Nigel Farage has himself to blame for Ukip’s drift to the far right

This year’s Ukip conference in Birmingham has only just started but already trouble is breaking out. A row that has been bubbling within the party since it was first founded a generation ago is coming to the surface thanks to a clash between the party’s current leader, Gerard Batten, and its most famous one, Nigel Farage.

Farage, no stranger to chucking rocks from the sidelines, has criticised the direction in which Ukip is now travelling. The former Ukip leader warned that the party risks ‘utter marginalisation’ if it cosies up to the far-right. The catalyst for his comments is Batten’s bid to recruit former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson. Farage’s assessment of the party was withering: ”I’m less than impressed with the current direction in which we’re going. It devalues, undermines many of the incredible achievements,’ he said.

Batten hit back this morning, pointing out that a man who praises Donald Trump and speaks at rallies for the far-right Alternative for Germany party is “throwing stones in a glass house.”