Nick Clegg admits his TV blunder on ‘unchanging’ Europe was a gift to Ukip

NICK Clegg has privately confessed that he blundered in his television debates with Ukip leader Nigel Farage – by suggesting the EU would be largely unchanged in ten years’ time.

Sources close to the Deputy Prime Minister last night said he regretted implying there would be no major reforms to the UK’s relationship with Brussels.

The admission comes ahead of a speech tomorrow seen as a bid by Mr Clegg to restore faith in his leadership of the Lib Dems after dire local and European election results.

In a BBC debate before the polls, pro-European Mr Clegg was asked how Europe would look in a decade and replied: ‘I suspect it’ll be quite similar to what it is now.’

The reply dismayed many Lib Dem activists and was seen as a propaganda gift for Mr Farage.

A senior Lib Dem source said: ‘Nick keeps saying it was the wrong answer. It gave the impression he wasn’t pro-EU reform, for improving how things are done. And of course he is.’

Tomorrow, Mr Clegg will try to galvanise the Lib Dems by saluting them in a speech as the ‘bravest and toughest party in British politics’ for taking on the challenges of coalition with the Tories.

He will deny his party had ‘lost its soul’ but acknowledge the Lib Dems needed to be ‘much clearer’ about why they wanted power.

Mr Clegg will say: ‘We mustn’t allow our critics to rewrite history, airbrush out our role in this coalition or present us as some sort of electoral wedge, standing ready to prop up Labour or the Conservatives in the event of another hung parliament. I’m not interested in coalition at any price.’

He is expected to set out a General Election pledge to keep tight control of the nation’s finances, but not through further Tory-inspired cuts in public services.

Lib Dem sources said he would show he had listened to ‘the message we were sent through the ballot box’.

Mr Farage yesterday admitted claims that Ukip was just a ‘one-man band’ were damaging his party. He vowed to appoint a raft of new party spokesmen to work alongside him.

ACCORDING to Nigel Farage, the political earth shook two weeks ago. Ukip’s performance at the European elections was an earthquake for the political establishment.

And to an extent, it was – a hugely inspiring achievement that impressed friend and foe alike.

But we should not pretend that the outcome in the Newark by-election last week was anything other than disappointing. Whereas five years ago a strong second place would be reason to jump for joy, now it’s a weak performance. Coming runner-up is no longer good enough.

As a founder member of the party – and a substantial donor over the years – I confess that I am uneasy about the future of Ukip. Here’s why.

Far from evolving a proper strategy for power, the party is stuck on short-term tactics – fine for when the trumpet calls and battle begins, but it’s not how wars in the end are won.

Ask anyone what is the point of Ukip, what is its core policy and the answer is clear: leaving the EU and returning to self-government. Simple.

In the limited context of the recent European elections, that message was more successful than ever, allied as it was to a relentless message of raising alarms about the scale of immigration into this country. But triumph in European elections is one thing: victory where it matters, in Westminster elections, is as elusive as ever, as Newark has shown.

Two years ago, I started to fall out of step with Ukip leaders over its lack of the long-term strategy needed to take the party to a new level.

I was concerned that it was being rebranded as ‘Nigel Farage’s Ukip’ – an unashamedly one-man band, very presidential in style and rather un-English for a party so patriotic at heart.

As we discovered last week, this approach is very much a two-edged sword. Farage is very charismatic, a remarkable character who combines the relentless energy of the workaholic with the easy charm

of a golf club bar regular. But as talented as he is, Nigel needs a supporting cast to take provincial success to the West End – or Westminster in this sense. He has to deliver on his promises to give a higher profile to others in the party.

It is not as though Farage is the only talented man in the party. There are others waiting in the wings for their opportunity. If he was serious about the long-term interests of the party – as opposed to his own – Nigel would give them a better chance.

In the wake of coming first in the European elections, Ukip activists piled into the Newark campaign in great heart. Victory was the talk, only for us to be beaten by over 7,000 votes. Frankly, it was not very good.

I know Newark well. In my Army days, I was based there with the 3rd Battalion Worcester and Sherwood Foresters in the 1970s. It is Middle England in spades. Outlying villages are charming and the people pretty steady and well informed. The byelection turnout was over 50 per cent, fairly high by modern standards.

So what went wrong for Ukip? With less than a year to go to the General Election, the lack of flesh on the party’s bones in terms of wellthought-through policies is all too apparent. Our tactic in the Euro elections of banging on about immigration worked – even if it’s not the way I would have done it. But in Newark, the people wanted more. Farage’s policy of having no policies worked at the European level, but not for Westminster.

I can imagine retired City gents on the doorstep saying to Farage: ‘What are your policies on welfare, the national debt, inflation, tax, pensions?’ Answers came there none. Ukip must sort itself out.

Even on its core issue of getting Britain out of the EU, Ukip has a problem. In 2012, polls suggested more than half of voters wanted to bid Brussels au revoir. That figure has now slumped to around a third.

Given my own fall-out with Farage, people may see my comments now as sour grapes. They’re not. I simply mean to help the party I served for so long and of which I’m still a member.

Ukip reminds me a bit of the old cook sergeant stirring a tureen of soup. ‘What is it?’ asks the young recruit. The kindly old sergeant looks down and replies: ‘Whaddya wannit to be, son?’

That wasn’t good enough for Newark. And unless we do something about it, neither Nigel nor any other Ukip politician will ever sit on the Commons benches.