Farage warns Ukip will be ‘finished’ unless Batten quits leadership over Robinson role
THE UK Independence Party looks set to be plunged into more leadership strife after Nigel Farage called on Gerard Batten to quit over his appointment of Tommy Robinson as an adviser on rape gangs and prison reform.
Mr Farage, who led Ukip on three occasions between 2006 and 2016, said he was “appalled” at the decision to bring in the controversial activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxleylennon, and the party would be “finished” as an electoral force if it continued in its current direction.
However, Mr Batten hit back, saying “Brexit is bigger than Nigel Farage’s ego” and that “Nigel has done nothing for Ukip in the past two years”.
Mr Batten is planning a “Great Brexit betrayal” rally in London for “tens upon tens of thousands of people”, to be addressed by Robinson on Sunday Dec 9, the eve of the MPS’ meaningful vote on the Brexit deal.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Mr Batten appointed Robinson after the party’s ruling national executive committee refused to admit him as a member at a meeting last Sunday. The 15-strong NEC voted 11-4 to reconsider the matter on March 29 next year.
Mr Farage said the appointment of Robinson to the unpaid role “goes against all the things I did as leader to say we will talk about immigration, we will talk about the extreme forms of Islam, but we will do it as a non-racist, non-sectarian party. This blows a hole in all of that”. He forecast that the march and rally “will end in violence”.
He said he had not “given up” on Ukip and would urge the NEC to stage a vote of no confidence in Mr Batten.
The news that Gerrard Batten, Ukip’s leader, has appointed Tommy Robinson as a “personal special adviser” appals me. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-lennon, has a long criminal history including several spells in prison. He was instrumental in founding the thuggish anti-islam group known as the English Defence League. Perhaps most importantly, his appointment could have a negative impact on the fragile state of Brexit.
Today, the UK stands on the brink of national disaster partly because our dishonest Prime Minister has not been held to account sufficiently in her dealings with Brussels. Millions of voters are furious at the way the political class has betrayed them. And yet Ukip, the one force which could and should have kept Theresa May in check to guarantee a clean Brexit, has under Gerrard Batten become obsessed with another set of issues altogether.
Batten appears fixated on the thoroughly unappealing Tommy Robinson. Wherever Robinson goes, he attracts ruffians. Violence never seems to be too far away from any of his events. Yet Batten continues to push the Robinson cause, despite the fact that the Ukip NEC recently and sensibly made clear they did not want a ballot of the members to allow Robinson to join.
This would never have been the case under my leadership because I put in place a rule that no former member of the EDL or the BNP could even be a member of Ukip, let alone hold a position within the party.
Ukip has never espoused a religious war against Islam. Mr Batten, however appears intent on taking the party down this very route. After 25 years of trying to build a successful brand, it’s pretty heartbreaking to watch.
Mr Batten’s latest idea is to propel Tommy Robinson, who has previously barely spoken about Brexit, onto the big stage. On Dec 9, likely to be the eve of the most important parliamentary vote of all time, this odd new double act is going to host a joint event before they lead a march through central London. If the only fully pro-brexit party is seen to be sponsoring an event which will almost certainly attract skinheads and thugs, and is likely to end up in scuffles or worse, this could become the enduring image of Brexit.
For Ukip to fail would be a pity, but for Brexit to fail would be a catastrophe. We cannot afford to have the leader of Ukip attending such an event. It would be a gift to the Remainers that they would use against us for many years to come.
I am now writing to every member of Ukip’s NEC urging them to pass a motion of no confidence in Mr Batten’s leadership and next week I will meet Ukip’s MEPS and ask them for their support as well. We must stop Brexit being a plaything of the far Right. If Ukip continues down this path, the party will cease to be an electoral force – and Brexit itself be put in jeopardy. FOLLOW Nigel Farage on Twitter @Nigel_farage; READ MORE at telegraph.co.uk/opinion