Ukip in turmoil as top man says: ‘I’m defecting to Tories’
NIGEL FARAGE was rocked last night as one of his Euro MPs defected to the Tories, saying: ‘Ukip is pointless.’
In a major coup for David Cameron, Amjad Bashir jumped ship less than a year after he was elected as a Ukip MEP.
But last night, Bashir’s decision descended into a tit-for-tat battle between the parties. Just hours before news of his defection was due to be made public, Ukip announced it was ‘suspending’ him pending investigations into ‘extremely serious’ allegations.
Bashir, a Pakistani-born businessman, has been one of the few non-white faces in the senior ranks of Ukip and was used to rebut allegations of racism in the party.
His defection comes four months after two Conservative MPs – Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless – quit to join Ukip. Now Cameron has turned the tables – and it was one of several blows delivered to Farage’s Election hopes last night. First, a senior Ukip official admitted the party was chasing the votes of ‘bigots’. Party secretary Matthew Richardson – who, ironically, was hired to stamp out negative media stories about Ukip – said: ‘People talk about Ukip being bigots but there are hundreds of thousands of bigots in the United Kingdom and they deserve representation.’
Mr Richardson admitted making the remarks, but defended them as ‘the sort of chat people have with their mates while having a drink’.
Then The Mail on Sunday learned that Ukip’s economic spokesman, Patrick O’Flynn, told a meeting in Hampshire that Right-wingers in Ukip are ‘away with the fairies’ – and that many egos in the party were ‘slightly out of control’.
The comments by the pair, both close to Farage, will be seized upon as proof that the party is dominated by extremists. But it is the row over Bashir’s switch that could prove the most damaging.
Ukip immediately went on the offensive against the Euro-MP, making allegations of unanswered financial and employment questions, and interference with the candidate selection process.
Bashir dismissed the claims as ‘a crude attempt to smear me’. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, he said: ‘There is not a shred of truth in any of the claims but it has made me more convinced than ever that I made the right decision.’
Announcing his ‘suspension’, Ukip said: ‘The UK Independence Party has a zero-tolerance policy and takes the matters at hand extremely seriously. The allegations against Mr Bashir are of a grave nature and we will be forwarding our evidence obtained so far to the police. Ukip will not tolerate anyone abusing their positions in the party as we have a firm commitment to differentiating ourselves from the existing political classes.
‘As a result, Mr Bashir’s involvement with the party was suspended today with immediate effect pending further investigations.’
The news came after Bashir said he was defecting as he agreed with Cameron that a vote for Ukip could put Ed Miliband in No10.
Bashir said Cameron’s promises on immigration and an in-out referendum on Britain’s EU membership meant there was no longer a need for Ukip – and he suggested the party was essentially a platform for promoting Farage’s personal ambitions.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I now realise that Ukip is more concerned with furthering its own interests as a political party than delivering for the British people.
‘I have come to the conclusion that it is only with David Cameron and the Conservatives that we can achieve a referendum on Europe, and an immigration system that works for Britain. A vote for Ukip
‘Not a shred of truth in Ukip’s crude smears’
will only deliver a Labour Government, which will deny people a referendum and control over our borders.
‘I have done this with a heavy heart, but I feel I must do right by my country, and support the Conservatives.’
The defection deal was brokered by Tory MEP Dan Hannan and sealed when Bashir met Cameron in the Prime Minister’s constituency office in Oxfordshire on Friday.
Bashir, 62, was Ukip’s spokesman on small businesses.