The former chat show host said Veritas – Latin for "truth" – had far more to offer than the straightforward Euroscepticism of his former party, the UK Independence Party, such as "zero tolerance" proposals for crime and "quite startlingly different"
policies on migration and asylum.
And he promised his new "straight talking" party would be made up of "real people" and avoid lies, deception and evasion.
Veritas's North of England chairman Judith Longman, a former UKIP Yorkshire regional chairman, told the Yorkshire Post that several UKIP branches were already in the process of switching sides and claimed UKIP membership from the Pennines to the North Sea coast would be left "in tatters" as more Veritas branches are founded.
A list of constituencies in Yorkshire and Humber to be targeted by Veritas is also being drawn up, and included will be the seats of Cabinet ministers John Prescott and Alan Johnson seats in Hull, where the fledgling party is believed to have strong support from disgruntled UKIP members.
Speaking at the Westminster launch yesterday, Mr Kilroy-Silk, elected to the European Parliament on a UKIP ticket just seven months ago, said: "Our country is being stolen from us and we have never been asked for our permission."
Conservatives and Labour promised to control immigration and asylum but had surrendered powers to Brussels, he said.
The UK should be able to control its borders like France, Germany, Australia and the US, he added.
Mr Kilroy-Silk claimed only Veritas would stand up for British values and British people, regardless of "race or colour or creed", and insisted it was not racist to discuss immigration or "people being resentful of the nonsense of multi-culturalism".
He rejected comparisons with Enoch Powell and Right-wing Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, and insisted he was not looking to replace the far-Right BNP.
The comments came ahead of party meetings in Derby and north Nottingham tonight, where the ex-Labour MP will announce Veritas's first wave of parliamentary candidates for the forthcoming General Election. He is expected to finally confirm whether he will go through with a much-trailed challenge for Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon's west Nottinghamshire Ashfield constituency.
Mrs Longman, who hails from Huddersfield, sat on UKIP's national executive committee and stood for the party in the 1999 European election and 2001 General Election – but she resigned out of frustration with UKIP and a lack of leadership.
"It's going to be absolutely phenomenal," she said. "We're going to connect with people in a completely new way. People will be pleasantly surprised."
She also revealed that Veritas was currently strongest in Hull, along the East Pennines and Wakefield.
Despite Mrs Longman's and Mr Kilroy-Silk's optimism – he said "there is a magic mood out there for change, for a new style of politics, for a totally different approach" – the new party leader conceded that "scientifically" the new party did not have a chance.
But he stressed that had also been the case with UKIP, which he quit after failing to secure that party's leadership after he helped the party to win 12 European Parliament seats last June.
Even a handful of Veritas MPs would help to change the face of British politics, he claimed. "Elect me and a few more like me and I promise they will not get away with the lies again in the future," he said.
Mr Kilroy-Silk ended with a defence of his famous tan after a questioner asked if it was also "veritas".
"I can't hide my tan or my looks," he said. "I'm not ashamed of either."
Labour campaign spokesman Fraser Kemp dismissed the Veritas challenge. "Veritas joins an already crowded field on the Right of British politics.
"The difference between the policy of the Tories, UKIP and Veritas is primarily one of degree. And in terms of personalities, the choice between Michael "Poll Tax" Howard, Robert Kilroy-Silk and Roger Knapman is not likely to excite anybody."
