UKIP will cause political earthquake in European elections, says Nigel Farage

Guardian UK ^ | Sunday, May 5, 2013 | Nicholas Watt

[SunkenCiv]

Amid growing calls from Tory MPs for David Cameron to respond to the Ukip threat by bringing forward legislation on an EU referendum, Farage warned that his party would not go away even if No 10 "starts singing the same song".

William Hague, who famously suffered a major defeat in the 2001 election after tacking to the right, called for a cautious response to Ukip as he warned of the dangers of "quick fixes".

Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said many Ukip voters were "frustrated Conservatives".

As the Tories work out their response to Ukip, which won nearly a quarter of the vote in wards it contested in the local elections, Farage said he would not be standing in any byelection over the next year as he focuses on the European parliamentary elections.

The Ukip leader told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1: "Ukip is here to stay … June 2014 we have a European election. That is the day on which Ukip can cause an earthquake in British politics. I want to lead the party into that."

Asked whether he would stand for parliament in the 2015 general election – he stood against the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, in Buckingham in 2010 - Farage said: "Yes I will stand for a seat in 2015. I have been rather busy for the last few weeks doing other things [to decide which seat to contest]. But I will think about it."

Farage pointed out that Ukip was picking up votes not just from the Tories, saying his party won 24% of the vote in the South Shields byelection, mostly from old Labour supporters.

[AnAmericanInEngland]

Sorry, what I was referring to was the ease of travel, no visas needed, UK citizens travel under an eu passport, passing through customs only is a slight inconvenience, and if you’re a UK passports holder, a formality.