'Affable' Farage impresses despite 'liars'
in UKIP ranks
Cigar-smoking leader wins praise as his party comes under scrutiny ahead
of Thursday's local elections
RECENT COLUMNS
NIGEL FARAGE labelled some of his own candidates "liars" this morning,
but the UKIP leader
remained cool as he faced fresh criticism about the ugly face of some members
of his party.
of his party.
which revealed that Alex Wood, a UKIP candidate in Blackmore Vale, Somerset,
had put a photograph of himself giving a Nazi salute on his Facebook page.
had put a photograph of himself giving a Nazi salute on his Facebook page.
"It doesn't look very pretty," Farage admitted. "I agree with you that out of
1,700 candidates there are a handful who have embarrassed us precisely because they
haven't told us the truth…
haven't told us the truth…
We have a couple of very bizarre cases and two members who were former BNP who
basically lied to us."
Wood this morning claimed his Facebook page had been "hacked".
Farage said his party did not have the resources to trawl through the social media ites of
all its candidates.
It was a sticky moment for Farage, who had a furious spat at the weekend with veteran
Farage said his party did not have the resources to trawl through the social media ites of
all its candidates.
It was a sticky moment for Farage, who had a furious spat at the weekend with veteran
Tory MP Ken Clarke. Clarke accused UKIP of being packed with "racists".
But Farage drew praise for the affable way he handled the questions when he was
confronted by John Humphrys, the Today programme's interrogator-in-chief.
Tim Montgomery, former editor of the Tory grassroots website, ConservativeHome
immediately Tweeted:
confronted by John Humphrys, the Today programme's interrogator-in-chief.
Tim Montgomery, former editor of the Tory grassroots website, ConservativeHome
immediately Tweeted:
"Stellar performance from @Nigel_Farage on @BBCr4today.
Friendly. Direct. Reasonable.
Friendly. Direct. Reasonable.
Stated some compelling views. A formidable opponent."
Farage, a cigar smoker, went on to defend UKIP policies for the lifting of the smoking
ban in bars and laughed off Humphrys' suggestion that he was no better than a
taxi-driver spouting right-wing policies from the cab.
taxi-driver spouting right-wing policies from the cab.
Farage – described by Boris Johnson yesterday as a "rather engaging geezer" –
has plenty to be affable about.
A YouGov poll in The Sun this morning gives UKIP a record 14 per cent of the
has plenty to be affable about.
A YouGov poll in The Sun this morning gives UKIP a record 14 per cent of the
vote ahead of Thursday's local elections in the Tory shires.
No wonder the Tories are getting rattled and David Cameron has gone on the attack,
warning Tory voters that if they vote for UKIP, they will get
No wonder the Tories are getting rattled and David Cameron has gone on the attack,
warning Tory voters that if they vote for UKIP, they will get
Labour by default.
Farage's relatively affable encounter with Humphrys was in complete contrast to
Ed Miliband's
tetchy "car crash" interview with Martha Kearney on the World at One programme
yesterday.
The Labour leader was challenged more than ten times to admit his party's plans for
reviving the economy would mean more immediate borrowing.
At one point, the normally sweet-talking Kearney told 'Red Ed' that his ratings
suggested he was more popular than Michael Foot,
but less popular than Neil Kinnock. OUCH! ·
At one point, the normally sweet-talking Kearney told 'Red Ed' that his ratings
suggested he was more popular than Michael Foot,
but less popular than Neil Kinnock. OUCH! ·
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