Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage quits UKIP over its anti-Muslim ‘fixation’

Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage has quit the UK Independence Party which he co-founded 25 years ago, saying the party he led to its greatest election successes was now unrecognisable because of the “fixation” with the anti-Muslim policies of its leader, Gerard Batten.

Farage, who took UKIP to third place by number of votes in the 2015 election and significantly shaped the ground for the Brexit referendum, said he was dismayed by Batten’s policies and his decision to appoint the far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson as an adviser.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Farage condemned Batten’s decision to throw UKIP’s support behind an anti-Brexit demonstration in London on Sunday organised by Robinson and his associates, saying it was likely to “inspire violence and thuggish behaviour”.

“My heart sinks as I reflect on the idea that they may be seen by some as representative of the cause for which I have campaigned for so much of my adult life,” wrote Farage, who regularly contributes a column to the newspaper.

“The very idea of Tommy Robinson being at the centre of the Brexit debate is too awful to contemplate.

“And so, with a heavy heart, and after all my years of devotion to the party, I am leaving UKIP today. There is a huge space for a Brexit party in British politics, but it won’t be filled by UKIP.”