As Guido wrote at the weekend:

Officially, the Conservative leadership pretends eurosceptic UKIP are not a threat; privately, their troops do not agree. Charles Tannock, a senior Tory Member of the European Parliament, has issued a panicked briefing to colleagues stating: “UKIP poses a direct threat to Conservative re-election prospects…UKIP polling at even 8% could be critical in splitting our vote and, paradoxically, help achieve the result of a small majority Labour government, or Labour-LibDem coalition – which is more pro-EU!”

And here is the whole memo:

Nope, no threat there…