Party 'now in big league'

The millionaire bankrolling the UK Independence Party today said it was "now in the big league" as he revealed more than ?2 million had been spent on the Euro elections.

Alan Bown, a Kent-based exporter who made his fortune from bookmaking, said he had donated ?500,000 to help the anti-EU party make a breakthrough on 10 June.

Mr Bown said the UKIP now had seven call centres and 1,500 poster sites - more than any other party. It has also printed two million leaflets before polling day and now outspends the Liberal Democrats. Mr Bown set up his first legal bookmakers' shop in Broadstairs 30 years ago. When he sold his chain two years ago to Coral he made a small fortune.

"I know my odds and there's no doubt that we are going to do extremely well," he said.

"A message has struck a chord with the public. It makes me angry to feel that in the next 100 years Germany and France will be making all our laws."

But Mr Bown also shares his party's strong views on asylum and immigration. "Our message is that Britain is full up," he said.