Ukip has a 'phenomenal' chance to take votes from Labour

Ukip has a "phenomenal" chance to take "many millions" of votes from a Labour party that is losing its "sense of purpose", Nigel Farage has said.

Addressing the Ukip spring conference in Bolton on Friday morning, the MEP described Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as "miles away from working class Britain".

He added that Britain should not be "begging" Brussells for Brexit terms because the nation voted to control its own laws.

He said: "We have the most phenomenal opportunity with many millions of Labour voters, particularly in places like Bolton, for whom now the Labour party is utterly and fatally disconnected.

"We've seen the death of the Labour party in Scotland, and I sense that the Labour party is beginning to lose much of its sense of purpose in England and Wales right now.

"Whatever Mr Corbyn's attributes might be, he basically isn't patriotic, he won't sing the national anthem, he wants to give away the Falkland Islands, he won't condemn the IRA, he is miles away from working class Britain.

"They need the champion - and that is Ukip's opportunity."

To huge applause, the former Ukip leader added: "We didn't fight to win that referendum to argue with a begging bowl in Brussells for better [fishing] quotas.

"We did it because we voted to take back control of our nation, its laws, its borders, and its territorial waters."