Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the latest EU figure to be mocked by UKIP leader Nigel Farage yesterday as he delivered a speech in Malta during which he lived up to his outspoken billing.

“Let me tell you a little secret. Angela Merkel in real life is even more miserable than she should be,” he said as the audience burst into laughter.

In an hour-long address Mr Farage entertained those present with a series of jokes about his political rivals, including European leaders, while calling the EU itself “a monster”.

Merkel in real life is even more miserable than she should be

“It really must stick in their throats,” he said that as one of the seven vice-presidents of the EU Parliament he had to be invited for lunch whenever a head of state visited the European Parliament. Ms Merkel was there last year.

Herman Van Rompuy

The leader of the UK Independence Party (Ukip) yesterday was entertaining a crowd of some 400 British delegates during the closing session of a three-day conference organised by the Institute of Travel and Tourism of the UK.

Mr Farage, who has being campaigning against the EU for 20 years, has risen to prominence after his party made spectacular gains in the recent European Parliament elections, beating even the two traditional heavyweights in British politics – Labour and the Conservatives.

He also reserved a series of sarcastic comments for Britain’s deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg following their miserable results in last month’s elections, saying that nobody had done as much for his political career as the Liberal leader.

In his career as an MEP Mr Farage has made a name for himself for his aggressive and at times insulting remarks. He aimed an infamous tirade at EU president Herman Van Rompuy four years ago.

The Ukip leader had told Mr Van Rompuy that he had “all the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk” while dismissing his homeland, Belgium, as a “non-country”.

Mr Farage said yesterday: “I will not rest until we kill this monster called European Union,” he said.

Displaying little knowledge of EU sentiment in Malta, Mr Farage said the Maltese were no longer enthusiastic about EU accession.

“You’ve now been part of it 10 years and I frankly don’t see any benefits that have been recruited out of membership,” he said.