Rolling coverage of all the day's political developments as they happen, including reaction to last night's debate between Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg, and Clegg's LBC phone-in
12.55pm GMT
There's some video from Tony Benn's funeral here. It features the address from Benn's son, Hilary.
12.50pm GMT
I have not got a full list of those who attended Tony Benn's funeral, but the mourners included: Lord Heseltine; Ed Miliband and his wife, Justine Thornton; Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper; Ken Livingstone; Alastair Campbell; Jack Straw; Dennis Skinner; Andrew Mitchell; Martin McGuinness; Gerry Adams; George Galloway; David Blunkett; Cherie Blair; Arthur Scargill; Len McCluskey; Chuka Umunna; Sir Bill Morris; Saffron Burrows; Michael Eavis; John Sergeant; Sally Bercow and Natasha Kaplinsky.
12.38pm GMT
And here are some more tweets about the service from Tony Benn's Labour colleagues.
So many people lining streets nr St Margaret's Church for Tony Benn funeral, underlining the impact he had & affection in which he was held
Outpouring of affection, love and respect for Tony Benn at his very moving funeral.Great to hear Red Flag ringing out as his cortege left.
Beautiful celebration of Tony Benn's life, the music and the wonderful family tributes.
Lovely and incredibly moving funeral just now for Tony Benn. Wonderful speeches by Stephen, Hilary, Melissa, Joshua and David. RIP Tony
12.35pm GMT
The Telegraph's parliamentary sketchwriter, Michael Deacon, has been at Tony Benn's funeral.
Jack Dromey and Harriet Harman queuing to get in to Tony Benn's funeral at St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey pic.twitter.com/F8GVX8tf49
Big crowds outside Westminster Abbey for Tony Benn's funeral pic.twitter.com/r5F8JiEE9W
Another scene from outside his funeral: Tony Benn addressing the Durham Miners pic.twitter.com/XhPays5L9g
Mourners entering St Margaret's Church for Tony Benn. Funeral service begins at 11am pic.twitter.com/Dr3G7sVFCV
As mourners wait to leave St Margaret's Church after end of Tony Benn's funeral, they break into impromptu rendition of The Red Flag
12.28pm GMT
Here's a link to the order of service for Tony Benn's funeral.
The Order of service for the Funeral of #TonyBenn http://t.co/qUEKgXhTP3 #stmargarets
In St Margaret's Westminster Abbey looking at at Tony Benn funeral order of service. He would have approved: ends with Red Flag
12.15pm GMT
A glitch in the system means that I cannot upload photographs from Tony Benn's funeral at the moment.
But here are some pictures from Twitter.
Incredible turnout for Tony Benn's funeral. Almost a demonstration. pic.twitter.com/9ne67ZHPAV
Huge crowd has turned out to farewell #TonyBenn. A final round of respectful applause pic.twitter.com/A6CfroPggQ
Crowds gather for #TonyBenn. #RIP #LegendoftheLeft pic.twitter.com/P1ci8P1yxi
Paying our respects as Parliament bids farewell to Tony Benn pic.twitter.com/XIgzXqfDEp
Crowd remains outside #TonyBenn's funeral, listening to moving speeches by his children. #TurnOutForTony pic.twitter.com/19V2hFBnVH
Arthur Scargill is among the mourners at Tony Benn's funeral http://t.co/56YHj1pQ8w pic.twitter.com/XbteZEdvDe
Red flag now ending Tony Benn funeral @itvcentral @itvcalendar @itvnews pic.twitter.com/sdP0lSMvOI
Huge crowds outside Tony Benn's funeral this morning. Beautiful banners. Tony would be proud. pic.twitter.com/xrFZAjG6WM
Tony Benn's coffin is carried into St Margaret's Church, Westminster as hundreds watch on http://t.co/hbQTRYkE4h pic.twitter.com/kUfFNY1Qvu
Big crowds gathered with banners for Tony Benn's funeral outside Westminster Abbey pic.twitter.com/tXqzHD3EUE
12.09pm GMT
Here is what the Press Association has filed from Tony Benn's funeral.
Politicians and activists bade an emotional farewell to Tony Benn as the Labour stalwart's final departure from Parliament was greeted with both tears and a sustained round of applause.
The former cabinet minister's coffin was driven the short distance from the Palace of Westminster's Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, where his body laid in rest overnight, to St Margaret's church in the shadow of Westminster Abbey.
11.58am GMT
There is plenty of coverage of the Nigel Farage/Nick Clegg debate on the internet this morning.
Here are four of the blogs that I've found most interesting.
There were two larger consequences of last night. One is that the TV debates between the main party leaders are even more certain not to happen in the general election campaign. Last night happened because it was in the interest of both leaders. Clegg didnt mind losing because he had nothing to lose, but he lost partly because he is the unpopular government politician. The incumbent usually has more to lose, which is why David Cameron will find ways by which the TV debates will not happen.
But the other consequence is more important. Last nights debate was between two clear poles of an argument. In unconditionally versus out unconditionally. And we know where the British voter prefers to be when presented with a choice like that.
A key part of the UKIP leaders appeal is that he comes across as a good-humoured bloke and the voice of common-sense. Just beneath the surface, however, is a visceral anger towards the European Union that can lead Farage into some quite weird positions. Clegg got close to exposing this, when he questioned Farages opposition to EU measures that would give legal help and safeguards to EU citizens, in trouble in other European countries. Farage opposes these measures because, to him, they represent an unacceptable increase in EU powers even though they might be of practical help to British people abroad.
The real revelation, however, came right towards the end of the debate, when Farage claimed that the EU has blood on its hands for encouraging a rebellion in Ukraine. This is essentially the Kremlin line. Clegg did not have the time, or the quick-wittedness, to come back at him. But somebody should point out that Farages hatred of the EU is so extreme, that it leads him to a position where he has more sympathy for Vladimir Putin than for the pro-EU demonstrators in Kiev. Most British voters probably dont care that much about Ukraine. But they dont like fanaticism. And that is the position of an anti-EU fanatic not of a cheery voice of good sense, from down the pub.
If Nick Clegg takes one lesson from the first debate into the BBC second leg next week, it should be to spend less time on 'what the real facts show', if he does want to do more than mobilise existing EU-enthusiasts to the Lib Dem banner ...
Why facts are a comparatively ineffective way to persuade is the theme of a growing body of political psychology research. Books such as Drew Westen's The Political Brain have helped to popularise these lessons for politics rooted in brain science.
11.12am GMT
YouGov's Peter Kellner has written a blog this morning with more details of the polling that it carried out last night for the Sun about the debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage.
Last night we just got the headline figure - showing that 57% of viewers thought that Farage won, and that just 36% thought Clegg won.
10.33am GMT
Mike Penning, the disabilities minister, has just told BBC News that it was the government's decision to end its contract with Atos. The Press Association story implies it was the other way round (see 10.13am), and in practice there was an agreement, but Penning insisted it was the government that took the initiative.
Here's how he put it in the written ministerial statement.
My commitment to performance is why my department took immediate action last summer when we identified significant quality failures in the written reports produced by Atos following assessments.
Today I am announcing that following detailed negotiations with Atos, the Government has reached a settlement for Atos to exit the contract to deliver Work Capability Assessments before it is due to end in August 2015.
10.26am GMT
We are getting 33 written ministerial statements from the government. These generally contain minor or mid-ranking news announcements. On a normal day there are only about half a dozen.
One significant one was about Atos. (See 10.13am.) There's another about Crossrail (pdf). Stephen Hammond, the transport minister, has announced that Crossrail will extend to Reading from 2019. Previously it was going to end, in the west, at Maidenhead.
10.13am GMT
Atos is giving up its contract to carry out work capability assessments for the government early, ministers have announced.
Here's what the Press Association has filed.
The firm that carries out assessments for disability claimants is quitting its contract early, the government has announced.
Atos has been under fire over the number of assessments it has made as well as waiting times.
10.04am GMT
Here are the main points from Call Clegg
* Clegg described those opposed to allowing women to pre-order the morning after pill, who reportedly include the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, of being "patronising" and "sexist" and having a "medieval" attitude to women. *He said he had not discussed the matter with Hunt, but he did not dispute the suggestion that Hunt was opposed to the move. The decision to allow women to buy the morning after pill in advance was announced this week. Clegg said:
I'm absolutely appalled, and in fact really quite angry, on behalf of many, many women across the country about this suggestion that giving a woman the right to buy the morning-after pill will somehow automatically lead to more promiscuous behaviour. I think it's demeaning, I think it's patronising, I think it's sexist. It's quite astonishing. Women don't take the morning after pill lightly ...
To say to a woman she cannot have the right, in case she has unprotected sex, to have the morning-after pill available to her, and to say you cannot possibly have that right because we - whoever's we, the government, society, or whichever newspaper is pontificating about this - think you will suddenly become terribly promiscuous, is an absolute insult to women across the country ...
I was extraordinarily surprised, if not shocked, that he agrees with Vladimir Putin. And to somehow suggest that, because of Nigel Farage's loathing of the European Union, that is the reason why Ukrainian protesters sought to reclaim their own freedom and their own country on the streets of Kiev, I just think it is really insulting to those people in Kiev who were simply standing up for values that we should share and support.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. For years and years and years you've had this misinformation, these deeply misleading facts, put about by people like Nigel Farage unchallenged. Of course I'm not going to be able to reverse it in one hour.
9.33am GMT
Q: Do you think Arsene Wenger should go?
Clegg says he remains a Wenger fan. Arsenal should stick with him.
9.32am GMT
Q: I'm not a fan of yours. Nigel Farage said 29m Romanians and Bulgarians had a right to come here. He did not say they would. You are misrepresenting him. And last night you kept saying you would stop Farage. How can you stop him?
Clegg says taking the UK out of the world's largest economy would be a mistake.
9.29am GMT
Q: Is it right that woman should be able to stock up on the morning-after pill?
Clegg says he is appalled at the suggestion that allowing women to buy the morning-after pill in advance will increase promiscuity. Women do not take this pill lightly. To suggest it will increase promiscuity is an absolute insult to women.
9.25am GMT
Q: Why should the teachers have to do more work for less pay?
Clegg says the NUT's main reason for going on strike was their objection to the proposal to allow head teachers to reward good teachers with extra pay.
9.22am GMT
Q: Why aren't you pushing for a referendum on Europe?
Clegg says the caller will get a say the next time it is proposed that the rules of the EU should change. They change regularly, he says.
9.19am GMT
Q: What did David Cameron say to you about the debate?
We haven't talked about it much, says Clegg.
9.18am GMT
Q: In the election, who will represent the Lib Dems in the chancellor/shadow chancellor debate?
Clegg says he has not decided yet. He will decide nearer the time. He praises Danny Alexander's work as chief secretary to the Treasury, but pays tribute to Vince Cable too.
9.16am GMT
Back to Call Clegg.
Q: I'm a pensioner. But my home is worth £2m. I might have to sell it to pay your mansion tax.
9.14am GMT
Here is the YouGov chart with details of its poll last night showing that Nigel Farage was deemed to have won the vote (pdf).
9.10am GMT
Q: Did you lose last night?
Clegg says clearly a lot of people did not agree with him.
9.09am GMT
Q: So was it naivety or stupidity from Farage?
You'll have to ask him, says Clegg. It will come up in next week's debate. But it shows how extreme Farage's loathing of the EU has become.
9.07am GMT
Q: I think you beat Nigel Farage last night. Are you going to make capital from Farage's comment about Ukraine?
Clegg says that came at the end of the debate, so they could not debate it.
9.05am GMT
The first question is about the debate.
Q: You said in the debate that Romania and Bulgaria do not have a population of 29m. That is what the census figure show. But since then the population has grown. So how much research did you do?
8.56am GMT
For my trade, political debates are very good news. Not only do you get the event itself, but you also get the build-up and then, afterwards, the reaction and post-match analysis. And that's where we are today.
*Lord Ashdown*, the former Lib Dem leader, and *Lord Pearson*, a former Ukip leader, have both been touring the broadcast studios this morning talking up the achievements of Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage last night.
Mr. Farage is perfectly entitled to wake up this morning feeling content. He took his case to the highest level of debate and I think he did a competent and passionate job. Nick Clegg was the person who placed this challenge, he's had the courage and conviction to take this to the debate against a public mood of scepticism which I think took some courage.
He came out of with a rating, what, three times or more that of his party and probably twice that of the latest support in the country for the proposition that he put and he comes out as unquestionably, and that by the way is a considerable debating success, and he comes out unquestionably now as the leader of those who would wish to see Britain unequivocally take its place in Europe. I think those are significant successes.
I think [Farage] has a vision, which I think none of the other party leaders have I think Nigel made one mistake, when he said that we had been giving our sovereignty away of course, that isnt true; were paying Brussels billions a year to take it. But apart from that, I think he rightly said that the whole project of European integration is a failed project. Reported by guardian.co.uk 9 hours ago.
12.55pm GMT
There's some video from Tony Benn's funeral here. It features the address from Benn's son, Hilary.
12.50pm GMT
I have not got a full list of those who attended Tony Benn's funeral, but the mourners included: Lord Heseltine; Ed Miliband and his wife, Justine Thornton; Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper; Ken Livingstone; Alastair Campbell; Jack Straw; Dennis Skinner; Andrew Mitchell; Martin McGuinness; Gerry Adams; George Galloway; David Blunkett; Cherie Blair; Arthur Scargill; Len McCluskey; Chuka Umunna; Sir Bill Morris; Saffron Burrows; Michael Eavis; John Sergeant; Sally Bercow and Natasha Kaplinsky.
12.38pm GMT
And here are some more tweets about the service from Tony Benn's Labour colleagues.
So many people lining streets nr St Margaret's Church for Tony Benn funeral, underlining the impact he had & affection in which he was held
Outpouring of affection, love and respect for Tony Benn at his very moving funeral.Great to hear Red Flag ringing out as his cortege left.
Beautiful celebration of Tony Benn's life, the music and the wonderful family tributes.
Lovely and incredibly moving funeral just now for Tony Benn. Wonderful speeches by Stephen, Hilary, Melissa, Joshua and David. RIP Tony
12.35pm GMT
The Telegraph's parliamentary sketchwriter, Michael Deacon, has been at Tony Benn's funeral.
Jack Dromey and Harriet Harman queuing to get in to Tony Benn's funeral at St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey pic.twitter.com/F8GVX8tf49
Big crowds outside Westminster Abbey for Tony Benn's funeral pic.twitter.com/r5F8JiEE9W
Another scene from outside his funeral: Tony Benn addressing the Durham Miners pic.twitter.com/XhPays5L9g
Mourners entering St Margaret's Church for Tony Benn. Funeral service begins at 11am pic.twitter.com/Dr3G7sVFCV
As mourners wait to leave St Margaret's Church after end of Tony Benn's funeral, they break into impromptu rendition of The Red Flag
12.28pm GMT
Here's a link to the order of service for Tony Benn's funeral.
The Order of service for the Funeral of #TonyBenn http://t.co/qUEKgXhTP3 #stmargarets
In St Margaret's Westminster Abbey looking at at Tony Benn funeral order of service. He would have approved: ends with Red Flag
12.15pm GMT
A glitch in the system means that I cannot upload photographs from Tony Benn's funeral at the moment.
But here are some pictures from Twitter.
Incredible turnout for Tony Benn's funeral. Almost a demonstration. pic.twitter.com/9ne67ZHPAV
Huge crowd has turned out to farewell #TonyBenn. A final round of respectful applause pic.twitter.com/A6CfroPggQ
Crowds gather for #TonyBenn. #RIP #LegendoftheLeft pic.twitter.com/P1ci8P1yxi
Paying our respects as Parliament bids farewell to Tony Benn pic.twitter.com/XIgzXqfDEp
Crowd remains outside #TonyBenn's funeral, listening to moving speeches by his children. #TurnOutForTony pic.twitter.com/19V2hFBnVH
Arthur Scargill is among the mourners at Tony Benn's funeral http://t.co/56YHj1pQ8w pic.twitter.com/XbteZEdvDe
Red flag now ending Tony Benn funeral @itvcentral @itvcalendar @itvnews pic.twitter.com/sdP0lSMvOI
Huge crowds outside Tony Benn's funeral this morning. Beautiful banners. Tony would be proud. pic.twitter.com/xrFZAjG6WM
Tony Benn's coffin is carried into St Margaret's Church, Westminster as hundreds watch on http://t.co/hbQTRYkE4h pic.twitter.com/kUfFNY1Qvu
Big crowds gathered with banners for Tony Benn's funeral outside Westminster Abbey pic.twitter.com/tXqzHD3EUE
12.09pm GMT
Here is what the Press Association has filed from Tony Benn's funeral.
Politicians and activists bade an emotional farewell to Tony Benn as the Labour stalwart's final departure from Parliament was greeted with both tears and a sustained round of applause.
The former cabinet minister's coffin was driven the short distance from the Palace of Westminster's Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, where his body laid in rest overnight, to St Margaret's church in the shadow of Westminster Abbey.
11.58am GMT
There is plenty of coverage of the Nigel Farage/Nick Clegg debate on the internet this morning.
Here are four of the blogs that I've found most interesting.
There were two larger consequences of last night. One is that the TV debates between the main party leaders are even more certain not to happen in the general election campaign. Last night happened because it was in the interest of both leaders. Clegg didnt mind losing because he had nothing to lose, but he lost partly because he is the unpopular government politician. The incumbent usually has more to lose, which is why David Cameron will find ways by which the TV debates will not happen.
But the other consequence is more important. Last nights debate was between two clear poles of an argument. In unconditionally versus out unconditionally. And we know where the British voter prefers to be when presented with a choice like that.
A key part of the UKIP leaders appeal is that he comes across as a good-humoured bloke and the voice of common-sense. Just beneath the surface, however, is a visceral anger towards the European Union that can lead Farage into some quite weird positions. Clegg got close to exposing this, when he questioned Farages opposition to EU measures that would give legal help and safeguards to EU citizens, in trouble in other European countries. Farage opposes these measures because, to him, they represent an unacceptable increase in EU powers even though they might be of practical help to British people abroad.
The real revelation, however, came right towards the end of the debate, when Farage claimed that the EU has blood on its hands for encouraging a rebellion in Ukraine. This is essentially the Kremlin line. Clegg did not have the time, or the quick-wittedness, to come back at him. But somebody should point out that Farages hatred of the EU is so extreme, that it leads him to a position where he has more sympathy for Vladimir Putin than for the pro-EU demonstrators in Kiev. Most British voters probably dont care that much about Ukraine. But they dont like fanaticism. And that is the position of an anti-EU fanatic not of a cheery voice of good sense, from down the pub.
If Nick Clegg takes one lesson from the first debate into the BBC second leg next week, it should be to spend less time on 'what the real facts show', if he does want to do more than mobilise existing EU-enthusiasts to the Lib Dem banner ...
Why facts are a comparatively ineffective way to persuade is the theme of a growing body of political psychology research. Books such as Drew Westen's The Political Brain have helped to popularise these lessons for politics rooted in brain science.
11.12am GMT
YouGov's Peter Kellner has written a blog this morning with more details of the polling that it carried out last night for the Sun about the debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage.
Last night we just got the headline figure - showing that 57% of viewers thought that Farage won, and that just 36% thought Clegg won.
10.33am GMT
Mike Penning, the disabilities minister, has just told BBC News that it was the government's decision to end its contract with Atos. The Press Association story implies it was the other way round (see 10.13am), and in practice there was an agreement, but Penning insisted it was the government that took the initiative.
Here's how he put it in the written ministerial statement.
My commitment to performance is why my department took immediate action last summer when we identified significant quality failures in the written reports produced by Atos following assessments.
Today I am announcing that following detailed negotiations with Atos, the Government has reached a settlement for Atos to exit the contract to deliver Work Capability Assessments before it is due to end in August 2015.
10.26am GMT
We are getting 33 written ministerial statements from the government. These generally contain minor or mid-ranking news announcements. On a normal day there are only about half a dozen.
One significant one was about Atos. (See 10.13am.) There's another about Crossrail (pdf). Stephen Hammond, the transport minister, has announced that Crossrail will extend to Reading from 2019. Previously it was going to end, in the west, at Maidenhead.
10.13am GMT
Atos is giving up its contract to carry out work capability assessments for the government early, ministers have announced.
Here's what the Press Association has filed.
The firm that carries out assessments for disability claimants is quitting its contract early, the government has announced.
Atos has been under fire over the number of assessments it has made as well as waiting times.
10.04am GMT
Here are the main points from Call Clegg
* Clegg described those opposed to allowing women to pre-order the morning after pill, who reportedly include the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, of being "patronising" and "sexist" and having a "medieval" attitude to women. *He said he had not discussed the matter with Hunt, but he did not dispute the suggestion that Hunt was opposed to the move. The decision to allow women to buy the morning after pill in advance was announced this week. Clegg said:
I'm absolutely appalled, and in fact really quite angry, on behalf of many, many women across the country about this suggestion that giving a woman the right to buy the morning-after pill will somehow automatically lead to more promiscuous behaviour. I think it's demeaning, I think it's patronising, I think it's sexist. It's quite astonishing. Women don't take the morning after pill lightly ...
To say to a woman she cannot have the right, in case she has unprotected sex, to have the morning-after pill available to her, and to say you cannot possibly have that right because we - whoever's we, the government, society, or whichever newspaper is pontificating about this - think you will suddenly become terribly promiscuous, is an absolute insult to women across the country ...
I was extraordinarily surprised, if not shocked, that he agrees with Vladimir Putin. And to somehow suggest that, because of Nigel Farage's loathing of the European Union, that is the reason why Ukrainian protesters sought to reclaim their own freedom and their own country on the streets of Kiev, I just think it is really insulting to those people in Kiev who were simply standing up for values that we should share and support.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. For years and years and years you've had this misinformation, these deeply misleading facts, put about by people like Nigel Farage unchallenged. Of course I'm not going to be able to reverse it in one hour.
9.33am GMT
Q: Do you think Arsene Wenger should go?
Clegg says he remains a Wenger fan. Arsenal should stick with him.
9.32am GMT
Q: I'm not a fan of yours. Nigel Farage said 29m Romanians and Bulgarians had a right to come here. He did not say they would. You are misrepresenting him. And last night you kept saying you would stop Farage. How can you stop him?
Clegg says taking the UK out of the world's largest economy would be a mistake.
9.29am GMT
Q: Is it right that woman should be able to stock up on the morning-after pill?
Clegg says he is appalled at the suggestion that allowing women to buy the morning-after pill in advance will increase promiscuity. Women do not take this pill lightly. To suggest it will increase promiscuity is an absolute insult to women.
9.25am GMT
Q: Why should the teachers have to do more work for less pay?
Clegg says the NUT's main reason for going on strike was their objection to the proposal to allow head teachers to reward good teachers with extra pay.
9.22am GMT
Q: Why aren't you pushing for a referendum on Europe?
Clegg says the caller will get a say the next time it is proposed that the rules of the EU should change. They change regularly, he says.
9.19am GMT
Q: What did David Cameron say to you about the debate?
We haven't talked about it much, says Clegg.
9.18am GMT
Q: In the election, who will represent the Lib Dems in the chancellor/shadow chancellor debate?
Clegg says he has not decided yet. He will decide nearer the time. He praises Danny Alexander's work as chief secretary to the Treasury, but pays tribute to Vince Cable too.
9.16am GMT
Back to Call Clegg.
Q: I'm a pensioner. But my home is worth £2m. I might have to sell it to pay your mansion tax.
9.14am GMT
Here is the YouGov chart with details of its poll last night showing that Nigel Farage was deemed to have won the vote (pdf).
9.10am GMT
Q: Did you lose last night?
Clegg says clearly a lot of people did not agree with him.
9.09am GMT
Q: So was it naivety or stupidity from Farage?
You'll have to ask him, says Clegg. It will come up in next week's debate. But it shows how extreme Farage's loathing of the EU has become.
9.07am GMT
Q: I think you beat Nigel Farage last night. Are you going to make capital from Farage's comment about Ukraine?
Clegg says that came at the end of the debate, so they could not debate it.
9.05am GMT
The first question is about the debate.
Q: You said in the debate that Romania and Bulgaria do not have a population of 29m. That is what the census figure show. But since then the population has grown. So how much research did you do?
8.56am GMT
For my trade, political debates are very good news. Not only do you get the event itself, but you also get the build-up and then, afterwards, the reaction and post-match analysis. And that's where we are today.
*Lord Ashdown*, the former Lib Dem leader, and *Lord Pearson*, a former Ukip leader, have both been touring the broadcast studios this morning talking up the achievements of Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage last night.
Mr. Farage is perfectly entitled to wake up this morning feeling content. He took his case to the highest level of debate and I think he did a competent and passionate job. Nick Clegg was the person who placed this challenge, he's had the courage and conviction to take this to the debate against a public mood of scepticism which I think took some courage.
He came out of with a rating, what, three times or more that of his party and probably twice that of the latest support in the country for the proposition that he put and he comes out as unquestionably, and that by the way is a considerable debating success, and he comes out unquestionably now as the leader of those who would wish to see Britain unequivocally take its place in Europe. I think those are significant successes.
I think [Farage] has a vision, which I think none of the other party leaders have I think Nigel made one mistake, when he said that we had been giving our sovereignty away of course, that isnt true; were paying Brussels billions a year to take it. But apart from that, I think he rightly said that the whole project of European integration is a failed project. Reported by guardian.co.uk 9 hours ago.