UKIP leader Nigel Farage says he felt like a rock star when his battle bus rolled into Wyberton.
Ahead of a passionate public meeting, he told the Spalding Guardian he shared residents’ frustration about the impact of immigration on local services and jobs.
Mr Farage spoke to a “standing room only” crowd at Wyberton Sports and Social Club on Tuesday night as part of his Common Sense Tour to tie in with the upcoming local elections.
Sporting an eye-catching pair of yellow trousers, he said: “It’s been an amazing visit. We’ve had people trying to trade Wi-Fi for tickets to my talk – I’ve felt like a rock star.”
UKIP has candidates fighting seats in every South Holland ward in the county council elections.
Immigration is a common concern. Mr Farage said: “We have been banging on about it for years, but ever since we won 29 per cent of the votes in the Eastleigh by-election other parties have hopped on the bandwagon.
“They can talk the talk, but they can’t walk the walk because they want to stay in Europe.”
Mr Farage said he fully understood why an immigration protest was being held in Spalding later this month. He said: “We won’t be there but we fully sympathise with protestors. Our focus is on the elections because we feel it’s important that the message of ‘enough is enough’ gets to those in power.
“Immigration is a national government issue with an impact that is felt locally. It really matters here.”
The outspoken party leader also took questions on the night, which followed a tour of Boston earlier in the day.
Predictably Mr Farage gave an impassioned call for Britain to pull out of the European Union, arguing for a return to a free trade agreement without a political union. He said: “We want an amicable divorce from political union in Europe.”
Turning his attentions to the young, he said they were being unfairly labelled as “lazy and useless” people who will not do the work taken by migrants. He argued: “Yes we have got some wrong ‘uns – every country has. What I have seen, time and again, is that young people don’t want to be on benefit or Jobseekers Allowance.
“They are discriminated against by employers who would rather take cheap Eastern European labour and shame on them.”
Mr Farage said his party was also against the building of wind turbines, such as those installed at sites across south Lincolnshire such as Bicker. He said he is not convinced by the global warming argument, adding: “What I am certain of is that the measures we are taking to tackle a problem that may or may not exist verge on the lunatic.
“I am talking about the building, on shore and off shore, of ugly, disgusting, expensive, useless, wind turbines.”
He said the nation should not ignore the “gift horse” of shale gas and said the government should start the process of fracking to exploit that resource.