10 billion a year. Cutting our foreign aid budget to a level that was sensible and in line with genuine humanitarian missions would save us £9 billion a year and we are firmly of the view, unlike the other parties, that HS2, on which we propose to spend over £50 billion, is a waste of money.

"So, there's a range of measures there that would more than cover these tax cuts."

Mr Farage said that, while the party was not going to form the next government, it could end up in a pivotal position if there is a hung parliament.

"If we get enough, who is to say in a very uncertain, pretty unstable political scene in Britain at the moment, we could find ourselves in a position of real influence, in a position of holding the balance of power.

"So it is really important that the people that intend to vote for us or who are thinking about voting for us know what we would fight for next year in the event of a hung parliament."

Mr Farage, who will fight South Thanet in Kent in next May's election, is expected to use his keynote speech this afternoon to make a "full frontal assault" on the Opposition, claiming it has failed the people it was founded to represent.

Analysis by the University of Nottingham earlier this year suggested that Ukip could snatch a number of Labour seats at next year's poll, with vulnerable areas including shadow women's minister Gloria de Piero's Ashfield constituency, retiring veteran Austin Mitchell's Great Grimsby, as well as Rotherham - where Ukip came second in a recent by-election - Plymouth North View and Dudley North.

Ukip says its policy announcements will focus on strong, clear, simple messages that are aimed at voters who have been "ignored for generations and are hungry for change".

It is poised to take its first directly-elected Westminster seat next month following the dramatic defection of Douglas Carswell from the Conservatives. Polling has put the former MP on course for a resounding victory in the Clacton by-election he trigged after standing down following the decision to switch allegiances.

The party's tax plans would see the 40p tax rate cut to 35p for people who earn between £42,000 and £55,000. Proposals to protect the NHS from abuse, improve the most essential services, and end the use of private finance initiatives to fund hospital building and maintenance will also be announced.

Mr Farage said he would also raise cash for the tax cuts by stripping the right of "billionaires from Russia and Arab countries like Saudi Arabia" to come to the UK for VAT-free shopping.

"If anywhere you wanted to tax the rich they should be paying VAT," he told a caller to his weekly LBC Radio phone-in.

But he also conceded that he might not be able to cut the aid budget as far as he had hoped because of the latest Ebola outbreak.

"We would cut it from £11 billion to £2 billion - though I have to say that we may need to keep a slightly bigger contingency because I think Ebola could become a very, very big problem," he said.

He suggested that a resounding victory in Clacton was likely to spark further defections by Tory MPs but insisted he was not behind media reports that some had already been lined up.

"I'm not boasting, I am not saying anything," he said.

"But if Douglas Carswell were to win in Clacton, and win big, I think it may well make one or two others think 'This isn't such a bad idea'."

Mr Farage advised Ukip supporters against voting Conservatives in seats where they thought his party had no chance of keeping Labour out.

"In a democracy that people fought and died for, you should vote for what you believe in," he told a caller who was considering a tactical vote in Reading.

"It's rather like football. If you want to support Man City or Liverpool, that's fine. But we go on supporting Crystal Palace because that's our team."

He said Labour leader Ed Miliband was out of touch with ordinary voters.

"Ed Miliband is a perfectly nice person to talk to but there isn't a great deal of passion or fire or belief or connection.

"The leader of the party that is supposed to represent the working classes, I don't think he connects with them, I don't even think he speaks their language."

After Mr Miliband's admission that he forgot to mention the deficit or immigration in his conference speech - delivered without reference to a text - Mr Farage admitted that he was yet to write his own keynote address.

"I've been so busy this week, I haven't yet had time to sit down and write the speech. That is going to happen at lunchtime. I will work it out later," he said.

Ukip's defence spokesman pledged to create a "veterans department" within the Ministry of Defence which would bring together all services for former military personnel.

Mike Hookem also set out proposals for servicemen and women with 12 years in uniform to be guaranteed a job in the police, Border Force or Prison Service once they return to civvy street.

He said: "It is time for us to treat our veterans as the heroes they are and help them build for their future."

Communities spokesman Amjad Bashir told party activists that criminals jailed for offences affecting their community should be banned from returning to live in the area.

He also insisted that Ukip would not allow Sharia law, a tough Islamic penal code, to operate in Britain.

"Ukip will ensure all communities are aware and adhere to the supremacy of British law, whether it is criminal law, civil law, common law or other," he said.

"Ukip will not allow any parallel or alternative legal systems or structures. The British system of law has stood the test of time and been the bedrock for legal systems across the Commonwealth."

Immigration spokesman Steven Woolfe detailed proposals for an Australian-style points based migration system and a cap of 50,000 people a year allowed to move to the UK.

EU and non-EU applicants would all be treated the same under the plans, he told conference.

Ukip would also reform UK border points so there is one line for British passport holders and "one line for the rest of the world" to help weed out illegal immigrants, he said.

An extra 2,500 front line staff would also be put on at ports and airports under the proposals.

He said: "Within the points based system Ukip commits to bringing UK net employment migration down to 50,000 people a year.

"To achieve this Ukip will adopt the Australian points based system that matches skills to the industries that need them and that can permit integration and settlement without overcrowding.

"And finally in order to live here and be part of society you need to integrate. Being able to speak English is essential. Therefore in order to gain permanent rights of residence UKIP will raise the language skills tests a further notch before you can be granted permanent rights of residence wherever you are from."

Ukip's justice and home affairs spokeswoman Diane James told the conference it was "absolutely criminal" that the Westminster parties thought they could throw away the British legal system.

The Ukip MEP for South East England said the party would repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a UK Bill of Rights and "take back full and exclusive control of our legal system from Brussels".

She added: "Ukip can lead the way again with a modern UK Bill of Rights, no more foreign judges over riding our democracy, no more exploitation of human rights at the expense of victims. Ukip will end the outsourcing of justice to Brussels and replace it with control by Parliament whose members are answerable to the electorate. Ukip will end tick box justice and the European Arrest Warrant and its tick box justice.

"Ukip will instigate swift negotiation of bilateral extradition treaties with our friends and our neighbours so that they have to justify extradition and not resort to arbitrary rendition. Ukip will negotiate changes to international law and introduce measures such as a Foreign Enlistment Act that enables us to deprive people of citizenship when they take part in armed conflicts in ways that harm the UK.

"If you want to hurt us, we'll hurt you, no UK passport."

She went on: "The future of UK justice and home affairs rests with Ukip. The only Westminster party prepared to challenge EU institutions and remove entirely the influence of Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg over our affairs. Taking back control Ukip will deliver."