Nigel Farage on Tommy Robinson

“Mr Batten’s obsession with Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (to use Tommy Robinson’s real name) and fixation with the issue of Islam makes Ukip unrecognisable to many of us. I believe he is entirely unsuitable to be involved in any political party. The fact is that his entourage includes violent criminals and ex-BNP members. Many Ukip members - including Ukip's NEC – urged that Robinson should not become an advisor to Batten. Sadly, these pleas fell on deaf ears. In the photo [published in The Sunday Telegraph a few dats earlier], Tommy Robinson can be seen seated beside Gerard Batten. Next to Robinson is a man called Daniel Thomas, a convicted armed kidnapper. There are other pretty unsavoury-looking characters dotted around the room.”

“I made sure that extremists were never allowed into that party. [...] They then got a leader that thought Tommy Robinson was the great saviour of this country. Now, he might be a working class hero to some but I'm afraid the truth of it is he's an out of control yob. He's been in prison four times for four separate offences. When you get someone like that involved in a political party, their fortunes will literally fall off a cliff and I warned them, and I warned them, and I warned them.”