Kilroy-Silk launches election fight for Veritas

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LONDON (Reuters) - Former chat-show host Robert Kilroy-Silk stepped back into the political spotlight on Thursday with an attack on immigration as he launched his Veritas party’s manifesto for the election.

The Eurosceptic politician, who founded Veritas in February after quitting the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), also put crime and taxes at the heart of his party’s platform for the May 5 election.

"You can’t tell me a single town in this country that has voted for multi-culturalism," said Kilroy-Silk, who stepped down from his BBC chat show over anti-Arab remarks that sparked outrage.

"You cannot cite to me a single city in this land that has asked for more immigration ... It is something that has been imposed on them by the liberal fascists in London. It’s not what people want," he added.

While the Conservatives have helped push asylum and immigration high up the election agenda, most polls point to a clear win for the Labour party.

Veritas -- "Truth" in Latin -- is aiming to field 79 candidates in its first national election. A source said the party would be happy to win one seat:

"Everybody’s telling us we can’t possibly win a seat but the ideal would be three or four as the maximum," the source said.

"We are more than hopeful that Robert Kilroy-Silk .....continued below

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Other key points in Veritas’ election battle plan are a promise to introduce a flat tax of 22 percent, to withdraw Britain from the European Union and to clamp down on the number of refugees entering the country.

Kilroy Silk boosted UKIP’s profile last year when Britain’s most strident anti-European party won 12 seats in the European parliament. He quit the party after bickering over his leadership ambitions and formed Veritas a month later.