Nigel Farage has insisted he is "entitled to a lunchtime pint" following accusations Ukip MEPs are the laziest in Europe.
Speaking on ITV's Daybreak programme on Friday morning, the Ukip leader defended his voting record after figures uncovered by the Daily Mirror revealed him to have fifth worst attendance record out of all 752 MEPs.
"My voters did not vote for me to go native. They didn’t vote for me to move to Brussels, they voted for me to campaign to get out of the European Union and that’s what I’m going to go on doing," Farage said.
"I’ll tell you something. I work an 18 hour day most days and I think I’m entitled at lunchtime to a pint."
He added:“My voters did not vote for me to go native. They didn’t vote for me to move to Brussels, they voted for me to campaign to get out of the European Union and that’s what I’m going to go on doing.”
Farage also attacked Tory MPs for living in Brussels. "How many other MEPs can you name? Very few people know their MEPs, that’s because they live in Brussels," he said.
The European Parliament figures showed that Ukip MEPs Godfrey Bloom and Paul Nuttall were also in the bottom five.
According to the figures, Ukip's 11 MEPs miss a third of all votes while the pro-EU Lib Dems maanaged to turn up for 87% of votes.