The Riveria International Centre, where the UKIP conference is currently being held, was partly funded by a European Grant of £3m.
The Riveria International Centre in Torquay, where the UKIP conference is currently being held, was partly funded by a European grant of £3 million.
Earlier today, Nigel Farage welcomed UKIP members to their spring conference, telling delegates that UKIP had claimed back the idea that it is not disreputable to talk about the EU.
However it has been revealed that the town in which the party’s conference is being held has benefited to the tune of £7.4 million from European Regional Development Funds (EDRF) since 2007.
The Riveria International Centre, where the UKIP leader took to the stage earlier today, was partly funded by a European Grant of £3m, and a £6.5 million investment to improve Torquay’s harbour front and connect the two sides of the harbour included £2.4 million from ERDF.
A further £1.7 million of ERDF money has been invested in a coastal zoo set on Torquay’s waterfront, which has created over 40 jobs, receives 130,000 visitors a year and injects over £3 million a year into the local economy. £3.4 million from ERDF has also co-funded infrastructure works to enable the development of employment land to create high quality business units. The development site is expected to create around 1,300 new jobs.
Commenting on the revelations, Lib Dem South West MEP Sir Graham Watson said UKIP had “managed to embarrass themselves again before anyone had even uttered a word”.
“UKIP can’t be trusted to organise their own conference, let alone run the country,” he said.
“Being in the EU has brought huge benefits to this town. Over £7.4mn of European funding has been invested in recent years to regenerate the Torquay harbour front, build a new coastal zoo and fund local businesses, helping to create over 1300 new jobs,” he added.
27 Responses to “UKIP conference building received £3million European funding”
gthyytuyuiiuuujuui8
wow the EU gave back the UK a measily £3 million out of the billions it give them
Steve Cheney
Are you contending that Torquay gave the EU billions?
Steve Cheney
“£3m is a spit in the ocean when compared to the billions given for glass palaces and chauffeur driven cars in Brussels.”
Which would be a terrible injustice if literally the only thing we got in return was a part investment in a conference building.
Since it isn’t, I am not sure what the point of your comment was; it seemed you wanted to expose ignorance, but you didn’t achieve that at all, so…
Sparky
My son needs £5 pocket money. To ensure he gets this £5, I hand over £500 to a next door neighbour each week on the understanding that he will keep £495 and give my son £5 in a timely manner each week. I’ve found that’s the most sensible way to manage it.
Torquay
I’d like to know what happened to the 1300 jobs, and the so-called “high-quality business units”. I live in Torquay, and the units haven’t materialised, most of the “jobs” in the coastal zoo are of the unpaid, voluntary variety, and the “regenerated” Torquay harbour front consists of an arty, somewhat pointless bridge to save 3 minutes walking round, (and after the initial touristy sightseeing, is virtually never used), and repairs to a crumbing marina wall, which only benefits the owners of the luxury yachts and cruisers (mostly well-off European owned) parked there.
Torquay is a hole of unemployment, poverty and crumbling infrastructure. Virtually all the EU money so-called “invested” here has disappeared to no benefit whatsoever. We desperately need real investment to create real jobs, not the theoretical 1300 claimed by a libdem who has never visited the real Torquay.