THE leader of the Assembly’s Tories said he has always seen the UK Independence Party as a threat and has never ridiculed them.

Andrew RT Davies’ comments in the Senedd yesterday come after UKIP won 150 seats in the English council elections last week, which saw PM David Cameron withdraw his dismissal of them as “fruitcakes”. He said: “What has got to be improved... is communicating the message more effectively and making sure other parties who purport to offer solutions are put under the real scrutiny that they deserve to be put under, to show a lot of the policies they are offering are actually smoke and mirrors.”

Mr Davies said: “I’ve always taken UKIP as a threat, ultimately they are a party that put their name on the ballot paper and offer the electorate the choice to vote for them.”

Asked if he was suggesting Mr Cameron had made a mistake by ridiculing UKIP, the leader added: “No, I just said I’ve never done it.”