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Ukip's Douglas Carswell summoned by party chair amid Farage row Nigel Farage labels Ukip MP Douglas Carswell a 'Tory party posh boy'
(about 1 hour later)
Ukip’s sole MP, Douglas Carswell, has been summoned to see the party chairman after the former leader, Nigel Farage, said he should be expelled. Ukip has descended into an open battle over its future direction after the former leader, Nigel Farage, called the party’s sole MP, Douglas Carswell, a “Tory party posh boy” who was afraid of talking about immigration and should be expelled.
Farage, arriving at a press event in London on Tuesday, said Carswell had “tried to undermine” him when he was leader, and was doing the same to the new leader, Paul Nuttall. With tensions high between various factions in the party after the new leader, Paul Nuttall, failed to win last week’s Stoke-on-Trent Central byelection, Carswell was called to meet the Ukip chair, Paul Oakden, on Tuesday afternoon, a Ukip spokesman said.
A Ukip spokesman said Carswell, the MP for Clacton who defected to Ukip from the Conservatives, was due to meet the party chair, Paul Oakden, on Tuesday afternoon. The spokesman declined to say what would be said. It is likely that Carswell, a Conservative defector who represents Clacton, will be challengedabout reports that he mocked Farage about the possibility of his getting a knighthood in exchanges that were leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
However, it is expected Oakden will challenge Carswell over reports that he mocked Farage about his possibility of getting a knighthood. Speaking at an event on post-Brexit fisheries policy in Westminster, Farage said Carswell had “tried to undermine” him when he was leader, and was doing the same to Nuttall.
Farage was speaking at an event on UK fisheries policy after Brexit. “Quite central to the Stoke byelection is what kind of policy are we fighting on,” Farage told reporters after the event.
“Quite why Douglas Carswell joined the party, when he disagrees with all their main policies, on all their key personnel, I don’t know. But I do think if the party was freed of him then Paul would be able to lead the party unencumbered.”
Farage said Carswell had sought to stop Ukip talking about immigration during the EU referendum campaign.
“These sort of Tory party posh boys, who don’t like to discuss immigration – you might not get invited to the right dinner parties [if you do] – they wanted to fight the referendum without discussion of the issue,” Farage said.
“They were 180 degrees wrong on that. It’s because we did fight on that issue that we got a turnout of nearly 73%, and people voted who had never voted in their lives.
“His strategy was wrong then, and it’s wrong now. Ukip owns the immigration issue.”
Adding to the chaos, Arron Banks, the businessman who was Ukip’s biggest donor, tweeted to say he planned to stand against Carswell at the next election.
“Ukip MP or not, I’ll stand against him in Clacton next election!” Banks said.
He represents himself and no one else. A terrible individual that's done his best to destroy UKIP. https://t.co/xRs52BVtHe
Banks is not a Ukip member, having let his membership recently lapse. It is not known if he plans to rejoin.
Carswell has insisted he will remain in the party. On Tuesday he re-tweeted a message from the Tory MP Michael Fabricant saying Farage’s antics showed Ukip remained “a basket case” as a party.
The aftermath of the Stoke byelection, where Nuttall only narrowly beat the Tory candidate to finish second, has seen increased agitation over Ukip’s future direction, and whether it should seek to become more mainstream.
Some senior Ukip members say Nuttall’s failure in Stoke shows the party should return to its more hardline approach, and not try too much to appeal to former Labour voters. But other elements in the party argue it is being harmed by Farage’s closeness to Donald Trump, and needs to modernise.
While stressing his support for Nuttall, Farage said the Ukip leader should be careful of pushing the party towards the mainstream.
“If Ukip tries to become like the others, and tries to ape the others, it will be nothing,” he said. “I think he’s going down the right route. There are others around him holding him back.”
Farage has accused Carswell, with whom he has a long-running feud, of trying to block attempts to organise a peerage for him after leaked emails revealed Carswell had joked Farage should instead be given an OBE for “services to headline writers”.Farage has accused Carswell, with whom he has a long-running feud, of trying to block attempts to organise a peerage for him after leaked emails revealed Carswell had joked Farage should instead be given an OBE for “services to headline writers”.
The former Ukip leader Malcolm Pearson initially attempted to organise a peerage for Farage but then switched to lobby instead for a knighthood when it became apparent he would have had to quit as an MEP in order to take up any seat in the Lords. After the bid was rejected he asked Carswell to approach the chief whip, Gavin Williamson, to appeal against the decision. The former Ukip leader Malcolm Pearson initially tried to organise a peerage for Farage, but then started lobbying for a knighthood when it became apparent Farage would have had to quit as an MEP in order to take up any seat in the Lords. After the bid was rejected Lord Pearson asked Carswell to approach the government chief whip, Gavin Williamson, to appeal against the decision.
In an email from 31 December leaked to the Daily Telegraph, Carswell wrote to the peer: “As promised, I did speak to the government chief whip. Perhaps we might try angling to get Nigel an OBE next time round? For services to headline writers? An MBE, maybe? Let’s discuss.” In an email from 31 December leaked to the Daily Telegraph last year, Carswell wrote to the peer: “As promised, I did speak to the government chief whip. Perhaps we might try angling to get Nigel an OBE next time round? For services to headline writers? An MBE, maybe? Let’s discuss.”
Farage insisted the exchanges reveal his Ukip colleague was “consumed with jealousy and a desire to hurt me” and called on Nuttall to expel him. Farage said the exchanges showed his Ukip colleague was “consumed with jealousy and a desire to hurt me”.
Carswell, who defected from the Conservatives in 2014, said the emails showed “quite clearly I tried my best to make sure he got an honour that reflects his contribution”. He told the Press Association: “If he wants to come and talk to the Ukip parliamentary party about it, we are happy to put it on the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
“I’m delighted where I am. I’m trying to double the size of the Ukip parliamentary party at the moment. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that in Stoke. But if he wants to come and talk to the Ukip parliamentary party about any concerns he has, very happy to respond. It won’t take long, it’s just me.”
Carswell also tweeted a smiling emoji after the leaked emails were published on Monday night.
Knight night. 😎Knight night. 😎
Writing in the Telegraph on Tuesday, Farage said Carswell had actively distanced himself from both the leadership and the party’s policy on immigration as early as February 2015. Carswell said the emails showed “quite clearly I tried my best to make sure he got an honour that reflects his contribution”.
Farage said after the general election, when he had failed to win the seat of Thanet South and briefly resigned as Ukip leader, Carswell had demanded repeated assurances that Farage would play no key role in the upcoming EU referendum. He told the Press Association: “I’m delighted where I am. I’m trying to double the size of the Ukip parliamentary party at the moment. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that in Stoke. But if he wants to come and talk to the Ukip parliamentary party about any concerns he has, very happy to respond. It won’t take long, it’s just me.”
Writing in the Telegraph on Tuesday, Farage said Carswell had distanced himself from both the leadership and the party’s policy on immigration as early as February 2015.
Farage said that after the general election, when he had failed to win the seat of Thanet South and briefly resigned as Ukip leader, Carswell had demanded repeated assurances that Farage would play no key role in the upcoming EU referendum.
“From that moment on, Carswell has sought to split and divide Ukip in every way imaginable,” he said. “Since the general election he has brought nothing to the party at all other than constant division, at times I believe deliberately stirred up to cause maximum damage to the party.”“From that moment on, Carswell has sought to split and divide Ukip in every way imaginable,” he said. “Since the general election he has brought nothing to the party at all other than constant division, at times I believe deliberately stirred up to cause maximum damage to the party.”
Farage said the feud was becoming a distraction, saying Ukip “can no longer hold a party conference without a ‘Carswell/Ukip split’ story”.
He continued: “As a party, how can we let a man represent us in the House of Commons who actively and transparently seeks to damage us? I think there is little future for Ukip with him staying inside this party. The time for him to go is now.”
The Ukip donor Arron Banks, who recently threatened to withdraw support for the party unless he was made chairman, tweeted his own criticism of Carswell on Monday night:
He represents himself and no one else. A terrible individual that's done his best to destroy UKIP. https://t.co/xRs52BVtHe
Banks wrote to Nuttall after his defeat in the Stoke Central byelection last week, saying he wanted to transform Ukip into an “efficient, professional and ultimately electable party”.
In an earlier article for the Sunday Express, Banks said the party was being “run like a jumble sale … If Nuttall doesn’t professionalise it and toss out the likes of Douglas Carswell and the rest of the Tory cabal then the party is finished anyway”.
In his letter to Nuttall, Banks said he would appoint a new chief executive to oversee “a total rebrand of the party” with the aim of recruiting 100,000 members within 18 months.
As well as appointing new staff and professional election agents, Banks said a key part of his strategy would be to re-engage Farage in the party. “He is our biggest asset and needs to become engaged with the party once again and work with you to deliver Ukip MPs,” he said.