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| UK should be prepared to ditch talks with EU, says new Ukip leader | UK should be prepared to ditch talks with EU, says new Ukip leader |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The new Ukip leader has said he does not believe the UK government will reach a deal with Brussels over the country’s departure from the European Union and should be prepared to ditch negotiations. | The new Ukip leader has said he does not believe the UK government will reach a deal with Brussels over the country’s departure from the European Union and should be prepared to ditch negotiations. |
| Henry Bolton, a former solider and Thames Valley police officer, was elected leader of the rightwing party during its annual conference on Friday, beating a populist anti-Islam candidate into second place. | Henry Bolton, a former solider and Thames Valley police officer, was elected leader of the rightwing party during its annual conference on Friday, beating a populist anti-Islam candidate into second place. |
| Bolton, a former Liberal Democrat who later worked for the United Nations in Kosovo and the European Union, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was an “assumption” to state the UK was on its way out of the EU, given conflicting reports about the level of progress made in the negotiations with Brussels. | Bolton, a former Liberal Democrat who later worked for the United Nations in Kosovo and the European Union, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was an “assumption” to state the UK was on its way out of the EU, given conflicting reports about the level of progress made in the negotiations with Brussels. |
| “I do not believe there will be a deal,” he said. | “I do not believe there will be a deal,” he said. |
| “I actually do not credit some of the people in the European Union with any wish whatsoever to have a smooth deal. There are other people who are more constructive in Brussels. But I think it’s going to be incredibly difficult to achieve a deal. | “I actually do not credit some of the people in the European Union with any wish whatsoever to have a smooth deal. There are other people who are more constructive in Brussels. But I think it’s going to be incredibly difficult to achieve a deal. |
| “I do not believe we should be pushing this out and allowing the negotiations to be endless before we leave. It is absolutely crucial that this country is fully prepared to walk away because otherwise the European Union is just going to be negotiating forever on this and they would just string us along.” | “I do not believe we should be pushing this out and allowing the negotiations to be endless before we leave. It is absolutely crucial that this country is fully prepared to walk away because otherwise the European Union is just going to be negotiating forever on this and they would just string us along.” |
| Anne Marie Waters, who has called Islam “evil” and has links to the far right, finished second in the seven-candidate race with 2,755 votes to Bolton’s 3,874 votes. | Anne Marie Waters, who has called Islam “evil” and has links to the far right, finished second in the seven-candidate race with 2,755 votes to Bolton’s 3,874 votes. |
| Waters made her displeasure at the result clear. | Waters made her displeasure at the result clear. |
| She tweeted: “Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0.” | She tweeted: “Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0.” |
| Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0 | Today: Jihad - 1 Truth - 0 |
| Bolton distanced himself from the Islamophobic stance of his rival. Asked if he would ban burqas, garments worn by women in some Islamic traditions that include a full-face covering, he said he would not want to lobby for changes in legislation if they were not necessary. | Bolton distanced himself from the Islamophobic stance of his rival. Asked if he would ban burqas, garments worn by women in some Islamic traditions that include a full-face covering, he said he would not want to lobby for changes in legislation if they were not necessary. |
| “I don’t think it’s about banning the burqa, is it? It’s about: what is the problem here? Now if we’ve got a security problem in identifying people, it’s not just about the burqa, is it? It’s about full-face covering, so if indeed there is a security problem with full-face coverings then the burqa is included that.” | |
| Bolton said he would want to have a conversation with police officers before committing to a policy or change in law. | Bolton said he would want to have a conversation with police officers before committing to a policy or change in law. |
| “I’m not going to make a unilateral decision on that myself without having those conversations because technology has moved on and I want to be assured that we’re not putting in place or lobbying for legislation that is not necessary,” he said. | “I’m not going to make a unilateral decision on that myself without having those conversations because technology has moved on and I want to be assured that we’re not putting in place or lobbying for legislation that is not necessary,” he said. |
| Asked about Ukip’s relevance given the result of the EU referendum, Bolton said it was “a little bit of an assumption that we’re on our way out”. | Asked about Ukip’s relevance given the result of the EU referendum, Bolton said it was “a little bit of an assumption that we’re on our way out”. |
| “We thought we were on our way out, we’d be fully out in March 2019,” he said. “But we’re clearly not going to be. The prime minister has made that quite clear – that we’re leaving in name only. We’ve got a transition period that may be around two years, but it hasn’t got an end date to it. We’ve got no progress on negotiations of any meaningful sort. | |
| “It’s not just about leaving the European Union, it’s about leaving the European Union in such a way that we launch our country on to a path of prosperity, security and optimism. That’s an ongoing task. It doesn’t end on the day we leave the European Union, but of course the way we leave the European Union frames that future, it’s the launchpad for it.” | |
| Bolton’s election was immediately welcomed by Nigel Farage, Ukip’s former leader, who had reportedly planned to start a new party if Waters had won. Farage tweeted that Bolton was “a man of real substance” while Arron Banks, the insurance millionaire who was Ukip’s biggest donor, said he was ready to engage with the party again. |