Martin addresses party conference

Jailed farmer Tony Martin won a standing ovation when he addressed the UK Independence Party's annual conference.

It was the second public show of support of the party conference season for Mr Martin, who was freed in July after serving two-thirds of a five year sentence for killing 16-year-old burglar Fred Barras.

Earlier this week Mr Martin, who has returned to live at the Norfolk farmhouse where he shot Barras and his accomplice, was given three cheers at the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool.

Addressing hundreds of Euro sceptics at the UKIP conference in London, Martin called for more morals in party politics.

"I don't belong to a political party but if any party has got anything to do with decency, I'm all for that," said Martin.

"At this stage in the country's history it's actually more important than democracy.

"I wish the MPs of this country were not our masters but our friends. I can't see that they are in touch with the ordinary man on the street."

Delegates at the Westminster conference hall, which was adorned with flags of the world and the party's £-sign symbol, heard that party membership had risen to 15,000.

UKIP chairman David Lott, predicting membership would rise to 35,000 in the next year, said: "We are increasing our membership very, very significantly. We are growing phenomenally."

One of the morning's most enthusiastic rounds of applause came when Prime Minister Tony Blair was branded a "moron"

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