Exclusive: Ukip deputy leader expects North Yorkshire to leave

UKIP say the EU referendum results will strongly highlight the country's urban rural divide and they expect North Yorkshire to vote Leave.
Ukip's Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall speaking at Hartlepool Town Hall on Saturday. Picture by Tom Collins.Ukip's Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall speaking at Hartlepool Town Hall on Saturday. Picture by Tom Collins.
Ukip's Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall speaking at Hartlepool Town Hall on Saturday. Picture by Tom Collins.

UKIP’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall MEP said he was also confident the Leave camp will win in Cumbria, Lancashire, parts of Greater Manchester, Essex and the East of England.

The representative for North West England said: “The East of England is important. Kent and Essex and places like that. We will do particularly well in Cheshire and on the doughnut around Manchester city centre.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Not so much the city centre itself but the outlying towns. I think we will win Cumbria... Lancashire as well. This could very much be the cities versus the rest of the country. I suspect North Yorkshire will vote to leave and coastal areas will vote to leave. I suspect Doncaster will vote to leave too.”

He declined to call the overall referendum result but said the EU referendum was unprecedented.

Turnout looks like it’s going to be massive,” he said.

“This is not a General Election so there is no exit poll. This is toss a coin time now.

“This is completely uncharted territory. Not just for you guys in the press but for politicians aswell. You just can’t trust the pollsters and the polls.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He defended the party’s decision to roll out a controversial poster advertising campaign for Leave using the phrase “breaking point” over an image of migrants and refugees on the Slovenian border.

The poster was the main reason Dewsbury-born Baroness Warsi claimed she switched from Leave to Remain last week.

Mr Nutall said: “That poster itself raised a legitimate concern which was that as long as we are members of this club, we are tied in with the policies of Sweden and Germany.

“The Swedish Government, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a catastrophic error when they said “anyone from Syria, if you can prove you’re Syrian you can come here and claim asylum”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“What happened as a result is that there has been a deluge of people making their way through the Balkans, making dangerous journeys across the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean.

“And it’s cost many lives and what we are saying is “do we really want to be part of a European Union where you’ve got leaders with Governments making terrible decisions?” So I think it did raise legitimate concerns in that sense.”