UKIP jobs claim "deluded" says Lib Dem MEP Graham Watson

Following a heated exchange between UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP and Lib Dem MEP Sir Graham Watson during a BBC debate this weekend, in which the UKIP leader stated that "not one single British job depends on EU membership", Watson has called on Farage to justify his statements.

"Quite frankly Farage is deluded about the impact that leaving the European Union would have on the United Kingdom. 3.5 million jobs depend on our trade with other EU states. To pull out now would not only leave us isolated, but we would have to continue to comply with EU regulations - over which we would have no say - in order to export our goods!"

"Instead of standing by a fax machine waiting for the next directive or regulation from Brussels, we are in the room leading the debate and making the key decisions. To sit on the sidelines as spectators would be sheer folly."

"UKIP need to stop pulling the wool over peoples eyes and set the facts straight as to what exactly EU membership withdrawal would mean to UK people. Higher mobile phone tariffs when travelling abroad, no access to free healthcare provision under the European Health Insurance Card and no stonewall guarantee that UK citizens could travel, work or study in Europe freely. With so many jobs and so much money through trade at stake, now is not the time to be playing Russian roulette with Britain's economic recovery."