Nigel Farage claims 100% of credit for ‘forcing’ Cameron to hold poll

Nigel Farage has mounted an attempt to claim all the political credit if the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union, declaring the Leave campaign has stolen Ukip's slogans and policies.

The Ukip leader said it was his party's referendum, given that he had "forced" David Cameron to take the issue seriously because voters had been turning to his party.

In his final speech of the campaign Mr Farage claimed 100 per cent of the credit for having "forced" the government to the poll, highlighting the Ukip slogans, policies and language now openly used by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

These included the Ukip slogan from the general election, Believe in Britain, as well as the branding of today as the UK's independence day, and the flagging up of the Australian-style points system, of loving Europe but hating the EU, and the arguments about continuing to enjoy German cars and French wine in the event of a Brexit.

Electoral liability

“I say with some pride, this would never have happened without Ukip. It is, in many ways, our referendum,” Mr Farage said, pointing out that he had fought for this moment for decades.

The official Leave campaign has been desperately trying to distance itself from Ukip, viewing Mr Farage as an electoral liability rather than asset. This intensified last week after Ukip released a poster showing migrants crossing a European border with the slogan "Breaking Point", which Remain campaigners likened to Nazi propaganda. However, defiantly, Mr Farage said he would only apologise for the timing of the launch, which had coincided with the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox.

Xenophobia accusations

He also deflected accusations of racism and xenophobia, saying people should instead be criticising a poster published by Operation Black Vote showing a white skinhead shouting at an elderly Asian woman that said everyone’s vote was worth the same.

“The one poster that no one seems to talk about . . . was put out by an organisation encouraging people from the ethnic minorities to vote, showing a skinhead menacing an elderly Asian lady. And that was an absolute disgrace,” he said.

The Ukip leader also made a pitch to non-voters to break the habit of a lifetime and cast their ballot, choosing the Leave option, predicting this would lead to a Brexit victory.

He suggested that Ukip supporters would “crawl over glass” to get to the ballot booths today but that the campaign needed those who had not been politically engaged before to win the referendum.

– (Guardian service)