London MEP's Bomb Threat Fury

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 7th Jan 2004

London's Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford has condemned an anti-European group which campaigns to get Britain out of the European Union after one of its leading spokesmen appeared to justify recent bomb attacks on EU officials & parliamentarians.

Baroness Ludford said she was appalled by a statement from the UK Independence Party that its prediction was coming true that "the failure to give people a choice [about the European Union] would end in civil unrest and violence".

In a press release posted on the UKIP website, the party's south-east Euro-MP, Nigel Farage said: "We can only hope that the EU comes to its senses and listens to the people. If it fails to do so, then there is clearly a very real danger of an accelerating wave of attacks as more and more extremist groups resort to violence as they are denied democracy."

The MEP said that his party, which will try to win one of London's seats in the European Parliament in June this year, "deplored" the bombs but could understand the reasons for them.

His statement has been fiercely criticised by Sarah Ludford who said it would bring comfort to terrorists.

She said: "It's not MEPs who are most threatened by the letter bombs from these lunatics but our assistants, our secretaries, and even the volunteers doing work experience in our offices and opening the mail.

"The UKIP has lied and twisted the truth about Europe for years, but their statement shows the true colours under the smooth exterior. It is despicable that a party that claims to speak for British values should now position itself side by side with violent anarchists.

"I call upon UKIP members to condemn the violence absolutely and disassociate themselves entirely from Mr Farage's comments."

Full text of UKIP press release from website:

For Immediate Release 6th January 2004

Letter bombs and diminished democracy prove UKIP prediction correct

The U.K. Independence Party said today that the spate of letter bombs sent to leading European Union politicians were the price of forcing a political ideal on people without giving them a choice.

The Party said that it had been warning for over 10 years that the absence of democracy within the European Union, and the failure to give people a choice as to whether they wished to participate or not, would end in civil unrest and violence.

U.K. Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage said that this prediction was now coming true, and that while the party deplored the bombs, it could understand the reasons behind them.

Mr Farage said, We have spent 10 years warning that the route the European Union has chosen for itself, to swallow up nation states without giving the people of Europe the final say, was destined to end in civil unrest and violence. It would appear that that prediction is now coming true.

We can only hope that the EU comes to its senses and listens to the people. If it fails to do so, then there is clearly a very real danger of an accelerating wave of attacks as more and more extremist groups resort to violence as they are denied democracy.