Tory MPs may defect to UKIP, claims Farage [View All]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/politics/article-24002924-tory-mps-may-defect-to-ukip-claims-farage.do

David Cameron'S European troubles deepened today as Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, claimed Tory MPs may defect after Monday's revolt over an EU referendum.

In an exclusive interview with the Evening Standard, Nigel Farage said Conservative MPs, MEPs and peers had told him privately of their dissatisfaction with Mr Cameron's stance.

"I'm not going to tell you they are on the verge of coming across," he said. "All I can tell you is that it's being discussed. I do know people in the Conservative Party - and I've spoken to some this morning - who are deeply depressed at the moment. Some of them have got to be asking themselves, 'What if a whole group of us went to Ukip?'"

Former treasurer Lord Hesketh defected to Ukip recently, as did Paul Oakley, former London chairman of the Tory youth wing. Lord Tebbit, the former Conservative chairman and a hero on the Eurosceptic Right, said last week that some Tories would be "wondering if it is worthwhile any more".