Nigel Farage of the UK Independence
Party (UKIP) said on Wednesday that he hoped Italy's
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) would agree to a
political alliance with his party, noting that the two had much
in common including a belief in direct democracy and the
harmfulness of Brussels.
The Euroskeptic UKIP garnered the most votes of any party
in the UK in European elections last month.
M5S leader Beppe Grillo, whose party got 21% of the Italian
vote to finish 20% behind Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic
Party (PD) in the elections and is also critical of the EU, has
been looking into a possible alliance with either the Greens or
UKIP.
Farage said that he and Grillo differed only on a few
policies but shared an overall vision.
He rejected out of hand accusations that his party was
racist.
Farage told ANSA on Friday that UKIP is "a democratic
organization...the classic liberal party of the 1800s," in which
"any form of racism, sexism or xenophobia is not tolerated".
As proof he pointed to the fact that UKIP's constituents
recently elected a Muslim businessman, an openly gay man, an
individual of Roma origins and "many women".
Grillo has come in for criticism from the Italian press in
recent weeks after announcing the possible alliance.
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