Press Office

Aired: Tuesday, 5 October, 2004 14:05
Sky News

TIM FRIEND: Gentlemen we were talking earlier, Paul you’ve obviously taken away your money from UKIP, where does this leave you two?

ROBERT KILROY-SILK: Yeah but I still got his chequebook…

PAUL SYKES: Just hang on a minute, let’s start where we started. Robert headed up the UKIP campaign for the European elections. I saw Robert operate, said I wanted to support what you’re doing, we stand a really good chance of bringing something off here, which we did. We pushed the Liberals into fourth position. We got twelve MEPs elected to the European Parliament, which are working away stopping laws from unelected Brussels perpetrating our system over here, and working well with 37 other MEPs which is a massive grouping. Now Robert did a hell of a lot to head up that. Where we are now with Saturday is that the party UKIP, of which I am not a member, voted to field candidates across all the constituencies…that meant against some Euro-sceptic Conservatives, some in fact standing shadow ministers. I was not going to support that and I never said that I would. So all I’ve done is said ‘no, not on that issue’.

TIM FRIEND: Robert, do you sort of regret then making that kind of assertion, that you would put people up across the board, even against Euro-sceptic Tories, even against Euro-sceptic perhaps Labour?

ROBERT KILROY-SILK: It’s the party’s decision, isn’t it? The party voted democratically, overwhelmingly to give every person in this country an opportunity to vote in an election or withdrawal from the European Union. I obviously regret Paul going to the Conservatives and taking his money away. Paul was probably…there were two elements in the success that UKIP had and he was one of them, not just his money, but the way his energy, his advice and the way he sustained the campaign. He was a very important part of that and I’m really sorry because I like him, and get on with him, and respect him and respect his politics. He’s hard-headed, independent minded, and I’m not saying that because he’s standing here, he knows I tell him the truth, he’s independent minded, he’s pragmatic and he’s a politician, he thinks this is the best way to achieve what we both want, which is to govern ourselves in Westminster. Now, that’s fine, but Paul, no person, however big, however generous, not me nor Paul, is bigger than the court or the party, and the party, in its wisdom, voted for a policy that Paul disagrees with. And we have to accept that, that’s the world we live in, we get on with our life, and I’ve got to find money from other sources haven’t I?

TIM FRIEND: But Paul have you done a deal with the Conservatives, are you going to rejoin them and now you’re going to give them money?

PAUL SYKES: No, I’m going to vote for them, and I’m going to say to people to vote for them at this next election, simply because there is no other major party likely to form a government that has come out saying that we are going to repatriate our fishing laws, bring those back, and they’re against the euro now forever, they’re against the new constitution, and they’re going to bring other laws back. Now it isn’t as far as I want them to go.

TIM FRIEND: So no concessions, they’ve given you no assurances? You’ve been talking to Mr Redwood?

PAUL SYKES: Nothing at all, I hear all these things, they rattle around the goldfish bowl, I don’t know how politicians go on…I just stick by what I know to be the truth.

TIM FRIEND: Are you in any party?

PAUL SYKES: No I haven’t been in a party since 1994 when I left the Conservative because of the euro. I have campaigned outside of all political parties, spent my own money. A lot of people said I shouldn’t have to spend my own tax-paying money, on making the British people aware of where from now they are governed, and how undemocratic those proceedings are. But I will continue to do it, and I will continue to campaign outside political parties. I was never a member of the UK Independence Party. I went to campaign with them and our campaign, with Robert involved and a number of other hard-working people, brought out a tremendous success. And it was the most massive public awareness campaign that has been made in Britain today, and what Michael Howard should do is capitalise on that now, and start talking about the same things that we were talking about in those elections…

TIM FRIEND: Can you win him back?

ROBERT KILROY-SILK: I don’t think it’s a matter of winning him back, we’re on the same side…

TIM FRIEND: In terms of money, you said it was a big blow?

ROBERT KILROY-SILK: Of course it is, and psychologically and emotionally too, because he actually supported other people in the party and all the rest of it, of course it is, but we’re on the same side, we want the same thing, what he is doing is prosecuting the same cause as I am, at the moment we might be going in slightly divergent…, but we’re not you know, we’ll be working together very closely until we get our country back, I’m absolutely confident of that, I would be very surprised if we weren’t, I know we’re not going to be.  

TIM FRIEND: Still chums?

PAUL SYKES: Still chums? We arranged this lunch a week ago.

ROBERT KILROY-SILK: Oh more than a week ago probably…

PAUL SYKES: We’re meeting up. We’ve had a difference of opinion on one particular policy; on the fundamental most important question on who governs Britain, me and him is identical. 

ROBERT KILROY-SILK: I must say he has ruined my day a bit, when he made his announcement yesterday. He’s a right bag of tricks he is, I tell you that. Through you my phone started ringing at half past six this morning… 

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MARK LONGHURST: Mr Sykes joins us now live, what decided you to pull the plug on UKIP?

PAUL SYKES: Well, they were fielding candidates in the next General Election campaign, candidates throughout the country and therefore they could have dislodged Euro-sceptic Conservative maybe shadow ministers, which wouldn’t do our cause a lot of good, seeing as they couldn’t possibly gather enough votes to make any difference.

MARK LONGHURST: Does that indicate that at the initial outset when you funded the party you didn’t think it was going to have this impact, this effect?

PAUL SYKES: When I initially funded the campaign, not the party, the campaign was in the European Union elections in which we were very, very successful. We run a really good campaign, elected three MEPs who are now helping to stall some of the rules and laws that are flowing from Brussels, from an unelected source to Britain. So that was a fantastically successful campaign. We became the third party in Britain and got almost three million votes. When it comes to a general election campaign that is a first past the post campaign, not the same structure as what we had there and there is no likelihood of them winning any amount of seats but merely upsetting the Conservative policies and applecart basically.

MARK LONGHURST: And is that what the Conservatives told you? Because John Redwood said he’s had discussion with you in recent weeks, with the Conservatives saying especially after of course what happened in Hartlepool, this is going to do real damage to us.

PAUL SYKES: No, not at all, I make my own mind up about things, I’m not a member of any political party, and I’ve little desire to become a member of any political party. I’ve campaigned on my own for what I believe is the most fundamental important thing in Britain today – and that is who governs the nation. And I want to see Britain back to its self-governing democracy, that is what I’ve worked for and that is what I will do. And so campaigning with UKIP during the European Election was on that line, and I see now them putting out candidates in some constituencies, all the constituencies, as slightly if not damaging to the campaign in which we all believe.

MARK LONGHURST: Well clearly you’ve put your money where your mouth is before, you decide that a policy is important enough to fund to some substantial sum, is that going to be the same now with the Conservatives if you believe that the same ends are met by supporting the Conservatives, that you’ll put money into their campaign.

PAUL SYKES: Well, we’ll see how the policies evolve but I don’t intend to talk or appeal to the Conservatives about their policy. What they want to look at is the three million voters that  voted for UKIP from standing start. If they want to get those voters they will apply similar policies, or make similar commitments, that is what the British people feel strongly about, they want government from Westminster not from Brussels, and until somebody…we have an outbreak of the truth and politicians tell the truth about our relationship with the European Union and where we stand at the present moment in time, you can expect what you’ve got, which is misrepresentation. And I mean I only speak out…go on…

MARK LONGHURST: You very kindly spoke to us after that lunch with Robert Kilroy-Silk, have you got any indication of what sort of damage now you’ve done to the party by withdrawing your financial support?

PAUL SYKES: Damage to a party…I don’t want to damage the party, but I had the choice between damaging a party, as you called it damage, they knew full well that I had never ever committed funds to the General Election campaign. I don’t want to damage the party but more importantly I don’t want to damage our chances of holding on to some of the powers, of repatriating some of the powers, which the Conservatives are now willing to do, repatriate fish and say no to the euro forever, say no to the constitutional referendum, so it’s the best of the bad job, you’ve got to go with what’s going to at least hold the dam for the present moment in time , and that is why I will be voting Conservative this time around.