Farage 'would do deal with the devil' to get EU referendum

ITV News political correspondent Romilly Weeks has tweeted:

Watch: Farage declares Ukip fruitcake 'delicious'

Ukip leader Nigel Farage is due to hold a public meeting in Torquay this morning, after the party conference yesterday, in which he said he would resign as leader if his prediction of winning several seats in the next General Election does not come to pass.

Read: Nigel Farage: I will resign unless we win election seats

Ukip's Nigel Farage has said he will resign as leader of the party if his prediction of winning several seats in the next General Election does not come to pass.

In his main address to conference goers in Torquay, Mr Farage said he believed seats in the Commons in 2015 were achievable if the eurosceptic party clears its next hurdles in European and local council elections this May.

Asked about his comments at a press conference, Mr Farage said: "I said in my speech we could get several MPs, or a good number of MPs, in Westminster in 2015 provided, and I made it absolutely clear, that would not happen unless we clear this hurdle effectively on May 22.

"I stand by that, this is the election Ukip has waited 20 years for... I would have thought so [resign] ... good lord yes, I would be out the door before you could say Jack Robinson."

Read: Farage - Ukip 'poses biggest threat to political establishment'

Ukip's campaign director Neil Hamilton is a "back room boy", Nigel Farage has said, despite the former Tory MP being given a 30 minute speaking slot at the party's spring conference.

Mr Hamilton, was implicated in the 1990s cash for questions scandal. He is thought to be on Ukip's approved list of possible Parliamentary candidates at next year's election - but is not running for a seat in the European Parliament.

Mr Farage said: "He's the back room boy, he's the campaign manager... When it comes to claims from journalists about what he did or did not do, I generally find... I remember being told he was convicted of something, which I don't believe he was."

Read: Farage - Ukip 'poses biggest threat to political establishment'

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said he felt "awkward" on a recent journey in central London when he heard only foreign languages spoken by passengers on a train.

When he was asked about immigration at a press conference during Ukip's spring conference in Torquay.

He said: "I got the train the other night, it was rush hour, from Charing Cross, it was the stopper going out. We stopped at London Bridge, New Cross, Hither Green.

"It wasn't until after we got past Grove Park that I could actually hear English being audibly spoken in the carriage.

"Does that make me feel slightly awkward? Yes.

"I wonder what's really going on. And I'm sure that's a view that will be reflected by three quarters of the population, perhaps even more."

Read: Farage - Ukip 'poses biggest threat to political establishment'

ITV News political correspondent Romilly Weeks has tweeted:

Watch: Farage declares Ukip fruitcake 'delicious'

Nigel Farage has defended the party's new slogan "Love Britain. Vote Ukip" after it emerged the BNP had used a similar line.

When asked whether using a similar slogan to the far-right party was a mistake, he told ITV News: "Well, don't forget the National Front in the 1970s used the Union Jack and for some years we were too frightened to fly the thing. Let's forget the extremists."

Read: BNP attacks Ukip as a 'knock-off copy' in slogan row

Watch: Farage declares Ukip fruitcake 'delicious'

The British National Party leader has attacked the UK Independence Party after Ukip claimed it was "reclaiming" the slogan 'Love Britain Vote Ukip' from the BNP who had previously used a similar line.

Nick Griffin accused Ukip of being a "cheap...knock-off copy of the BNP's genuine alternative to the out-of-touch old parties."

Watch: Nigel Farage: 'Forget the extremists'

Ukip is "posing the biggest threat to the political establishment that has been seen in modern times," the party's leader Nigel Farage told his spring conference today.

"It's because of that that we are met with such a degree of derision. We're told that the Ukip vote is just a protest vote."

He said voters after the Eastleigh by-election told him: "We're not protest voters. We believe in everything Ukip stands for."

The "quality and calibre" of Ukip candidates is improving, leader Nigel Farage told his party's spring conference today.

"Since 2010, since we were last here for conference, Ukip itself has changed," he said.

"There's a much more diverse range of people from all sorts of different backgrounds who are taking part and standing as candidates for Ukip."

He added that the party had addressed its men-only image: "We have a party director who is female, and if you look at the European election list, whilst it is true that fewer women than men put their names forward, just look at how those women have done in an open ballot."