LONDON: Bitter tensions in Britain’s anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) turned into open war on Tuesday as founder Nigel Farage called for its only member of parliament to quit.
Farage said Douglas Carswell “actively and transparently seeks to damage us”, writing in the rightwing Daily Telegraph: “The time for him to go is now.”
A key force behind Britain’s vote to leave the EU last year, the party has been struggling for months with infighting and has failed to find a winning platform beyond its core message of euroscepticism and opposition to mass immigration.
A long-standing feud between Farage and Carswell came to a head following UKIP’s defeat in a by-election that had been viewed as the party’s best hope to win a second MP.
Tensions increased over Farage’s failed bid to obtain a knighthood for his role in the June referendum vote to leave the European Union.
Emails leaked to the Telegraph show Carswell mocked Farage’s chances of receiving the honour, saying he should get an award for “services to headline writers”.
Farage told the paper that the former Conservative MP had not been supportive, adding: “He is consumed by jealousy and a desire to hurt both UKIP and me.”
The row comes after UKIP donor Arron Banks accused the party at the weekend of being run “like a jumble sale” under new leader Paul Nuttall and threatened to set up a rival movement if it did not shape up.
The Brexit vote was a success for UKIP but raised questions about the party’s relevance after Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May promised a clean break with the EU. — AFP
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