The leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage said on Saturday his party is pulling in both disaffected Conservatives and ‘old Labour’ voters because it is the only party offering alternative policies.
Farage rallied a large gathering of delegates at the party’s spring conference in Exeter, boosted by the party’s success in the Eastleigh by-election last month when they took 28 percent of the vote to beat both major parties into second spot.
The UKIP leader said that voters backing his Eurosceptic party were not just making a protest vote but looking for a viable alternative to the three mainstream parties, adding a “wholesale rejection of the career political class is going on”.
He said voters saw little difference between the three parties, and that their leaders “really do all look the same… they all go to the same schools, the same Oxbridge colleges.”
In a direct attack on Prime Minister David Cameron, Farage added: “Conservative voters expect to hear about free markets and aspiration. Now we’ve got a Conservative leader who talks about gay marriage and wind turbines.”
On Cyprus and the Euro crisis he said he was surprised by the European Union’s actions in recent days and advised the estimated 750,000 British ex-pats living in Spain to take steps to manage their investments.
He said: “Even I didn’t think they’d [EU] stoop to stealing from people’s bank accounts,” Farage said. “Its not going to stop there, there’s going to be a flight of money in other eurozone countries.”
Farage, who was himself a victim of phone-hacking, also expressed anxiety over the cross-party agreement agreed earlier this week on press regulation following the Leveson Inquiry. He said that while he believes it is important to recognise there have been “tabloid excesses” there is existing legislation in place that protects victims.
He said the recommendations would damage the British newspaper and magazine industry, adding: “Britain has the best and most open press of any country in the world. And while we acknowledge there have been excesses, and a royal charter might be a good idea,we are opposed to politicians regulating the press.”
After success in by-elections in Middlesbrough, Rotherham and Cornwall this year the party is now positioning itself to canvass voters ahead of the European elections in May.
UKIP leader says it is the only 'alternative' party
