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European election: Farage sure UKIP will win Scotland seat | |
(35 minutes later) | |
UKIP leader Nigel Farage has told a rally in Edinburgh that his party "will win a seat" for the first time in Scotland in the upcoming European Parliament elections. | |
He said UKIP would then have a "legitimate voice" in Scotland. | |
During the speech, Mr Farage described First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond as a "fanatical EU federalist". | |
He challenged Mr Salmond - who said UKIP had been "humiliated" before in Scotland - to a debate on independence. | |
The MEP, who was in Edinburgh to back the party's candidate David Coburn at a rally, predicted that UKIP was on course to win one seat in the European Parliament in Scotland, adding that "if things go really well, possibly even two". | |
Addressing the First Minister, Mr Farage said: "Mr Salmond is pretty scared of us. He's not not scared of the size of us at the moment, but he is very scared of the argument." | |
Mr Farage, whose party is not currently represented at any level in Scotland, told the rally that Scottish people think they have a referendum on independence "but they haven't". | |
He accused Mr Salmond of wanting Scotland "to be part of the European Union - and you cannot be an independent, self governing, democratic nation, and be member of a club whose laws are supreme over yours". | |
The UKIP leader argued that the whole of the UK should be independent, with devolved powers to each part. | |
About 200 protesters and supporters of Scottish independence turned up at the launch venue to protest against the UKIP leader. | |
However, Mr Salmond asked voters to defeat UKIP "at the ballot box", rather than through protest. | |
"This election is as clear a contrast and choice that Scotland has ever faced at the polls, and I am confident that people will make the right choice by keeping Scotland free of the politics of UKIP," he said. |