Marine Le Pen accuses Nigel Farage of slander over antisemitism claims. Nigel Farage rejects offer of Ukip tie to French far-right Front National. UKIP founder calls Farage 'dim, racist alcoholic' - but poll says he will be MP.

Marine Le Pen said Nigel Farage should not cast aspersions, as he was 'often reproached' for his party members' behaviour. Photograph: Etienne Laurent/EPA

Marine Le Pen accuses Nigel Farage of slander over antisemitism claims

Spat between leaders of Ukip and French National Front follows Farage's rejection of European coalition offer

Paul Owen

theguardian.com, Sunday 20 April 2014 / http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/20/marine-le-pen-nigel-farage-slander-antisemitism-claims

The French Front National leader, Marine Le Pen, has accused Nigel Farage of slander after the Ukip leader called her party antisemitic.

Farage this week rejected a suggestion from Le Pen that Ukip could join a coalition with the FN in the European parliament because of "prejudice and antisemitism" in her party – although he also said Le Pen had "got some good qualities" and was "achieving remarkable things".

But Le Pen used an interview with the Sunday Times to hit back at the Ukip leader, saying Farage had made "defamatory" and "extremely disagreeable declarations" in an attempt to boost his popularity.

The FN leader said Farage was not in a position to cast aspersions on others. "He is often reproached for the behaviour and comments of a certain number of his party members," she said. "Slandering your neighbour to try to make yourself look whiter than white, it's not correct. He's doing it simply for electoral purposes."

The spat with Le Pen comes as Alan Sked, the founder of Ukip, gave an interview in which he described Farage as "alcoholic, dim and racist" and repeated claims – which Farage strongly denies – that the Ukip leader once referred to black people as "niggers".

A Ukip spokesman told the Daily Mail: "Dr Sked is free to hold whatever view he likes of our party and our leader, but his repeated claim that Nigel used the 'n-word' is untrue and has been vigorously denied before."

The rows cap a difficult few weeks for Farage, whose perceived success in two televised debates with Nick Clegg was followed almost immediately by controversy over his claiming of EU expenses.

But a Survation poll in the Hampshire constituency of Eastleigh published on Saturday night showed Ukip would come top in an election there.

The poll put Farage's party on 32% in the former Lib Dem minister Chris Huhne's old seat, with the Tories on 28% and the Lib Dems on 27%. Labour were at 12%.

Survation said this was the "first published constituency-level poll ever to show Ukip in first place". The survey suggests Farage could conceivably use the seat as a springboard into parliament at the 2015 election.

Eastleigh was won by the Lib Dem Mike Thornton with 32% of the vote in a byelection following Huhne's resignation last year, with Ukip's Diane James coming second with 28%.

The latest polling conducted by Opinium/Observer reveals that Ukip has increased its share of the UK vote to 18%, far outstripping the Liberal Democrats at 7%.

Nigel Farage rejects offer of Ukip tie to French far-right Front National

Ukip leader instead chooses Gaullist Debout la Republique party while being complimentary about Marine Le Pen

Rowena Mason

The Guardian, Friday 18 April 2014 / http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/18/nigel-farage-rejects-ukip-tie-french-front-national

Ukip's leader, Nigel Farage, has rejected fresh overtures from the far-right French Front National leader Marine Le Pen but admitted she has "got some good qualities" and is "achieving remarkable things".

His comments were made after Le Pen said Ukip could join a coalition in the European Parliament with the Front National "as long as it's in the interest of the European people for us to join together in a common project to fight the European Union".

Ukip has instead chosen informal ties with the much smaller Debout la Republique party in France and Farage this week attended a rally for the group in Paris, where he received a rapturous reception with the crowds chanting "Nigel! Nigel!"

Responding to Le Pen's overtures, Ukip said it would not join any alliance with the party because of "prejudice and anti-Semitism" in the Front National. However, the BBC also reported Farage as saying he felt Le Pen had "taken the party to new highs and is achieving remarkable things in this country. I make no bones about it, she's got some good qualities".

On Newsnight, Le Pen said she thought Farage was "undoubtedly a charismatic leader" with a message that "people really want to hear and which is based on a correct reading of the situation".

"We do have our differences – for example, on the economy – there's no doubt about that," she said. "But I do think there is something he's missing, and that's the seriousness of the situation our continent finds itself in.

"If he understood how serious the EU's situation is, he would support the collaboration of all patriotic movements, and he wouldn't resort to tactics and strategy."

Ukip has been riding high in the polls in the run-up to the European elections in May. The party appears to have benefited from a backlash against traditional politicians after the former Tory culture secretary, Maria Miller, resigned after over-claiming expenses on a mortgage for her second home.

Not content with picking up votes from disenchanted Conservatives, Farage advanced into Labour's terroritory on Friday by calling on large companies to sign up to a tough code of conduct to prevent them exploiting workers on zero-hours contracts. He claimed cheap labour "flooding in from abroad" had left many workers at the mercy of powerful employers.

In a column for the Daily Express, Farage said he did not believe in banning the contracts because some workers like their flexibility. However, he said, they can be abused.

The government is reviewing the use of zero-hours contracts but senior Conservatives have stuck up for "their role in a flexible labour market". Ed Miliband has promised Labour will bring in tougher regulation of zero-hours contracts if he becomes prime minister.

Farage said: "With so much cheap labour flooding in from abroad, giant corporations are in an increasingly powerful position to dictate terms and conditions for workers.

"Unlimited immigration from eastern Europe and elsewhere has left many British working people pretty much defenceless against constant downgrades in their pay and employment conditions."

Mr Farage said that while having a zero-hours contract as an option was appropriate for some workers "having it as the only available form of work is quite another. And keeping people on zero-hours contracts for year after year when they aspire to stable employment so that they can provide for their families is something else again.

"I do not believe in banning zero-hours contracts. But I do believe there is a very strong case for expecting large employers to sign up to a tough code of conduct as to how they are applied. For instance, if an employee proves reliable enough to be working for a big company for a year or more then there should be an expectation that the company will offer him or her a permanent position."

UKIP founder Dr Alan Sked attacked current party leader Nigel Farage branding him a 'dim, racist alcoholic'

UKIP founder calls Farage 'dim, racist alcoholic' - but poll says he will be MP

UKIP is topping the opinion polls in Eastleigh, Hampshire at 32 percent

Nigel Farage strongly denies Dr Sked's racism allegation

Farage has strongly hinted that he will run for Westminster in Folkestone

By GLEN OWEN

PUBLISHED:  20 April 2014 / http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2608676/UKIP-founder-calls-Farage-dim-racist-alcoholic-poll-says-MP.html

Nigel Farage is on course to win his first Commons seat after a  new poll showed UKIP leading in Eastleigh, the Hampshire constituency where the party narrowly failed to win last year’s by-election.

Support for Mr Farage’s party is running at 32 per cent in Eastleigh – four points ahead of the Conservatives on 28 per cent, and five points ahead of the Liberal Democrats, who hold the seat.

It is the first time a constituency poll has put UKIP in the lead.

The boost for the party came as its founder, Dr Alan Sked, gave an astonishing interview in which he described Mr Farage as ‘alcoholic, dim and racist’ and repeated claims he first made in this newspaper a decade ago – which Mr Farage strongly denies  – that the UKIP leader had referred to black people as ‘n*****s’.

The Survation poll was carried out a year after UKIP rocked Westminster by coming within four percentage points of winning Eastleigh.

The poll puts UKIP top even though Mr Farage was not suggested as the likely candidate, indicating that the party’s appeal is not necessarily dependent on his ‘personality cult’.

Earlier this month a Mail on Sunday poll in Folkestone, where the UKIP leader has hinted he might stand at next year’s General Election, put Mr Farage three points behind the incumbent Conservative MP.

But the new poll – funded by Alan Bown, a UKIP donor – indicates his best chance of winning a Commons seat might lie in three-way marginals such as Eastleigh. Dr Sked made the scathing remarks about Mr Farage during an interview published today. The London School of Economics professor also repeated a claim he made in 2004 that Mr Farage had once said: ‘We will never win the n****r vote.’

In his interview with the Parliament Street think-tank, Dr Sked also claims that Mr Farage admires  Russian president Vladimir Putin because ‘Putin is clearly a nasty piece of work and Nigel probably identifies with that’.

A UKIP spokesman said: ‘Dr Sked is free to hold whatever view he likes of our party and our leader, but his repeated claim that Nigel used the “N word” is untrue and has been vigorously denied before.’