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| Ex-Tory MP Rod Richards joins UKIP | Ex-Tory MP Rod Richards joins UKIP |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former Tory MP and Welsh Office minister Rod Richards has joined the UK Independence Party, he has confirmed. | Former Tory MP and Welsh Office minister Rod Richards has joined the UK Independence Party, he has confirmed. |
| He said it follows "10 years of frustration watching the country I love going down the pan and the parties in charge seemingly doing nothing about it". | He said it follows "10 years of frustration watching the country I love going down the pan and the parties in charge seemingly doing nothing about it". |
| Mr Richards refused to say whether he will seek the party's candidacy in next year's European Parliament election. | Mr Richards refused to say whether he will seek the party's candidacy in next year's European Parliament election. |
| The current UKIP MEP for Wales John Bufton is standing down in June 2014. | The current UKIP MEP for Wales John Bufton is standing down in June 2014. |
| Mr Richards was MP for Clwyd North West between 1992 and 1997 and was leader of the Tories in the Welsh assembly. | Mr Richards was MP for Clwyd North West between 1992 and 1997 and was leader of the Tories in the Welsh assembly. |
| He told BBC Radio Wales he joined UKIP after becoming disillusioned with the way the mainstream parties were running the country. | He told BBC Radio Wales he joined UKIP after becoming disillusioned with the way the mainstream parties were running the country. |
| "I found more and more I was complaining about it and not doing something about it," he told BBC Radio Wales. | "I found more and more I was complaining about it and not doing something about it," he told BBC Radio Wales. |
| "I feel I have to get up and do something. I will give it my best shot." | "I feel I have to get up and do something. I will give it my best shot." |
| He said he believes the UK's membership of the European Union (EU) was "holding us back" and was preventing the country trading with countries such as China and India. | |
| He also claimed that as well as all the "red tape and restrictions", the UK paid "far more into the EU than we receive" and that Welsh businesses were suffering. | |
| But Mr Richards would not be drawn on whether he wanted to seek UKIP's candidacy in the 2014 European Parliament election. | |
| "I'm a new lad on the block," he said. | |
| "I'm getting to know my new friends in UKIP." | |
| He said the matter of candidates was a matter for the party, adding that it was an issue that would be kept confidential within the party. | |
| "I'm certainly not someone who will only be putting a cross in the box," he added. | |
| "I shall be an active member." |