JEDDAH, 12 June 2004 — A new political force has appeared suddenly on the British political scene. From a fringe party, sponsored and financed by the financier Sir James Goldsmith, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has grown from a following of 6 percent to equal the Conservative Party in the European election, according to the latest opinion polls.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News recently, John Snow, a former Conservative MOP and now Euro-candidate for UKIP, claimed that the party’s power base is the 80 percent of the public who do not want the UK to enter the European Union.

“Today 80 percent of British law is issued by Europe, only 20 percent is now done by Parliament,” Snow said. “So in effect, it has already happened and it is getting people frightfully upset.”

He believes 89 percent of the British voting public want a referendum on any future extension of Europe, and 60-70 percent want to get out, “which I think is extraordinary,” he said, “but all the major parties are for going in.”

Currently the Conservative Party is split — but it has still signed all the paperwork. “There is a massive level of frustration in Britain — hence the falling polls — down to 18 percent. The parties are out of touch with the public because nobody is listening,” said Snow.

UKIP’s rapid rise to prominence, Snow believes, is because established political parties are committed to keeping Britain in the European Union. By contrast, the UKIP would restore full authority to our Parliament in Westminster. This cannot be done unless Britain withdraws from the treaties that bind us to the EU.

In the 1970s, the UK joined the European Economic Community (EEC) which then was a grouping like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which essentially was a free trade zone with customs arrangements and tariff agreements. The then Prime Minister Harold Wilson offered a referendum and UK voted to stay in.

“I totally agree with being in the EEC,” said Snow, “but not the EU.”

Over last 27 years, succession of British governments, both Labour and Conservative, have signed treaties like Rome and Maastricht that have further involved Britain in the economic community.

Over that time, there was a subtle shift from EEC to European Community (EC) and then to European Union (EU.)

The EU is a totally different thing, said Snow. “It is a federal superstate — not just a trading area.”

The British National Party (BNP) — an extreme right-wing party roundly criticized for its overtly racist agenda — began to attract an increasing number of adherents during the 1990s as, said Snow, there was no reasonable alternative.

UKIP was formed in 1993 from a group of disparate parties that all espoused the same opposition to joining Europe and pulled together and offered the only choice for the British people to say “No.”

“It was in effect a referendum,” said Snow.

“The press kept this small party out of view. The BBC in particular would only mention it if they absolutely had to as ‘that anti-Europe party.’” It’s not anti Europe, it’s anti Britain being in Europe — a world of difference. We think that Britain belongs mainly in NAFTA.”

Snow contends that the UKIP is not opposed to the EU as such — simply to Britain being part of it. The EU, he said, is essentially a political institution that has created a Franco-German power axis. “It’s a far cry from the trading community the British thought they were voting for in 1975.”

The official UKIP line is that the EU operates in “a corrupt and wasteful way,” which “reflects how the individual countries manipulate it for their own ends,” and that, “The EU is opposed to the open, global trading culture on which British interests depend.” The incredibly rapid rise to prominence of the UKP started about four weeks ago when Tony Blair reversed his previous decision not to give a referendum on going into Europe. Suddenly Europe had to be publicly discussed in the media.

“This forced them to produce this one party that was saying No. We had to be included.” Suddenly the party has shot up to 20 percent ratings and ahead of the Liberal Party.

“I think we will see a major shock. That is that the UKIP is going to get something between 15 and 25 seats — which is 25 percent or more of the total number of British Euro-MPs.”

Snow hopes that the threat posed by the UKIP will force Michael Howard, the leader of the Conservative Party, to have the courage to say to his party, “There are votes in being Euro-skeptic — if you don’t agree, leave the party. Being Euro-skeptic is our only chance of beating Blair at the next election.”

“That,” he said, “would be a tremendous thing. That’s the shock — the UKIP has come from nowhere and has 25 percent of the seats. It will shock the Conservatives into becoming Euro-skeptic and therefore have a real chance of winning the next election.”

The results of the Europe-wide elections for Euro-MP’s will be announced tomorrow.