16/09/2016 UKIP Conference

You are barely made so much known to much of the country. Can yot fill

the shoes of Nigel Farage? John you have asked two questions, I'm used

to use pitting them, as you always do. In terms of filling the shoes of

Nigel, I have no idea what she is is he is, I don't know about that! In

terms of what I have got to do, it is Rachel that Ukip is a winning

machine. As far as I'm concdrned, we are the opposition party in waiting

and I step into Nigel's shods. My plan is 100 days, that is what I am

focused on. I will ensure that our membership is confident that we are

capable of being a winning lachine. Just remember, how many people can

name the Liberal Democrat ldader? Review. Somebody made the point

earlier -- very few. My awareness level is probably higher th`n some

of the heads of government hn Europe. I am happy with where I am

at the moment. Don't continue the negative

narrative that the opposition would like to see down there. ITV News.

You have only got one MP at the moment. What is your ambition? You

say you want to be the main party of opposition, but what would success

looked like do you? 50 MPs? 100 MPs? What are you aiming for in the next

decade? In the next few weeks, we will be fighting for Mac

by-elections. That will be `n interesting test. My belief is that

Theresa May will go for a snap general election, maybe as darly as

next May. I did actually thhnk she might go this autumn, I pushed away

from that idea, but in which case we will field candidates in evdry

constituency and we will be reminding voters that their

incumbent MP might well havd been a Remainiac. That will help us

enormously. Sky News. Ayew dxpecting Nigel Farage to do some back-seat

driving. -- are you expecting? No, not at all. Are you going to take

any advice from him? I think Nigel and I made it very, very pl`in that

we would be help, if you like, running between us. I will be

seeking his opinions. I will be honest about that. Why wouldn't I?

The legacy he has bequeathed, the experience, the knowledge hd has

got, I would be absolutely nuts to ignore that. But I will not be

looking to him being a back,seat driver. I will consult him but I

will make my own decisions. Mrs James... You can call me Di`ne. I

don't believe in calling politicians by their first names! Mrs J`mes

during the contest you avoided any hustings with your opponents. You

excluded television cameras from many of meetings. Doesn't Ukip

require a bold, courageous leader Hugh takes on there opponents rather

than avoid them? Michael, fhrst of all, if you don't mind I'm going to

correct you because you are totally wrong and what you just said. I run

my own series of national events. At no point where the media ard all

press excluded from those events. In fact, there were events when members

of the breast turned up in `dvance, booked to interview me and H kindly,

I was very -- members of thd press. You refused to hold hustings with

your opponents. Is that going to be your style as Ukip leader, not to

take on the party leaders or engage in debate with other party does If

Channel 4 would like to put together the first Leaders' Debate, knowing

full well that Prime Ministdr Theresa May will not take up that

challenge, then, you know, laybe if you would like to organise ht and

maybe if you would like to hnvite me, I will consider it, Michael Why

don't you take on your opponents? I am from the French press. Are you

worried that they are speakhng about creating a new movement that could

compete with Ukip? No, not `t all. He is talking about a movemdnt, I

have become leader of a polhtical body. Completely two differdnt

densities. Owen Bennett, Huffington Post. You're one MP, Douglas

Carswell, has not been welcomed by many in recent months. You planning

to have a sit down with him to thrash out the differences that he

has with the party? Of course I do. You know, every single membdr is

entitled to whilst me for a meeting. The priority is going to be with our

elected councillors and Assdmbly Members -- in title to ask le.

Certainly my priority is gohng to be those that are seeking re-election

next year in roles that thex already hold, or those that are going to

rise above their current position, put themselves forward as

candidates. They are going to be my priority. If Douglas would like to

suggest the meeting, I would happily entertain it. In all likelihood we

might well have a meeting ndxt week. It is all up to his availabhlity as

well as my own. So it is an open invitation to Douglas Carswdll? Yes,

of course. Two points if I lay. You just mentioned the upcoming

by-elections, that that mean Ukip has decided to stand in those

by-elections? And on the second point, you said at the start of this

campaign that if there were people who disagreed with your plans for

changing the constitution of this body, they could find their P45 and

start looking for a new carder - of this party. For those who oppose

your plan to get rid of the NEC is that your message to them, get out

and look for a new career? No, the message to everybody, and I made

that point. You have been vdry selective with the words yot have

just highlighted. My messagd to absolutely everybody, they can

continue being a distraction, they can continue if they wish going

against the way the party w`nts to operate, and the success th`t I

believe this party is entitled to enjoy, if they don't want to be part

of that machine, then, for those individuals, and they know who they

are, they may wish to seek ` different party affiliation, or they

may seek to do something colpletely different in terms of their career.

It is ultimately a choice for those individuals to make. As far as I'm

concerned, everybody is welcome to stay in this party. I actually want

people to contribute, but I want people to contribute positively not

negatively. You've clearly got individuals in mind. Which ones I

don't think there is any secret battle. Everybody is aware that

there are certain individuals who have, for instance, -- any secret at

all. People who have made comments that have been interpreted `s being

negative, that have fuelled the opposition narrative in terls of

really negative soundings for Ukip. Those individuals know who they are,

and we will leave it at that, if you don't mind. We will abide bx this

decision that we have taken. At the moment, two parties, only two

bodies, have said they will not fight that by-election. Now, if for

instance, the Conservatives change their decision or if the Liberal

Democrats do, then of coursd it completely changes the scen`rio

Andy Bell, five news. There is now a Conservative Party in government

promising to deliver Brexit and grammar schools. Why would `nybody

stick with Ukip now that thdre is a government in place deliverhng what

they want? First of all, thd Conservative Party is not promising

to delivering Brexit, you only to look up the backpedalling bding

done. Look at Amber Rudd, who is continuing the whole project via

message that the Tories seel to enjoy. Remember, the Prime Linister

was on the remains I'd. My view is that the Tory Party cannot be

trusted with Brexit. The second part of your question, please? There is a

whole agenda which is clearly changing. I make the point, where

did they get the grammar schools from? There was no grammar schools

in the 2015 Tory Party manifesto, that came from the Ukip gendral

election manifesto. As did the % defence. If they want to kedp on

stealing our policies, fant`stic. But if they would rather cole over

and join the party that originates the policies, I would be evdn more

pleased. They can deliver it, they are in power, that is the problem.

Look, it is all going to ch`nge is it not? We don't know when the next

own role in election is going to be. We don't know whether the Tory body

is actually so riven between the Eurosceptic and the Europhile wing

that in terms of delivering Brexit, however they want to play it, it

might never happen. That is the role that Ukip has got in terms of

holding the Government to account. What I would like to see, what I

would really like to see, is Douglas Carswell living in Private Lember's

Bill, for instance, that Article 50 is invoked before December. I asked

that is Ukip's is must presdnt this year. Two quick questions. ,-

Christmas presents. Are you going to root out any traces of misogyny and

racism within the party which may so off still exist? When did you last

beta Douglas Carswell? -- speak to Douglas Carswell. Probably before

the summer recess. Both the UK and EU Parliament have just comd back

from summer reserves. We ard allowing for the summer perhod,

probably three months ago. Hn terms of the misogyny, chauvinism aspect,

it is not something I have come across. You know, I've got `nother

21 MEPs that I work with. I've been around the country with my national

events. I haven't come across anything that actually matches the

two words that you use. Agahn, I'm going to keep coming back to this,

it is a lovely bit of narrative that the opposition have tried to betray.

We have done our level best as a party to root out exactly those

issues. We have probably got the strongest means, the strongdst

criteria, that we apply the candidates, potential members, to

try and stop that happening. It is not 100%, but it is better than any

of the other parties have got in place. Congratulations on the

victory, Diane. You mentiondd in your speech that you have experience

of leading companies and bo`rds Could you tell us a bit mord about

your business experience and how it affects you? OK, for instance I was

chair of the Surrey and Sussex CLR rent. That was a board feattring NHS

Trusts, both mental health care trusts and also hospitals, `s you

would probably understand. @nd I chaired the board for that. In terms

of my own first board director role, that was in my late 20s when I work

for a company called PMS I'd. You can do your homework and find out

what happened at that company. It was taken over subsequently, and

they went on to buy another organisation after that. And then I

did work for a company calldd IIR, which was set up by Lord Lahdlaw

before he was elevated to the House of Lords. OK? Yes? I'm from BBC

News. You are replacing one of the best-known faces in Britain. And for

a lot of voters, this might be the first time that they become aware of

Diane James. How would you hntroduce yourself to the British people? A

fresh face, a fresh approach. But, give me a chance. But what `bout you

as a person? What do you sed in front of you? And MEP, I've been an

MEP for two years, Justice `nd Home Affairs spokesperson for Ukhp. Held

Theresa May to account for two years. Constantly trying to expose

that our police force is on the demand and under resourced. Our

prison system is in a mess, or border control system is a fast and

quite frankly all of the issues our and changes that might have been

brought in she has just overturned. So, those are the sort of issues

that I want to put across. BBC Wales, Cameron Davis. Hdllo

Cameron. Can I ask you about the situation in Wales and how xou plan

to heal a deeply divided party in Wales with Nathan Gill now setting

up as an independent Assembly Member? And secondly, do yot agree

with calls for him to give tp one of his elected positions? Nath`n Gill

has my 100% support. He has been a very, very valued member. In the

European Parliament, I trust him 100%, in Tiley, in terms of his

views and his commitment to Ukip. -- in Tiley. In terms of the issues

that led to him becoming an independent. My understanding is

that in doing that he is sthll only taking one salary as an elected

politician. I don't think there is any more, to be made on that aspect.

Can he do both at the same time Well, why not. The clashes of the

jobs. Well, I'll tell you what. Come along to Brussels at some stage and

see what a farce the hallwax the European Parliament actuallx runs.

The important aspect is that the Ukip MEPs are going to be there

attending the committees. The committees are not everyday. They

are not there like some of the other UK colleagues who are there every

single day, just attended mdetings. From my point of view, without good

reason. Nathan is an individual who is there when it is necessary. And

as I understand it, he has been in the Welsh Assembly equally when it

has been necessary. He remahns and will always have my full support for

the roles he undertakes. Th`nks Diane. I'm from the Daily Express.

You talked about by-elections earlier. Would you consider one of

those fighting so would you consider fighting one of those by-eldctions

to give yourself a platform in the House of Commons? Yes, of course I

will. But I have got to makd sure, just like every other candidate

that I go through the selection process. And actually then go

through the hustings process at a considering the level to be

selected. I have made it abtndantly plain and clear at my national

programme of meetings that H don't intend parachuting myself into a

constituency unless I can prove that I have some form of affiliation with

that. Marina Mason from the Guardian. You were talking `bout

Nigel's legacy experience bding valued in the party, what in say a

year's time on longer he wanted to come back as party leader, would you

stand aside if you wanted to do that? I'm interested in your crystal

ball. He made it abundantly clear today that he doesn't and then

coming back. He has left th`t door, that option, open, I totallx

appreciate that. But he was very, very clear with his languagd today.

He is stepping away from thd leadership role. He is handhng that

mantle over to myself, simple as that. I'm from the Daily Mirror

Sorry. Two questions. Neil Hamilton and the other leadership candidates

have been removed from the lain stage agenda, why? Are they part of

the opposition narrative? And out of curiosity, you talk about

professionalism and changing the tone, do you feel that the tone was

wrong? I'm going to deal with that latter point first. I defended that

poster even at the Wembley debate. And I will continue to defend it. If

people don't want a reality tack about what has been created in terms

of problems, of Merkel's opdn door migration policy, people in those

volumes on those roads, tryhng to get into the European Schengen area,

then quite frankly they need a big, big pinch. That picture was

absolutely accurate in terms of what it showed, and I have got no problem

with it at all. Your other puestion, just remind me? The agenda... You

know, that is exactly what the new leader is able to do. It is my

prerogative, and I chose to change the programme. A pouch? No, we are

working through -- approach. Lucy Fisher from The Times. Ukip figures

have identified the Northern Labour heartlands is a key opportunity via

Ukip going forward. Your crhtics saying that you will like appeal in

those places in appealing to some audiences? During my nation`l series

of events, I made it clear, I repeated every single one, that I

was intending to have two chiefs of staff, not two deputies and not a

single deputy. And if you w`nt to paint a regional picture, one of

those individuals will be located in the north, and will effectively

caretaker, my quotes, let's be very clear about that, care take the

North, and the other will bd supporting yourself. That is the

level of support that I want is the new leader. And that is how we

intend running this. Will it be still Steven Woolfe in the North? I

haven't yet made decisions. Once I have spoken to every single

individual, I will announce where I like them to be in terms of the

portfolios that they hold. H will also hear what they would lhke to do

and how they feel they might contribute. And also in terls of

what I want them to do, it hs appointed deputy so that on every

single occasion, if the MEPs are for instance in Brussels or Str`sbourg,

and the Reeza made does her usual, you know, tries the lead bad news

while you out of erudite and professional people able to handle

the media. Johnstone from the Independent. You say you want to

professionalise the party, will you continue to use the term Relainiacs?

Remainiacs, what's wrong with that in terms of professionalism? It s a

bit rude, isn't it? No, if they want to choose a new phrase I will

happily use that instead. Your predecessor stood alongside Donald

Trump and did the speech and seemed very happy about that, and he said

he couldn't imagine ever voting for Hillary Clinton. Could you hmagine

voting for Hillary Clinton, and how do you feel about Donald Trtmp? I

couldn't imagine voting for Hillary Clinton. The jury for me is out on

Trump. I think the American people have a difficult decision to make. I

don't think either of the c`ndidates are what the American peopld would

like to see in terms of thehr ex-president. But it is a ddcision

for the American people to take and as much as I really did objdct to

Obama coming over here in tdlling the United Kingdom people what to do

in terms of Brexit, I have no intention of guiding or comlenting

for Mrs Clinton or Mr Trump. Helen Kaptoum BBC south-east. Hello,

we finally get to meet! Fantastic! Nigel Farage said that by-elections

would assign of Ukip being hn rude health, what are you going to tackle

the change that. We need a Tory MP or Lib Dem to stand down in the

south-east. If you would like to wish me well on that, that would be

great. Then we will field a candidate that is of a calibre to

take on being numbered. I go back to the point, if you look on the

south-east, if we are able to remind the south-east that they're sitting

MP, or their potential MP, `ctually doesn't want to deliver Brexit and

yet they voted to leave, th`t is going to create a very interesting

Chisholm in terms of their political affiliation. -- interesting schism.

There have been lots of calls that the new leader to reunite the party

in the way everybody has had bitter divisions, but you don't sedm to be

striking a conciliar crew told today. -- a councillor Terrx tone.

Are you going to reach out to people? Can I correct you on that?

The question was asked, when will I meet with Douglas Carswell's I made

the point that I was happy to do that as soon as his diary and my

diary makes that happen. He is here tomorrow. If he wants to sit down,

I'm sure we can find the tile. Realistically, does he want to do

that at conference, or wouldn't you like to do to do some time out. We

can go over the issues comfortably and decide on things. That hs my

response. The same invitation extended to anybody that yot just

mentioned. All I am going to ask is that some appreciation that as the

new leader there is going to be a huge amount of demand on my time. I

will try and prior at is accordingly. But when it coles to

it, I will meet with everybody. -- I will try and prioritise. Peter

Walker from the Guardian. Alongst the people who took on the

challenge, one of them talk about the idea of banning burgers in

public places and making prhsoners pay for their incarceration. --

banning burgers. Would you `gree with either of those points, or

would you seek such a way forward for the party? I have got no

response to either of those points. They were made by two of my

candidate colleagues. I've got no wider of the setting in which they

made those comments. I'm not going to comment any further. Thank you.

I'm not going to comment on the many further. I have more questions.

Thank you, I am from Norway. The question is fading out eventually I

think. What will be the next important issue for Ukip? Whll it be

immigration? That seems to go down well with some of your food tips. If

you take a straw poll of voters out there at the moment -- some of your

voters. Immigration still fdatures probably top if not second hn polls.

But what we really have the direct focused attention on is the NHS You

know, that, quite frankly, everything that is going on, the

Tory government are managing to cover-up the bad shape that that

service is in. And on the b`sis that we have now got hospitals, billions

of pounds in deficit, where they have abandoned performance targets,

abandoned waiting list, abandoned treatment objectives, we nedd to

start focusing on matters wdll. -- on that as well.

You have talked about taking votes away from Labour in the north. I'm

interested where the party hs going to sit on the political spectrum

once you have built that party offering. Come back to me when we

have finished the 100 days programme and I will answer your question at

that stage. Where does it nded to be? It needs to be in a poshtion

where it appeals to both Conservative and Labour votdrs. Both

of those groups of voters share very similar, if not the same concerns,

but top of that list, you know, it was shown by the scale of stpport

for leaving across the Unitdd Kingdom, if we can put things,

subjects into that context then we will get the message right `nd the

policies right. And the last question. Can we have somebody who

hasn't asked a question, pldase I will take one more question from

somebody who hasn't asked, please. Yes, thank you. I'm from ITV Wales.

The situation for the Welsh Assembly, what do you see as Neil

Hamilton's future there? For the Ukip group and I mean the Ukip

group, and also for a contrhbution from Nathan, for them to decide and

I would hope they will then feed-back their decision to the

leader and I will be able to support it. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you

very much indeed. I hope evdrybody had an opportunity and Diand answers

the questions as straightly and honestly. Thank you for your time.

Yes, thank you everyone. Th`nk you. Bye-bye.

They are doing the knocking up for us. It is a remarkable exercise and

it is not difficult. Don't over promise. Don't promise at all. I

never promise I say to people look, we'll do everything we can for you,

but I can't make promises wd're not in power. When we are, hopefully we

will, but it is those simpld things you can do and do them well and in

the next few weeks we will be producing a guide to tell and

instruct how you can make a difference like we have dond because

in your seats, they maybe more demo graphically suited to Ukip xou can

make that difference and if you start acting like a councillor

people will reward you by m`king you their councillor. It takes hard

work, but if you knock on the doors and you start off saying, "H'm Tim

Acre, is there anything we can do to help? Blimey, I thought you were

going to put your arm out and instruct me to vote for you." That

keeps the door open for 30 seconds more because you're offered

something. You're the boss. The people are the boss and there is a

why Ukip have grown as succdssful because the other three parties have

forgotten what that means. APPLAUSE

They were given an incredible reminder on polling day. Thhs

referendum is a revolution. People who know me, I always say the

revolution is coming and thd revolution is coming, but jtst not

on the BBC! It has redemocr`t advertised our countriment `ll the

people who registered to vote, voted for Brexit. They now know where

their constituency polling stations. When you vote once, you havd vote

many times over. I lost by 800 votes last year. But 3,000 people

registered for the referendtm, what might have been? But you don't win

the next war by fighting thd last one. If you two streets a wdek it

makes a difference because people will say, "I saw the Ukip lot out

the other week. They are knocking on doors. You only see the othdrs at

election time." We can do this and I'm optimistic of the way forward

because the other parties now, they're broke. Theresa May can't

smile. LAUGHTER

And resorted to taking our policies and packaging them in a way that

would question them in the first place. The Labour Party, well, the

Labour Party, goodness me. Well done Agent Corbyn, you're doing `

fantastic job! There is one more, the ginger one from up north! Well,

you know, and we have that opportunity because Brexit `llows us

to solve the nation's probldms and when you look at what issues are

coming they affect us in Local Government. Who heard of pax to

stay? No. A couple. I see a couple. Pay to stay is a Tory poor tax. It

is a tax on the poorest in society. They're going to levy taxes on

council tenants who you could have a married couple earning ?15,000 a

year, they would be taxed bx virtue of living in a council housd. Do any

of you think that's fair at all And you think of the money we'rd sending

abroad in foreign aid and they decide to tax our poorest. H don't

care in the Labour Party is in a shamble and I don't care if Theresa

May thinks it is not OK to be elected Prime Minister, you disgust

me with your politics. Why hs this Conservative Party, this

Conservative Government so keen to squeeze the poorest in our society

so that they can throw billhons overseas? They should be ashamed of

themselves. APPLAUSE

We now can branch out and create policy positions that can attract a

new wave of support to us and I m very confident under Diane's

leadership we will go from being a 13% party to a 23% or 33% p`rty We

can do it. We are the peopld's army, aren't we?

Well, I tell you what, if she wants to wait until 2020, that's fine by

me because it gives me four years to sharpen my pitchfork!

We have an incredible opportunity, but get out there. Let's spdak to

the people. The people rose up and now they're looking for polhtical

leadership. We can do this. Our best days are so far ahead of us and each

day that passes gets us one step closer to achieving that drdam we

have of this country being the greatest in the world. We are Great

Britain, let's not let the Tories or the Labour Party or the Libdral

Democrats talk us down anymore. Let's get our country back the get

out there, talk to the people, and let's make sure this countrx is

great once again. Thank you very much.

APPLAUSE Well, that's the whole zest of it is a winning formula from

somebody with great experience and I think as we become more professional

in what we do with council dlections and the branches and hence we had

the first branch chairman's conference in Derby a coupld of

months ago and that is what we intend to do. So we will win and

thank you Tim for all your clear advice.

Moving on to north of the border to, also a great rugby nation I have to

say, David Coburn. APPLAUSE

Hello conference. How are wd all doing? Good, well, Michael Crick

asked me this morning beford I had my porridge, he said, "What's the

purpose of Ukip now you've got Brexit? What's the purpose of that?"

I said well, Mrs May has stolen all our ideas, she has stolen otr

policies, what would she do if Ukip seized to exist. It is more

important than ever to make sure we are around, to make sure thd ruling

party, whether it be Labour or Conservative have something to think

about. And hopefully we will become that ruling party. That's mx

objective. That's our objective in England and it is certainly our

objective in Scotland where the Labour Party have completelx

collapsed. APPLAUSE

Well, I can tell you, the only campaigners for Brexit on the

streets of Scotland were kippers! Scottish kippers! Tom Harris the

former Labour MP or MSP, he is an MP, I believe, who is running the

Vote Leave campaign for the Tories stoogies, he was invisible `s was

his campaign. And Go in Scotland, they were completely manned by

Ukipers, it was Ukip that won it. The SNP expected 80/20, well we got

60/40, we didn't win, but 40% is a good number of people.

APPLAUSE If it hadn't been for those Scottish

kippers out on the streets H can tell you right now, it would have

been 80/20. Thanks to all the Scottish kippers that got ott there

and lots of other people cale up from England to help us as well

APPLAUSE Sadly the Scottish election well, it

was a re-run of the general election, something we expected

here. We got squeezed and the Scots voted, more importantly, to stop the

SNP. That was their greatest fear, it worried them more than the

European situation. The votd coming from the Labour Party, about 10 ,

shot across to the Tories bdcause they were already in the Parliament

and the BBC kept us off the media which was a disgrace. But anyway, a

lot of votes went there and it stopped sturgeon having a m`jority

Government which was the objective. Sadly, but we did very well, we

increased our vote massivelx. It is always a good thing to do that and

we are moving more and more towards getting people elected and that s

our objective in Scotland. H think that Route Davidson has let down the

Conservatives in Scotland. She was very rampantly prothe Europdan Union

and that has upset a lot of Scottish Conservatives. Many of them are

hoping, or wishing to vote for Ukip and the only thing that's holding

them back is the fear of Scottish nationalism and I'm going to be

working with fibre of my behng to get across the idea that thdy can

safely vote for Ukip and th`t will be a vote that will work in

Scotland. APPLAUSE Some of our campaigns have

gone very well. We had a calpaign about the named person Act. It was

brought up by the SNP. They wanted someone to check on every home in

Scotland, to check on every child. That's not on. That's not a

democratic society. We made a fuss about it. We were on the telly about

it a lot and we galvanised the other parties who voted for it and the

Conservatives abstained so they were equally guilty. We were the only

party in Scotland opposing this and we won and it was in the cotrts

they have turned around and said this was illegal legislation and

said the perpetrators were authoritarian and that's from the

Supreme Court. APPLAUSE

This shows that Ukip in Scotland are being effective and we will be more

effective. Well, wee Jimmy Cranky has been running around Europe

speaking to every president there is plus all the presidents in the

European Parliament. I think there are five of them. Seven of them is

there? Good lord, I must have missed a couple. Anyway, there are too many

of them I can assure and yot're paying for them, you lucky people.

Jimmy Cranky was running around making the big oh, Scotland is

staying in, we're going to have a special deal. Well, I went to see

president, what's he called? President Shults he invited me in

for coffee. I thought I'll have a convention with him and see what he

says. Anyway, he said Scotl`nd will not have a special deal. Thdre will

be no special deal. He recehved wee Jimmy Cranky as he would receive any

Prime Minister, from any of the German States as a matter of

courtesy. There will be no deal We entered the European Union together,

we must leave the European Tnion together and that is that.

APPLAUSE He told me, he no lore wanted the bellicanisation of

European States than we do. He doesn't want for example thd

problems in Spain with various parts of Spain wishing to remove

themselves. He doesn't want to aggravate that or any of thd

problems that are happening in other parts of Europe. He is not

interested in that, so whatdver she says, she is talking nonsense.

Brexit will be Brexit and Scotland will be out. She has to stop this

nonsense because what she is doing is harming the Scottish economy

Scotland needs certainty, it needs to know where it is going, that it

needs to be part of the United Kingdom. We voted for it. More Scots

voted to remain in the Unitdd Kingdom than voted to leave the -

remain in the European Union. We need to stay in the United Kingdom

to make sure our country is strong. We cannot divorce from our nearest

and closest ally in England that we have been together for with for the

best part of 300, nearly 400 years, it is simply not on. Scots knew when

they voted in the referendul on Scottish independence that we would

be voting in the future. We must abide by the rules and the Scottish

Nationalists have got to get that through their head.

APPLAUSE Inconveniently frol Madam surgeon, a third of SNP votdrs voted

for Brexit. Not all of them like the idea of being ruled from blds

anymore than we do. According to section 3 of the Scotland Act the

First Minister cannot pronotnce on the constitution. She should get on

with the business of running a country where it has got a ?7

billion deficit and sort th`t out first.

We can't have a barbed wire fence 50 miles from Edinburgh, it is

unimaginable. She is bringing in so many immigrants. She wants to bring

more and more into Scotland and she is desperate to keep them, she is

putting them on Scottish islands! Presumably because they can't escape

so quickly! A lot of them want to move to

Birmingham and London where there are more people of their own

background, and they want to start their own business. And in Scotland,

where the already problems with unemployment, it is bad for the

people who already live there and they cannot set up their own

businesses. And these peopld are proud, they want to contribtte to

society. It is not fair of her to people in and to think Scotland is a

separate unit. We must work on our frontiers as Great Britain, not as

individual parts of the United Kingdom. We need to be ahead of the

game on this. We have to st`rt thinking how Scotland, Irel`nd other

parts of the UK fit in so that we do not have a problem with the

different parliaments and the rights of those parliaments and thd rest of

it, and all the arguments that account for that. We must try and

persuade people that having a parliament is a good thing, but we

must have a UK Parliament, `nd that is important. We must start making

sure that the constitution hs something we will develop. Tkip are

the only people not frightened to talk about change. The other parties

don't want to talk about ch`nge We do. To that end, we have bedn

working on a constitution that can work to keep the United Kingdom

together. That is our objective I suggested the idea of an ancient

Saxon name for the parliament. We need to try and make sure the

British constitution works. We cannot go on with this Civil War

being created by the SNP. Btt the good news is that they are starting

to fail. People are realising they are not sensible. They are not

bringing solutions. Just shouting Scotland is not going to solve

unemployment or a deficit in the economy. Now is the chance for Ukip.

The Labour Party has collapsed, there are a lot of votes to be got

there. I am going to go aftdr those votes. I will make sure we have good

representation in Scotland `nd perhaps in the future, a Scottish

Government which is the Ukip flavour. So there you go. Thank you,

David. Now we go on to somebody who is as extremely experienced in his

field, a long term Ukip exponent. If you have ever heard him spe`k on the

subject of energy to a technical conference, I have no idea what he's

talking about. But hopefullx, it will be broader today. He m`y touch

on Hinkley, on, off, whatevdr is going on, and where from here? Roger

Homer, MEP. Good afternoon, everyone. It is

shaping up to be a great party conference. We have heard stper

stuff from David Cockburn and other MEP colleagues from this pl`tform,

so you can see what a great team there is in Brussels and I `m happy

and proud to work with thosd guys. This is our first conferencd since

our great victory in the Brdxit referendum. This is the conference

where we say farewell to Nigel Farage, at least as party ldader,

although I think we will sed a lot of him in the future, and where we

beat as our new party leader Diane James. I would like to add ly voice

to the tributes that have already been paid to Nigel. Each of us in

this hall today has played ` part in the Brexit campaign. But I doubt we

would have won it without all the tireless efforts that Nigel has made

both during the campaign and during the two decades when he led and

inspired the party. We all know that Nigel is going to be a tough act to

follow, but we wish Diane J`mes every success is our new party

leader. She has a very challenging job to do, but she has the skills,

the character, the determin`tion and the media savvy to succeed. I am

sure she can count on the stpport that all of us in this hall and

throughout the party in the task that she has undertaken. Di`ne will

be making her own decisions and appointments for policy spokesmen

for the party. If so be, I shall be happy to pass on my responshbility

for industry and energy to whomever she chooses to a point. But I have

had the privilege of speaking on energy for the party for thd last

four and a half years, so pdrhaps I may take a few seconds to ottline a

few key thoughts on that policy area. First of all, nuclear. I have

always been convinced that nuclear energy must be a key element in a

rational British energy polhcy. So initially, I welcomed the ddcision

to proceed with a new nucle`r power station, Hinkley C. But I h`ve

become increasingly concerndd about the costs. Nuclear power is

potentially cheaper over thd lifetime of a reactor, yet we have

struck a deal which makes ntclear energy as expensive as offshore

wind, and that at a time whdn fossil fuel prices are declining. @dd to

that the increasing concerns over security with the Chinese

involvement, and we have to conclude that Hinkley C is a bad deal for

Britain. In fact, I would draw a parallel. It is a vanity project. It

is grossly expensive, and I would put it alongside High Speed two is

one of those white elephants which are going to burden our children and

grandchildren with debt. Let's turn to renewables. I am the party have

been opposed to wind and solar for a range of reasons, but mostlx because

they put at risk both affordability and energy security. That is true

today, but we need to watch developments closely, because the

costs of solar and wind are reducing. The industry is claiming

what they call parity for renewables. They are wrong to do so,

because they choose to ignore the additional costs caused by the

intermittency of renewables. But equally, there are rapid

developments going on in large-scale energy storage. Today, we don't have

the massive storage which would overcome the intermittency problem,

but in ten years' time, we lay well have. That doesn't mean we `re wrong

to oppose renewables today. If I am right and renewables will bdcome

economically viable, with rdduced costs and massive storage c`pacity

by 2025, we shall still look back and ask why we squandered v`st

resources covering the country with equipment which, from that future

vantage point, will look hopelessly clunky am old-fashioned and

inefficient. So let's keep those thoughts in mind. Then let's

consider gas. It was the Labour statesman Aneurin Bevan, and the

Labour Party used to have statesmen back in the day, Aneurin Bevan said

Britain is an island made m`inly of coal and surrounded by fish. And

colleagues, we will have those fish back after Brexit. But if Aneurin

Bevan were around today, he might say that Britain was an isl`nd built

on gas and surrounded by fish. There are real concerns amongst the public

about shale gas and possiblx some concerns in the party. That is not

surprising, given the negathve propaganda we have seen surrounding

the technology. But an independent Britain needs an independent power

supply, and we cannot afford to ignore the potential under our feet.

If the shale gas reserves are anywhere near some of the estimates,

the impact on the economy, prosperity, jobs and energy security

and balance of payments and tax revenues will be dramatic. Ht would

be irresponsible to ignore so great an opportunity. But let's rdturn to

the main theme of our conference today, Brexit. During the rdferendum

campaign, I was careful to warn of possible economic volatilitx after

the Brexit vote. I felt that if we won the Brexit vote, we would face

months, perhaps years of negative headlines. I thought our job would

be to go out there and say, hang in there, there will be benefits. But I

have been amazed by the headlines we are getting. We are doing bdtter

than my wildest dreams. There has been no Emergency Budget. Mortgage

rates have not rocketed. Hotse prices have not slumped. Thd FTSE is

ahead of its pre-Brexit levdl. High street spending is up. Confhdence

has recovered in service and manufacturing. Cars are selling

There is a tourist boom in London and across the country. Hotdls, bars

and restaurants are full and that is not just Kippers celebrating!

Countries around the world frustrated in their efforts to

negotiate with the EU are qteueing up to open up trade talks on deals

with the newly independent TK. OK, the pound is down, but that has

proved a tonic for exporters and has had a huge positive impact on our

balance of payments. Many economists would agree that the pound was in

any case overvalued and needed an adjustment. So what has suffered

from Brexit? The reputation of George Osborne has suffered. And of

the Treasury, and of Mark C`rney at the Bank of England. And thd IMF,

and President Obama, and assorted banks and consultants and

accountancy firms and ratings agencies. They all called it wrong.

This is an example of groupthink at its worst. Some of the whinhng

Remainiacs are calling for ` second referendum. But what would they say?

This guy didn't fall. Project via has imploded. It has vanishdd in a

puff of smoke -- Project Fe`r. They have no case to argue. On social

media, some voices are saying that now we have won, Ukip can p`ck up

and go home, mission accomplished. No more to be done. Some suggest

that the Ukip MEPs should rdsign in a body in a great gesture of

triumphant hubris. But remelber that our country has voted for Brexit,

but we don't have Brexit yet. Today, Britain is still a fully pahd-up

member of the EU. We are sthll subject to EU law. We are still

paying billions for the so-called privilege of membership, and we have

a Prime Minister who insists that Brexit is Brexit, but doesn't seem

to know what Brexit means. So let's tell her. Brexit means independence.

It means we are no longer stbject to EU laws and EU policies. It means we

will pay nothing to the EU budget. We will control our own borders and

our immigration and our fisheries. And as a strong and independent

nation, we will make the sale sort of deal with the EU that we would

make with America or China or any other country. We will not `ccept

the Swiss or the Norwegian lodels and the dodgy compromises whth

Brussels. APPLAUSE So colleagues, our job is

not finished yet. We have to hold Theresa May's kitten heels to the

fire, to make sure there is no back sliding. I occasionally read a

little poetry or history and although I'm not a religious man I

found a prayer of Sir Franchs Drake which fits the bill for these

circumstances. Sir Francis Drake faced the Spanish armada, possibly

the greatest military machine the world had seen, but they sax he

insisted on finishing his g`me of bowls before going down to blow the

European fleet out of the w`ter What was his player, Oh Lord god to

endeavour any great matter, grant us to know that it is not the

beginning, but the continuing of the same until the endks until ht be

thoroughly finished which yheld ith the great glory. Colleagues, we have

won battle, but the war won't be won until Britain is independent again.

APPLAUSE Colleagues, I said to begin with

that we owe a great debt of gratitude to Nigel Farage, not just

in this hall today, but the whole party and indeed, the whole country.

But perhaps just perhaps, the whole of Europe will also be in hhs debt.

About in no doubt that our Brexit victory has inspired others across

Europe. The Swedish Democrats, wasn't it wonderful to have one of

their representatives with ts today with his message, but it is not just

Sweden, there is the AFG in Germany and the five-star movement `nd the

group in Eastern Europe which is in revolt against Brussels' migrant

plans. Let me close with ond last quotation from William Pitt the

younger in his last City of London speech in 1805 after our victory in

the Battle of Trafalgarment he said, "England has saved herself by her

exertions and will save Europe by her example." Colleagues like Martin

Luther King I have a dream, a dream of a free and prosperous Europe of

democratic sovereign nations linked only by free trade and voluntary

inter-governmental co-operation I believe that that dream is closer

today than it has ever been in my lifetime. And if it comes about

much of the credit will be due to this party. To Ukip. We did it. Well

done, colleagues. Well done. APPLAUSE

Well, I told you he was an dxpert. Isn't it interesting conferdnce

isn't it really interesting we have in Ukip some of the highest

experienced spokesmen in various areas, when compared with some of

the other parties and what they babble on about without any

experience and never having proper jobs! Anyway, I have one spdcial

announcement. The Ukip in London Assembly drinks reception. Ht is in

the function room between 5pm the Hilton Hotel. All welcome. H hope

they have got a big room and a lot of drinks! In closing what today is

a momentous day of change and the end of an era I would like to ask

our party chairman to come back and close the conference for today.

APPLAUSE Ladies and gentlemen, have xou had a

good day? Yes. One final chder if I may for three of our excelldnt MEPs.

Spo APPLAUSE

In all the years that Steve couther was the chairman I don't thhnk he

ever finished a conference day early. So I'm about to do something

that I'm going to have fun with him in years to come. We've got through

our agenda. That's extra helpful given that we have found out that

we're going to be bout a drhnk by London! Thank you so much for come.

Today has been a historic d`y for our party. It will be one that we go

online and we look back on over time and time again. I saw the look on

Nigel's face as he walked ott of this room. He was close to breaking

point with emotion, it was wonderful. Let's give him one last

cheer, shall we? APPLAUSE

That's the way. We have our gala dinner tonight and we have `nother

very interesting day ahead of us, it would seem tomorrow, we're going to

make the most of it, we're going to show this country what our party are

capable of doing. Have a grdat night and we will see you in the lorning.

So I'm incredibly proud now to announce the results of our

leadership contest. This contest has been overseen by the electoral

reform services who received 17 70 votes.