Patrick O’Flynn has apologised for starting last week’s Ukip wars. I understand that O’Flynn met with Farage in Strasbourg this morning — the first time the pair had sat down since his comments in the Times last week. In a slightly bizarre turn of events, the party has released the following statement from O’Flynn:
‘I would like to express to colleagues my sincere regret at going public with my frustrations about the turn of events following polling day. And more than that, I would like to apologise directly to Nigel for the phrase ‘snarling, thin-skinned and aggressive’. This was a fragment of a wider passage about perceptions and is not what I think of him. Nonetheless, I should have known better than anyone what use would be made of phrases that were both unfair and unkind.’
O’Flynn has also announced he is standing down as Ukip’s economics spokesman. Now, he has no formal position in the party, aside from being one of its 23 MEPs:
‘I am proud of what we achieved in the general election and am only sorry to have succumbed, as Roger (Helmer) put it with such impressive understatement, to public remarks that were ‘unhelpful’. I think it appropriate to stand down as economic spokesman, which I have done. I hope in the months ahead to be of use to the great campaign to persuade the British people to leave the EU, which is after all what brought me into politics in the first place.’
Nigel Farage has told the BBC he was ‘appalled’ by O’Flynn’s remarks but ‘it takes a big man to apologise’ and he is now keen to move on:
‘I was initially appalled. I couldn’t believe it. We had a conversation this morning and as we spoke the tone got gentler. I understood he made a bad mistake, he understood he made a bad mistake and we move on from here. Bad things have been said but we now have drawn a line on this and it’s all behind us… I think UKIP has never been more united around me.’
While party insiders are keen to stress this shows the war of words is over and peace has broken, O’Flynn’s apology once again proves the main rule of Ukip: Farage always wins. After apparently having his wings clipped by losing his senior adviser Raheem Kassam — who called for O’Flynn to apologise in public — Farage has asserted his authority and his main detractor has been forced to eat his words. We just need an apology now from Douglas Carswell to prove that Ukip really is a party focused entirely around its leader.
UPDATE: Ladbrokes has Ukip’s migration spokesman Steven Woolfe as the favourite to replace O’Flynn has economics spokesman:
3/1 Steven Woolfe
5/1 Tim Aker
5/1 Patrick O’Flynn
5/1 Mark Reckless
6/1 Suzanne Evans
6/1 Paul Nuttall
8/1 Douglas Carswell
100/1 Raheem Kassam
100/1 Godfrey Bloom
UPDATE 2: Nigel Farage has released an official statement:
‘Patrick O’Flynn came in person to tell me he had realised that he had made a mistake and, being the honourable man that he is, tendered his resignation as UKIP Economics Spokesman. I accepted his resignation with some sadness, not least because he is very able and has been a great asset to the team. He continues to be a committed UKIP member and MEP.’
As has Ukip’s deputy chairman Suzanne Evans:
‘Patrick O’Flynn is one of UKIP’s hardest working MEPs. He has been an excellent economics spokesman and made valuable and professional contributions to our manifesto and our General Election campaign. I’m very sorry indeed to see him step down from his spokesman role.’
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