UKIP are deluded

UKIP's self-delusion is breath-taking. In 2009 they secured only 16.5% of the EU vote; add in votes cast for the BNP and other fringe parties the total barely reaches 22%. 78% of the British electorate voted to stay in the EU, exactly the same % of members of the Engineering Employers Federation who support EU membership. The recent poll of CBI members found a similar number of their members support EU membership. Part of the CBI evidence being research that the EU delivered an average £3000 p.a. to every UK household due to the boost to Britain’s GDP directly attributable to the single market. Not a single credible business organisation wants the UK to leave the EU, well illustrated by Nissan's view that isolation from the world's largest market would threaten their continued presence in the UK.
Far from being the great break-through that they seem to think, 2009 was a pathetic result for UKIP, which gave them only 13 MEPs out of 55. Two of them have now defected. Multi-millionaire Paul Sykes may hope to buy a pyrrhic victory for UKIP, but let us be clear – leaving the EU will result in lost jobs and bankrupt businesses.