"Pancadaria"
entre os membros do UKIP no Parlamento Europeu anula candidato
principal ...
The favourite to
take over as Ukip leader Steven Woolfe has collapsed at the European
Parliament and is in a "serious condition" after an
altercation at a meeting of his party's MEPs.
Interim leader Nigel
Farage said Ukip immigration spokesman Mr Woolfe had been taken to
hospital after the incident at the parliament building in Strasbourg.
Sources reported
that he was punched in the face and then hit his head, with doctors
now treating the politician for bleeding on the brain.
One witness at the
meeting which took place before he collapsed told The Independent:
"There were some lively words exchanged."
It comes just one
day after Mr Woolfe put himself forward to be the party’s next
leader, following the shock resignation of Diane James.
Mr Farage said: "I
deeply regret that following an altercation that took place at a
meeting of Ukip MEPs this morning, that Steven Woolfe subsequently
collapsed and was taken to hospital. His condition is serious."
A UKIP Spokesman
said: “Steven Woolfe MEP was taken suddenly ill in the European
Parliament building in Strasbourg this morning.
“He has been taken
to hospital in the city and he is undergoing tests.”
Ms James wrote on
Twitter: "My thoughts are with [Steven Woolfe] and his wife and
daughter at this anxious time and I wish Steven a speedy and full
recovery."
Ukip's MP Douglas
Carswell said he was "shocked and appalled" to hear what
had happened, adding that he was "thinking of him".
Fellow Ukip
politician Suzanne Evans posted: "Shocked to hear Steven Woolfe
has apparently collapsed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Wishing him well for a speedy recovery."
Only last night he
won the backing of the influential Ukip donor Arron Banks, who said
Mr Woolfe "is the one candidate who can do it" when it
comes to replacing Mr Farage as leader. But reports emerged on
Twitter just before noon today that he had been taken ill.
He recently said he
was tempted to defect to the Tories after Theresa May took over,
before deciding that Ukip was the only party that could ensure
Brexit.
The favourite to
take over as Ukip leader Steven Woolfe has collapsed at the European
Parliament and is in a "serious condition" after an
altercation at a meeting of his party's MEPs.
Interim leader Nigel
Farage said Ukip immigration spokesman Mr Woolfe had been taken to
hospital after the incident at the parliament building in Strasbourg.
Sources reported
that he was punched in the face and then hit his head, with doctors
now treating the politician for bleeding on the brain.
One witness at the
meeting which took place before he collapsed told The Independent:
"There were some lively words exchanged."
It comes just one
day after Mr Woolfe put himself forward to be the party’s next
leader, following the shock resignation of Diane James.
Mr Farage said: "I
deeply regret that following an altercation that took place at a
meeting of Ukip MEPs this morning, that Steven Woolfe subsequently
collapsed and was taken to hospital. His condition is serious."
A UKIP Spokesman
said: “Steven Woolfe MEP was taken suddenly ill in the European
Parliament building in Strasbourg this morning.
“He has been taken
to hospital in the city and he is undergoing tests.”
Ms James wrote on
Twitter: "My thoughts are with [Steven Woolfe] and his wife and
daughter at this anxious time and I wish Steven a speedy and full
recovery."
Ukip's MP Douglas
Carswell said he was "shocked and appalled" to hear what
had happened, adding that he was "thinking of him".
Fellow Ukip
politician Suzanne Evans posted: "Shocked to hear Steven Woolfe
has apparently collapsed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Wishing him well for a speedy recovery."
Only last night he
won the backing of the influential Ukip donor Arron Banks, who said
Mr Woolfe "is the one candidate who can do it" when it
comes to replacing Mr Farage as leader. But reports emerged on
Twitter just before noon today that he had been taken ill.
He recently said he
was tempted to defect to the Tories after Theresa May took over,
before deciding that Ukip was the only party that could ensure
Brexit.
Nigel Farage would
be willing to return to help the party, says Ukip chairman
In a statement, he
said: "Her support of new grammar schools, her words on social
mobility and the growing evidence that she is committed to a clean
Brexit prompted me, as it did many of my friends and colleagues, to
wonder whether our future was within her new Conservative Party.
"However,
having watched the Prime Minister's speech on Sunday I came to the
conclusion that only a strong Ukip can guarantee Brexit is delivered
in full and only our party can stand up for the communities of the
Midlands and the North."
Mr Woolfe was forced
to pull out of the last leadership contest after handing in his
nomination papers 17 minutes late.
Ms James was
eventually declared winner on September 16, only to quit 18 days
later for "personal and professional" reasons, citing a
lack of support among the party's MEPs and officials.
Nigel Farage is the
party’s interim leader and has said he expects a new chief to be
appointed before the end of November.
Only
a failed Brexit can save Ukip now
Alexandra Phillips
Since
its victory in the EU referendum, the party I helped to shape has
lost its raison d’etre, and not a single one of its enclaves is
free from bitter divisions
Alexandra Phillips
is Ukip's former head of media and was an aide to Nigel Farage
Thursday 6 October
2016 16.57 BST
Just over a
fortnight ago I revealed in the Guardian that I had ripped up my Ukip
membership card and joined the Tories. As the former head of media
for Ukip and aide to Nigel Farage, this made an interesting little
story.
On the same day,
Diane James was pronounced the new leader of Ukip. I had, that very
morning, explained that I thought that the party was in crisis, with
irreparable rifts, financial challenges, the loss of the figurehead,
in the departure of Nigel Farage, and an existential crisis in
determining its raison d’etre after the Brexit vote. There were, I
determined, far too many obstacles for Ukip to traverse.
However, watching
James on stage, I did start to think: can she do it? She spoke
passionately and eloquently, capturing real emotion at Ukip’s
national conference.
So perhaps it is sad
to see that just 18 days later the spark of hope for Ukip’s future
has already been extinguished. Why, when a party has essentially just
seen the greatest victory in its history – what will go down as one
of the biggest political decisions of this century – is it now in
utter turmoil?
Just as this piece
was due to be published Steven Woolfe was rushed to hospital having
been punched by an MEP colleague. I’m extremely thankful that
Steven is OK – he’s a good man and a talented politician. People
lose their tempers in all walks of life, and over myriad issues.
When passions run
high, people can behave in uncharacteristic and appalling ways, but
this situation is indicative of how desperate the situation inside
Ukip now seems to be, and of how frayed tempers are.
The problem for Ukip
is not only one of simple political disagreement. Most people in
politics are vehemently adherent to a worldview: it’s why they got
into politics in the first place. Each believes their approach will
garner the best result. That is not to condone physical violence or
verbal abuse, but it is a job in which disagreement is fundamental.
The problem in Ukip
is that many ordinary men and women gave up careers and normal lives
to pursue their shared cause of leaving the EU. Now that the
referendum has been delivered – and won – not only are there
bitter divisions over what the party should do next, a lot of those
involved will ultimately lose their jobs once the UK does withdraw
and the MEPs give up their seats. The stakes are very high indeed.
There are many
aspects to this, but the final conclusion is that the party needs to
pull together around a brand new purpose if it has a shot at
surviving.
Ukip has many
ideological splits and factions, all gathered around conflicting
schools of thought. Whether it’s the strategic approach, the
central purpose or the constitution, a bitter civil war has erupted.
The Farage-defined “broad church” of political beliefs that he
described as part of its charm has lost not only its pope but,
fundamentally, its religion.
A post-Brexit-vote
Ukip script needs to be rewritten – but there are now too many
authors.
In 2014, when the
party stormed to victory in the European elections, there was,
internally, a collegiate camaraderie in Ukip. Suffering from an
onslaught of attacks from mainstream media and political opponents
trying to grapple with the sudden growth spurt of the party, the
comparatively small team that made up its central operation huddled
together and defended hard while going on the assault for the sacred
referendum. The mood in the office was optimistic, familial.
Then came the battle
for seats in Westminster. Nigel Farage took on new advisers and
determined strategy from his bunker in Thanet while the party’s
national press office and elected caucus felt completely cut off. It
was as though two entirely separate campaigns were running in
parallel.
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It didn’t work.
Ukip failed to garner the seats it had expected to gain. Accusations
of failure flew between the two camps. Acrid frustrations played out
in public. Now the party’s potential major resourcing,
parliamentary short money, lay in the hands of its only elected MP.
Douglas Carswell and
Mark Reckless had defected, with the former particularly believing
Ukip had to head in a different direction and essentially rebrand to
deliver Brexit success. Stymying the dogmatic rhetoric that
characterised the party was regarded as key to neutralising the
negativity of the leave campaign.
Meanwhile down in
Thanet, Farage and his advisers had a contrasting approach. With a
slightly more alt-right flavour, and no doubt with their own
calculated reasons to do so, a very different type of messaging and
relationship with the media was being pursued.
Soon enough, the two
separate camps, entirely cut off from each other, started generating
friction. A culture of leaking, rumour-mongering, briefing and
counter-briefing and barbed comments, both inside the party and in
the media, emerged, creating an atmosphere of suspicion and vitriol.
Hyperbole about plots and coups dominated exchanges at the water
cooler. The damp had set in. This fundamental conflict of ideas was
paralleled by the two separate campaigns for leave, a distracting and
confusing sideshow for many Brexiteers.
With such a toxic
environment created, and with the central tenet of the organisation
ripped out after 23 June, it’s not hard to see how so many
different people, with so many different approaches and agendas, are
now contributing to the fractured and often bitter environment.
Heated discussions are being had in vacuums as to how to redefine the
party and its central purpose, each coterie mistrustful of the other.
The atmosphere
permeates every stratum of Ukip’s sprawl, from the cloak-and-dagger
leader debate, the split between Westminster and the outgoing leader,
the NEC and the Welsh Assembly, down to key donors. Not a single Ukip
enclave is spared bitter divisions, each blighted by mistrust and
conflicting ideas of what the party should be.
With the central
uniting factor, the heart of the party, now ripped out, Ukip
paradoxically has to rely on Brexit failing in order to maintain
relevance. Its greatest risk now is that in trying to save itself, it
actually has to feed off the idea that Brexit won’t be delivered,
potentially hampering the progress of the very cause it was founded
to deliver. The party’s other emblematic campaigns, such as the
reintroduction of selective education, are also being championed by
Theresa May. Without a shared dream, the factions feel all the more
disparate.
The simple fact is,
Diane James must have realised this, as many others are doing, with
each passing day. The anti-venom among the membership would surely be
a return of their spiritual leader, but Farage seems reluctant to
step back into the fray fully, knowing exactly what awaits, and
finding life outside Ukip even more enriching and profitable. But
even if he were to stride to the rescue, it would only open up sores
among party officials previously isolated from his clique.
It’s probable that
Ukip has done its job. It fought hard to make EU membership a
headline topic and then doggedly pursued its completion. Even its
charismatic leader has called it a day.
Perhaps like Diane
James, it’s time Ukip realised it was time to hang up its boots.
After all, it has just won an exhausting – but deeply satisfying –
fight of its life.
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