Boris Johnson on Ken Clarke's Ukip insult: Don’t slag off Nigel Farage, he’s rather an engaging geezer

 
P5 Boris Johnson Pic:Alan Davidson /The Picture Library Ltd.
Alan Davidson /The Picture Library Ltd.
29 April 2013
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Boris Johnson criticised Cabinet minister Kenneth Clarke today for “ill-advised insults” aimed at Ukip.

London’s Mayor urged senior Conservatives to calm down about the threat posed by the party, after a weekend of sniping in which Mr Clarke dismissed it as “clowns”. Ukip leader Nigel Farage hit back, deriding the veteran minister without portfolio as “a bloated remnant of the ancien régime, plucking crumbs from his velvet waistcoat and disdaining the people beyond the gates”.

In a clear slapdown of Mr Clarke’s jibe, the Mayor said Mr Farage, “with his pint and cigar and sense of humour”, was regarded by most Tory voters as a fellow-Conservative.

He wrote: “I think there may have been a few ill-advised insults flying around in the past couple of days. Well, I would humbly submit that there are better ways of tackling the Ukip problem, if indeed it is really a problem at all.” He argued that the “rise of Ukip” ought to reassure Tories that voters were not crossing over to Labour.

Many supporters shared Ukip’s concerns on immigration and Europe, and it was counterproductive “to slag [Ukip] off just for appearing to think, in large part, what many Conservatives think,” the Mayor added. He described Mr Farage as “a rather engaging geezer” who was “anti-pomposity, he’s anti-political correctness, he’s anti-looney Brussels regulation”.

In 2006 David Cameron called Ukip a party of “fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists”.

Yesterday Mr Clarke said: “The political classes are regarded as having got us into a mess. 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.”

But Tory Right-winger Nadine Dorries tweeted: “I suppose Ken Clarke’s strategy of being rude to Tories ... means we don’t want them back for general election?” At this week’s local elections the Conservatives are braced for losses of 350 or more seats. Senior Tories fear Ukip will split their vote, boosting likely losses to more than 400. Some Tory MPs are talking of launching an “anti-Ukip unit” before next year’s European elections, where there are fears Ukip could overtake the Conservatives.

Ukip has been forced by Press reports to investigate a handful of its record 1,700 council candidates, over links to groups such as the BNP and alleged racist and homophobic comments. Speaking on LBC 97.3 radio, Mr Farage blamed the Tories for “smears”, saying: “They know the public are genuinely concerned about opening up the door to Bulgaria and Romania next year.

“We have a million youngsters unemployed, wages being driven down and I am afraid a crime wave in London being caused by Romanians already.”

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