EU Denies Grants And To Demand Ukip Group Repay ‘Misspent Funds’

Ukip is likely to be asked to repay tens of thousands of euros by European parliament finance chiefs who have accused the party of misspending EU funds on party workers and Nigel Farage’s failed bid to win a seat in Westminster.

The Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE), a Ukip-dominated political vehicle, will be asked to repay €173,000 (£148,000) in misspent funds and denied a further €501,000 in EU grants for breaking European rules that ban spending EU money on national election campaigns and referendums.

According to a European parliament audit report, Ukip spent EU funds on polling and analysis in constituencies where they hoped to win a seat in the 2015 general election, including the South Thanet seat that party leader Farage contested. The party also funded polls to gauge the public mood on leaving the EU, months before the official campaign kicked off in April 2016.

“These services were not in the interest of the European party, which could neither be involved in the national elections nor in the referendum on national level,” concluded the parliament’s finance watchdog.

“The constituencies selected for many of the polls underline that the polling was conducted in the interest of Ukip. Most of the constituencies can be identified as being essential for reaching a significant representation in the House of Commons from the 2015 general election or for a positive result for the leave campaign,” the report continued.

The ADDE also used EU funds for polling ahead of the Scottish and Welsh elections in 2016, the report said.

Summarising, the report stated: “The administration discovered a substantial number of activities for which financing ought to be considered as non-eligible expenditure.”

Ukip rejected allegations it had broken EU rules. “We have abided by the rules at all times,” a party spokesman said.

Ukip spokesman Gawain Towler rejected the report’s central claim that the party and ADDE group had failed to comply with EU rules. “We have been scrupulously careful and we have abided by the rules at all times.” Asked about the named individuals, he repeated: “We have abided by the rules at all times.”