UKIP has been accused of hypocrisy for handing out free bags ‘Made in India’ at the end of a Chester event addressed by UKIP leader Nigel Farage in front of the slogan ‘Believe in Britain’.

But North West Euro MP Louise Bours defended her party saying the ‘Say No to EU’ event , hosted by the Crowne Plaza hotel, was organised by the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), the European parliamentary group to which UKIP belongs, who also sourced the bags for life.

North West UKIP MEP Louise Bours speaking to Chronicle chief reporter David Holmes
North West UKIP MEP Louise Bours speaking to Chronicle chief reporter David Holmes

She said: “It’s a bit of a non-story because we don’t have anything to do with them. We have nothing to do with how they are sourced. We have nothing to do with where they come from.”

Ms Bours used her speech at the all-ticket event, attended by about 670 people, to raise concerns around the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in terms of its potential impact on the NHS. TTIP is a series of trade negotiations being carried out mostly in secret between the EU and US aimed at reducing regulatory barriers to trade for big business.

She continued: “I suppose in an ideal world where money was no object, where money was not a problem, if you asked any UKIP MEPs about anything to be given away, they would love the idea of the money being pumped back into our own regional economy.”

Related story: UKIP's Louise Bours has showbiz in her bones

Ms Bours was delighted that an estimated 40% of the audience at the Chester event, which was advertised to the public, were not UKIP members.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage addresses a Chester audience at the Crowne Plaza hotel as part of his 'Say No to EU' tour
UKIP leader Nigel Farage addresses a Chester audience at the Crowne Plaza hotel as part of his 'Say No to EU' tour

But some people have criticised UKIP over the ‘goodie bags’, which bear the UKIP logo and the slogan ‘Protect Our Heritage’, but feature the manufacturer’s label ‘Green and Innocent’ and the phrase ‘Made in India’. Inside were leaflets entitled ‘The Truth About Trade Outside the EU - why leaving the EU takes the UK into a world of new opportunity’ and another by UKIP deputy leader Paul Nuttall called ‘Big Spenders - Extravagance, Waste and Propaganda’.

Paul Bigland wrote on Twitter: “Protect our heritage’? Just as long as it’s not the weaving industry or bag-making then? #hypocrisy #ukip.”

But Mick‏ @qprmicky replied: “Nothing hypocritical about world trade #UKIP actively encourage it unlike the EU.”

Sharing the platform with Mr Farage and Ms Bours were her fellow North West Euro MPs Paul Nuttall, who chaired the event and Steven Woolfe, who lives in Chester.

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