Will Ukip and Tory campaigners for a Brexit manage to co-exist?

Ukip continues to talk up a big role for itself in the Out campaign. As Britain’s most Eurosceptic party, it is eager to dive into a referendum it has been waiting almost a quarter of a century for, but the extent of its involvement is not clear.The kippers believe that their ground operation will be vital to the Out campaign — one Ukip source points out that all of Ukip’s 45,000-odd members are gearing up for the fight of their lifetime and it’ll be hard for Conservatives to match this. Therefore, if the Brexit campaign has any hope of success, Ukip would argue it has to play a prominent role. And if Ukip plays a prominent role, so does Nigel Farage.

But Conservatives disagree. The Tories are acutely aware that Farage is a marmite character and worry his talk of HIV and immigrants might turn people away from the Brexit campaign. Then there is the effectiveness of Ukip’s operation.