Yesterday I argued that the BBC were wrong to exclude UKip from ”Rise of Far Right Nationalism” from European Map.
I have been somewhat vindicated by the he news that the former leader of the UKIP group in the Welsh Assembly has resigned from the party
This may be sen as a spite considering that she lost the leadership in a ballot earlier.
But Caroline Jones claimed UKIP leader Gerard Batten was alienating his members by moving the party to the far-right has more than a ring of truth.
Last weekend Gerard Batten declared that he backs controversial moves to allow far-right activist Tommy Robinson to join Ukip.
He said the former EDL leader had shown ‘bravery’ and the party should make a special ‘exception’ to its rule banning ex members of far-right groups from joining.
His explosive intervention comes as Ukip’s ruling NEC body will today hold a meeting where they will vote on a motion paving the way for Robinson’s membership.
But some Ukip members are furious at the move to embrace Robinson - who was in the BNP before founding the EDL and becoming Britain’s most notorious far-right activist.
Mr Batten was a supporter of the ‘free Tommy’ campaign and spoke at a rally in central London where thousands of activists descended on Whitehall to demand his release.The two men are both vocal critics of Islam, which Robinson has dubbed ‘bigoted’ and Mr Batten has described as a ‘death cult’.Under Nigel Farage and other leaders, Ukip has maintained a strict ban on former members of far right groups joining.Mr Batten said he does not think Ukip should tear up its blanket ban - insisting his backing of Robinson is a one off case.But he also said he believes the ex EDL leader will be able to help broaden Ukip’s appeal - particularly to voters in the north.Mr Batten said:
‘Not everybody who has joined the BNP over the years is a bad person - they may have made a mistake because of a lack of understanding about the origin of these parties,‘But we have had a blanket ban on these people because we have to protect ourselves from infiltration.
The party has recently opened its doors to three controversial YouTubers - Mark Meechan, Carl Benjamin, and Paul Joseph Watson - all of whom have substantial followings on the video streaming website.
The latter is editor of far-right conspiracy website InfoWars which is known for peddling false and outlandish conspiracy theories.
A spokesman for Ukip told The Independent the three new members had joined the party. He admitted Mr Watson, who has over 1.2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, has “some unpleasant followers”.Views propagated on the site included the suggestion that the Sandy Hook school shooting of 20 young children was staged, the 2001 9/11 attacks were an inside job and the baseless reports about Hillary Clinton being part of a Washington pizzeria child sex abuse ring warrant serious investigation.
Caroline Joes AM for South Wales West, who will now sit as an independent, said UKIP was taking "a direction that I'm not comfortable with".
But Mr Batten said her statement was "politically correct twaddle".
Mr Jone's resignation means the UKIP group has four AMs left from the seven which entered the Senedd in 2016.
That's four to many and we must increase the vigilance on a party, which I was argued that it was wrong to cal them "the BNP in suits". That is no longer my belief.
Clearly they are heading in a direction that there will seem be no difference between them, and whilst the polls do not look encouraging for Ukip it as we saw in the Welsh Assembly Elections two years ago and the 2015 elections they backed by elements of the UK media could make a return, but this time in a even darker hue,
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