have an impact on energy prices in this country in the short term. Ministers and business seem well aware of this. Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised by Farage's comments. UKIP is not known for making sensible claims about climate change. UKIP's position statement on climate and energy issues for example ignores 150 years of scientific research , arguing: "the theory of man-made climate change is unproven and implausible". And UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom describes climate change as a " carbon scam " - or in one memorable interjection in the European Parliament as a " scam scam scam ". Although Farage's comments seem ill-conceived, UKIP is less marginal in the UK political scene than it once was. For example, the editor of ConservativeHome, Tim Montgomerie , argues that UKIP is a significant threat to the Conservative party because it because it could stop the Tories gaining a majority - and a few weeks ago, Farage proposed an electoral pact with the Tories. Whether or not this ever happens, we hope that the Tories will never share UKIP's approach to fact-checking. UPDATE 22nd Oct 9.30pm: The blog was updated in response to the second comment below