UKIP bids for anti-EU protest vote

Rochdale voters have been urged to use the June Euro-elections to say no to being ruled from Brussels.

The UK Independence Party (UKIP), which already has one Euro-MP in the North West, John Whittaker, made its appeal as it launched its campaign for the 4 June election.
The party is so confident it is in tune with the mood of the country it is predicting it will at least double its number of Euro-MPs.

Party chairman Paul Nuttall, who is also the party’s lead candidate for the North West, said: “Last week we had the most important Budget in 50 years.

“The country is desperately short of cash, yet we are still spending £40 million a day to be members of the European Union.

“The message is simple: ‘We can no longer afford EU’.

“The money handed over could provide annual salaries for 3,000 soldiers, 2,000 nurses, 1,000 school headmasters and 500 top surgeons, and feed 333 million of the world’s poorest people for a day.

“It’s no wonder the other parties don’t want to talk about the EU. They all support this European project but don’t all want to admit that to the electorate.

“This is not a General Election when voters elect a government, this is a European election where people can register a protest against the EU.

“So we are asking Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat supporters to lend us your vote for this election.

“Apathy is always a problem with elections but we want to make sure that people realise just how important this particular one is.

“This week will see our billboards going up all over the North-West.

“We have one MEP in the North West at present but we confidently expect to have at least two returned this time round.”

John Whittaker, who became the party’s first North West Euro-MP five years ago, is standing down in June.