Halt immigration - Ukip leader

Mr Farage said he wanted to see all immigration to the UK halted for the next five years in a bid to take the strain off public services.

Addressing the Ukip annual conference in Limehouse, east London, he warned that immigration, which he said was an "absolute mess", was leading to an increase in community tension.

Britain had always been "tolerant" and had "easily absorbed" migrations, but the current movement of people, particularly from Eastern Europe, "dwarfed" anything seen previously. And he launched a scathing attack on the political class in the UK, who he said were only interested in "self perpetuation".

Those who supported demands for a referendum on the EU Treaty were "fair-weather friends" who would "melt away" over the real issue of Britain remaining in the EU, he claimed.

Mr Farage, in a 22-minute speech delivered in the unscripted style seen from David Cameron in Blackpool, admitted his party was not ready for an autumn poll.

He said: "We are not ready to fight a snap General Election, which is why you should...tell us that if you are needed you will put your name down and you will stand for us in that snap General Election."

The party had to fight the election because Ukip were the only party that believed that the best people to govern Britain were "the British people themselves."

On the subject of immigration, Mr Farage said "pressure" was being placed on public services and it was "putting an unfair burden on the citizen."

To cheers he said: "...we believe that there now needs to be a five-year moratorium on any new immigration to this country. We need that time to assess who is here legally and who is here illegally."