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UKIP rejects BNP electoral offer UKIP rejects BNP electoral offer
(20 minutes later)
UKIP says it has "unanimously rejected" an offer from the British National Party for an electoral pact at next year's European elections.UKIP says it has "unanimously rejected" an offer from the British National Party for an electoral pact at next year's European elections.
It says ex-tennis star Buster Mottram, a UKIP member who claimed to represent the BNP, made the "astonishing offer" at a meeting in London on Monday.It says ex-tennis star Buster Mottram, a UKIP member who claimed to represent the BNP, made the "astonishing offer" at a meeting in London on Monday.
Under the deal the BNP would fight seats in the north while UKIP would focus on the south in the elections.Under the deal the BNP would fight seats in the north while UKIP would focus on the south in the elections.
The BNP said a deal made sense. UKIP says it would not work with the BNP.The BNP said a deal made sense. UKIP says it would not work with the BNP.
BNP leader Nick Griffin told the BBC it made electoral sense for the two parties to avoid standing against each other at the euro elections in June 2009.
He said he had spoken to a number of UKIP party members about the deal.
The UK Independence Party, which campaigns for Britain to withdraw from the European Union, says Mr Mottram has since been expelled from the party.The UK Independence Party, which campaigns for Britain to withdraw from the European Union, says Mr Mottram has since been expelled from the party.
Although he was a party member, he was not on the national executive committee which met in Whitehall on Monday. 'No deal'
But a spokesman said that as a high-profile, well known member, nobody had challenged him about why he was at the NEC meeting. They say he turned up at a meeting of its national executive committee in Whitehall earlier, claiming to represent BNP leader Nick Griffin.
They say he claimed to represent Nick Griffin. The party says he refused to leave the meeting after the offer was rejected and they called the police, after which he left. The party says he refused to leave the meeting after the offer was rejected and they called the police, after which he left.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "There are no circumstances, no possible situations, in which we would even consider doing any type of deal with the BNP whatsoever.UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "There are no circumstances, no possible situations, in which we would even consider doing any type of deal with the BNP whatsoever.
"I'm simply amazed that the BNP thought we would even consider such a thing, given that we are a non-racist, non-sectarian party.""I'm simply amazed that the BNP thought we would even consider such a thing, given that we are a non-racist, non-sectarian party."
In the 2004 European elections, UKIP more than doubled its share of the vote to 16%, with 12 MEPs.
The BNP's vote share was 4.9% - more than 800,000 votes - although it failed to get a seat in the Brussels parliament.
BNP leader Mr Griffin told the BBC it made electoral sense for the two parties to avoid standing against each other at the European elections in June 2009.
He said he had spoken to a number of UKIP party members about the deal.
UKIP says the BNP has been "working very hard to infiltrate" its ranks and that it expects more people to leave UKIP within the next few months.
It says two NEC members who they accuse of campaigning against Mr Farage's leadership were also expelled.