Boris Johnson today warned the Tories not to ‘freak out’ at the rise of the UK Independence Party, days before crucial local elections.
The London Mayor said UKIP’s leader Nigel Farage was a ‘rather engaging geezer’ whose ‘pint and cigar and sense of humour’ appeal and anti-EU policies should not mean bad news for the Conservatives.
But Mr Farage sought to escalate the row between the two parties, hitting back at claims that his party is supported by ‘racists’ and dismissing revelations about online rants by candidates as 'silly things' posted after they have 'been to the pub'.
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Don't panic: UKIP leader Nigel Farage appeals to Tories with his 'pint and his cigar and sense of humour, Boris Johnson said but he warned the Conservatives against 'freaking out' about the anti-EU party's rise
UKIP policies and personnel have come under intense scrutiny in recent days, ahead of council elections on Thursday.
Mr Farage’s party is fielding a record 1,700 candidates but has been dogged by allegations of anti-semitism and membership of the British National Party among those standing for election.
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Two UKIP candidates have been suspended amid claims of alleged racism. Anna-Maria Crampton from East Sussex allegedly made comments blaming Jewish people for the Holocaust, and Sue Bowen is a former BNP member.
FAMILY OF EX-LABOUR CABINET MINISTER DEFECT TO UKIP
The family of a former Labour Cabinet minister has defected to the UK Indepdence Party.
Liz Shore, the widow of Peter who served as Trade Secretary under Harold Wilson and Environment Secretary in Jim Callaghan's government, has switched to the anti-EU party.
She will stand for UKIP in elections to Cornwall's unitary council.
Mrs Shore, 85, said: 'I have been against the Common Market since day one and voted against it in the referendum in 1975 – but this is for county not for country.'
Her daughter Tacy and and her husband Bob have also moved from Labour to UKIP to stand in Thursday's poll.
Richard Wilkins, a candidate on the Isle of Wight, said Mick Philpott, who killed his six children in a fire, should have faced ‘chemical castration’ so he could not have claimed so much in benefits.
Chris Scotton, a candidate in Leicester, has a Facebook page endorsing the far-right English Defence League.
Mr Farage insisted he did not have the resources to 'vet' all of the party's candidates.
'This is a problem of social media – people get on Facebook, they got on Twitter and very often at night, possibly after they’ve been at the pub or whatever, people say very silly injudicious things.
'And what has happened here is a lot of money is being spent by Tory central office going through thousands of comments made.'
A new analysis of UKIP tax policies and spending promises also suggested a £120billion ‘black hole’.
It also emerged that both Labour and the Conservatives want to block the UKIP leader from the TV debates expected to be held ahead of the 2015 general election.
The Tories appear split on how to respond to the rise of UKIP, which believes it can reach more than 14 per cent in this week’s elections.
Cabinet minister Ken Clarke said UKIP was a bunch of ‘clowns’ and he had met supporters who ‘satisfy’ David Cameron’s 2006 assessment that UKIP is packed with ‘fruitcakes and closet racists’.
The party is also ‘against foreigners, it’s against immigrants’, he added.
Nigel Farage says UKIP is not racist on Daybreak
Watch the full interview here
Almost 10,000 people are contesting almost 2,500 seats on in local elections in England and Wales on May 2
Fight back: Mr Farage, pictured leaving ITV's studios today, claimed attacks from ministers including Ken Clarke (right) were proof the Tories had 'lost the argument'
LABOUR JOIN TORIES IN BLOCKING UKIP FROM TV LEADER'S DEBATES
Labour leader Ed Miliband wants to block the UK Independence Party from having a role in the TV leader's debates, it emerged today.
The Tories were already opposed to the idea of giving UKIP leader Nigel Farage equal status ahead of the 2015 general election.
Labour had thought UKIP would only damage the Tories' election hopes.
But strategists now fear UKIP's 'brand of anti-politics could damage all three main parties in unpredictable ways,' The Guardian reported.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg enjoyed a surge in the polls in the 2010 polls as a relatively unknown figure alongside David Cameron and Gordon Brown.
But today Mr Johnson struck a more conciliatory tone, warning the party not to ‘freak out’ in the style of Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage in a many of his films.
Writing in his newspaper column, the London Mayor said: ‘Take Nigel Farage, whom I met years ago and who has always struck me as a rather engaging geezer.
‘He’s anti-pomposity, he’s anti-political correctness, he’s anti-loony Brussels regulation. He’s in favour of low tax, and sticking up for small business, and sticking up for Britain.
‘We Tories look at him – with his pint and cigar and sense of humour – and we instinctively recognise someone who is fundamentally indistinguishable from us,’ he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
‘Omigaaaad, we say to ourselves: they’re stealing our schtick! And we are tempted to do a Nicolas Cage – to overreact, to freak out, to denounce them all as frauds or worse.
‘I think there may have been a few ill-advised insults flying around in the past couple of days.’
Almost 10,000 people in total are contesting almost 2,500 seats in local elections in England and Wales.
Election experts predict UKIP could can up to 40 council seats on May 2, with the Tories and Lib Dems braced for heavy losses.
Mr Farage suggested the attacks on his party were proof that the Tories have ‘lost the argument’.
The Tories swept the board in 2009, turning the electoral map almost entirely blue. Four years on they are under pressure from Labour, the Lib Dems and UK Independence Party
‘Ken Clarke and others have decided that, rather than going for the ball, they are going to attack the player and that is exactly what this is about,’ he told ITV’s Daybreak.
‘They know that the British public are genuinely concerned about opening up the door to Bulgaria and Romania next year.
‘They are concerned because we have a million youngsters unemployed, we have wages being driven down and I am afraid a crime wave in London being caused by Romanians already.
UKIP TAX AND SPENDING PLAN HAS '£120BILLION BUDGET BLACKHOLE'
There is a £120billion black hole in UKIP’s election manifesto, it emerged today.
It includes a combination of tax cuts worth £90billion and an extra £30billion in spending, The Times said.
The manifesto promises to lead the European Union, saving £6.4billion-a-year.
But it contains a raft of big spending promises, including boot camps for young offenders, doubling prison places and detention centres for asylum seekers.
It also promises a 25 per cent flat rate of tax, axing national insurance contributions for employers costing £50billion, abolishing inheritance costing £.3billion, cutting carbon taxes £3.8billion, allowing councils to keep VAT receipts worth £10billion.
There is also a pledge to increase defence spending by 40 per cent, costing £16billion-a-year. There would also be an extra £4billiuon in extra spending on military equipment.
Tory MP Charlie Elphicke told The Times: ‘It is clear that there is a £120 billion financial black hole in UKIP's economic plans.
‘If implemented we would end up going the way of Cyprus and Greece much faster even than if we had a Labour government.
'UKIP's wacky policies can only be paid for by a massive increase in borrowing or wholescale sacking of teachers, doctors and nurses.’
The UKIP manifesto also includes county referendums on the hunting ban and a return to smoking in pubs.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage recently admitted his tax policy is ‘incomplete… it need more work’ as he claimed the party’s manifesto sets out ‘aspirations’ rather than concrete promises.
‘These are tough subjects to talk about. All we are doing is talking the truth. There is nothing in UKIP that is racist in any way at all and Ken Clarke knows it. If he throws this abuse out, we will start having a proper debate.’
UKIP is investigating a handful of its record 1,700 candidates over links to groups such as the BNP and alleged racist and homophobic comments.
Mr Farage, whose party has said it does not condone ‘unpalatable views’, told the programme UKIP is ‘the only party in British politics who does not allow former members of the BNP to even join us as a member, let alone be a candidate.
‘Labour has sitting councillors who are former BNP members, the Tories have BNP members in their party, we forbid it.’
In a high-risk manoeuvre yesterday, Mr Clarke took aim not just at UKIP leaders and their candidates, but also at voters who are considering backing the party, many of whom are disillusioned Tory supporters angry about David Cameron’s stance on immigration and gay marriage.
UKIP called the Conservative onslaught a ‘morally reprehensible smear campaign’ last night – but the party has also faced a series of damaging claims about the background of some of its candidates.
Asked whether he agreed with David Cameron’s 2006 assessment that UKIP is packed with ‘fruitcakes and closet racists’, Mr Clarke replied: ‘I have met people who satisfy both those descriptions in UKIP.
'Indeed, some of the people who have assured me they are going to vote UKIP I would put in that category. I rather suspect they have never voted for me.'
He said he was sure that ‘most of the Ukip people are perfectly nice when they are having a drink’ but added: ‘It is very tempting to vote for a collection of clowns or indignant, angry people, who promise that somehow they will allow us to take your revenge on people who caused it.’
Mr Clarke dismissed UKIP as a protest party, saying: ‘It is against the political parties, the political classes, it’s against foreigners, it’s against immigrants but it doesn’t have any very positive policies, they don’t know what they’re for.’He criticised UKIP for putting up candidates who have been exposed as former members of the racist British National Party or the English Defence League, who have been kicked out of the party in the past week.