LONDON (AP) — Former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage is calling for the party’s current chief to be ousted for appointing far-right activist Tommy Robinson as an adviser.
UKIP chief Gerard Batten says English Defense League founder Robinson — whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — is his special adviser on “rape gangs and prison reform.”
Under Farage, the Euroskeptic party played a major role in the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.
Since the 2016 EU membership referendum the party has veered toward the far right, supporting street protests against the alleged pernicious influence of Islam in Britain.
Farage said Friday that Batten was leading UKIP in a “shameful” direction. He said he would urge the party executive to “have a vote of no-confidence in Gerard Batten as leader.”