The Tommy Robinson trend is proof the UK is done imo. Additional reporting: Mario Ledwith in Bambang, Philippines. Intensely proud of his pure Anglo-Saxon bloodline, he’s outspoken in his views against immigration. Mr Farage, who denies any impropriety, was seen visiting the Ecuadorian embassy when Assange was inside. Mr Batten has been courting Robinson for almost a decade. Inside the court of Queen Carrie: When ANNE McELVOY began working on a profile of the PM's fiancee, her PR... TV hatchet job on Boris and Carrie: Written by a lifelong Leftie, it mixes fact and fiction like The Crown... Boris Johnson will get £9m White House-style 'situation centre' to command terror emergencies and military... Teenage killers could face twice as long behind bars under new 'Ellie's Law' crackdown set to be unveiled... MARY ELLEN SYNON: Why the roots of the EU's vaccine catastrophe lie in Merkel's shadowy past in Communist... DAN HODGES: We must have a grown-up debate about Covid, culture and race - or thousands more will die. But there are pictures of the two together. For he is exploiting the chaos currently engulfing British politics. While Mr Batten’s relationship with Robinson is unambiguous, there are question marks over his links to other dubious interest groups. The sentence was quashed and the case referred to the Attorney General. ", "Ukip's Romford-based MEP Gerard Batten defends calling Islam a 'death cult, "Meet Gerard Batten, The UKIP MEP Scare-Mongering About Islam, Immigrants And Bilderberg", "Mafia judges are not on par with the Old Bailey. He told the European Parliament that Litvinenko had been warned by FSB deputy chief General Anatoly Trofimov that there were numerous former KGB agents among Italian politicians, and that "Romano Prodi is our man in Italy". Our heartfelt thanks go to the 135 guests that attended and especially to our guest of honour, the party leader, Gerard Batten, accompanied by his lovely wife Lina who made the long journey from London to be with us for the day. @joncstone. Gerard Batten is an enigma wrapped in a bright purple blazer and banana yellow tie. Former Leader of the UK Independence Party, Batten elected following the sacking of Henry Bolton, Online activists join UKIP and appointment of Tommy Robinson, Carl Benjamin rape comments, electoral wipeout and the end of Batten's term as leader. Enter the stern, midnight-haired Mr Batten; an MEP and one of UKIP’s original founders. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. All this is a puzzle to Mr Batten’s in-laws in the Far East. A UKIP spokesman said Batten's comments do not reflect party policy. [37] Another MEP, former leader Paul Nuttall left calling the appointment of Robinson "catastrophic".[38]. A second, Jill Seymour, said: "No one person should ever be bigger than a political party but sadly I believe that Mr Batten will be instrumental in its demise. Emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign, leaked by WikiLeaks, are thought to have been originally hacked by Russian agents in 2006. Ukip leader Gerard Batten took to the stage in support of Robinson and urged protesters to join his political party. [28], On 14 April 2018, Gerard Batten was elected unopposed as the Leader of UKIP. I know what's coming': CANDACE OWENS says she long... Queen's wreath rejection 'wounded' Harry: Friend reveals Duke was 'deeply saddened' that monarch blocked his... Sussexes 'were reeling at Palace's statement' stripping them of their titles and patronages when they sat... Sussexes were 'obsessed' with secrecy which resulted in strained relations with staff and senior Royals,... Sussexes hardly knew Oprah when they invited the US chat show host to their intimate wedding reception at... 'They won't stop until she miscarries': Chrissy Teigen rushes to defend her pregnant friend Meghan Markle... Back they go! But it has also frightened off many of the old guard, because the Batten vision involves a key role for a man who’s become poster boy for the far-Right and racists across the world. Mr Cayaban said: ‘They wanted to find work there because it was greener pastures and we belonged to a poor family. When asked why Muslims should sign up to such a document, he told The Guardian's Rowena Mason in February 2014: "Christians aren't blowing people up at the moment, are they? Tory MP Robert Halfon said this was ‘literally akin to the Nazis saying Jews should wear a yellow star’. Mr Hookem will run for party leader in a bid to replace Mr Batten… Last spring, after leaving court Robinson and Mr Batten were treated to a three-course lunch at the House of Lords by former Ukip leader Lord Pearson of Rannoch, who told the Mail this week that Mr Batten was ‘a great guy’. Mr Batten has denied knowing James Goddard and said it was ‘malicious’ to suggest there was a connection. [15][16], In a 2013 interview with openDemocracy, Batten argued that the European Union was inspired by the proposals the Nazis developed in 1942 for Europe after they had won the Second World War, claiming they were very similar to the 1957 Treaty of Rome. UKIP will then become a ‘new British National Party’. And while he is close to Russians who describe themselves as political dissidents against the Moscow government, he is a regular contributor to Vladimir Putin’s English language propaganda arm, Russia Today. Documents show that in February 2011, Mr Batten met Assange’s lawyer to explore ways in which he could help the hacker. They have two sons. He advocated the revocation of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK. [41] The 2019 European Parliament election later that month resulted in UKIP losing all of its seats, with most of its voting base switching directly to Nigel Farage's recently formed Brexit Party, which won the election. It is not acceptable that this situation is unresolved, given the importance of Russia's relations with the European Union." [26], On 22 January 2018, Batten resigned as UKIP's Brexit spokesman in protest at the party leadership of Henry Bolton; in the process he publicly called for Bolton to stand down from the office, amidst general dissatisfaction amongst a substantial portion of the party's membership with the leader, collapsing membership levels, and ongoing media coverage of Bolton's personal life. No man is an island. The case attracted worldwide attention, and Robinson received the support of American TV star Roseanne Barr among others. Mr Batten had left by then. And he disliked and envied Farage, who was public school-educated and charismatic. Likewise, the proportion of 2017 Conservative voters who think that UKIP would be the best party to handle asylum and immigration had risen from 16% to 28% over the same time period. He was a founding member of the party in 1993, and served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London between 2004 and 2019. Harry's making the same mistake as Diana - and I fear he'll come to regret it, just like his mother did,... MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: An ailing Duke - and a TV interview tinged with sadness and regret. In January 2019, Farage founded the Brexit Party, and in February, established it in the European Parliament, with nine MEPs who had left UKIP joining the party: himself, Tim Aker, Jonathan Bullock, David Coburn, Bill Etheridge, Nathan Gill, Diane James, Paul Nuttall and Julia Reid. The eureka moment apparently came in February 2011, when the then relatively unknown Robinson was interviewed on BBC2’s Newsnight by Jeremy Paxman. Mr Batten has pooh-poohed this, but told the BBC: ‘I’m taking [UKIP] in a new direction, which is that I want to make it a mass movement.’, Mr Batten has been courting Robinson for almost a decade. The marquees are going up ready for Alfresco April: Creative pubs are ramping up plans for spring reopening... Commonwealth asks Britain: Where are OUR injections? [44] On 27 June 2019, the closing date for nominations, Batten announced that he was standing for re-election to the party's leadership,[45] but on 7 July 2019, UKIP's National Executive Committee passed a motion prohibiting him from doing so on the grounds that 'he had brought the party into disrepute' during his previous tenure in the position. Mr Batten was born and raised on the Isle of Dogs in East London. 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In a statement issued upon his appointment as Leader he said: "I received the backing of all three UKIP Lords, our major donors, our MEPs, our London and Welsh Assembly Members, and party activists and members from all over the UK. Mr Batten has described Islam as a ‘death cult’. [42], On 24 May 2019, Mike Hookem resigned as UKIP deputy leader and announced his candidacy in the upcoming UKIP leadership election, criticising Batten's leadership, saying: "Mr Batten's policy direction and associations have given the mainstream media the ammunition to label our party 'extreme' and 'far-right', accusations I do not believe to be true". ‘He said: “What a brilliant young guy. Gerard Batten, who was confirmed as leader on Saturday after running unopposed, will quit in 12 months. His puzzlement was echoed by Alan Sked, UKIP’s first leader, who has said of Mr Batten’s negative views on immigrants taking British jobs: ‘I felt like saying: “Your wife has been working [here] since she came to Britain.” ’. "[40], During an interview on Sky News with Sophy Ridge in May 2019, Batten stated his position as party leader would become "untenable" if he were to lose his seat in the European Parliament. All this would be of little consequence if Mr Batten, 64, was not the leader of a political party which has changed the UK’s political landscape, and probably its future: UKIP. From 2009 to 2014, he held the office of UKIP's Chief Whip in the European Parliament. ‘Gerard [Batten] watched the interview and was ecstatic,’ recalls an ex-colleague. While Putin, who has supported populist groups across the EU, looks on with satisfaction at the chaos engulfing British politics and the fracturing of Europe, the far-Right here believes it can exploit, if not fill, a vacuum. [32], In June 2018, Batten faced criticism after four controversial online political figures joined the party: Carl Benjamin, Mark Meechan, Paul Joseph Watson, and Milo Yiannopoulos. Mr Cayaban, 68, said the politician had only visited the Philippines once since marrying his sister in 1988. Anatoly Trofimov was assassinated by unknown gunmen in April 2005. The police later concluded he had been poisoned with polonium; a small dose of which is lethal. But the most contentious Batten recruit to UKIP is Tommy Robinson, whom he made his adviser on prison reform and sex abuse gangs in November. Published: 00:55 GMT, 26 January 2019 | Updated: 00:55 GMT, 26 January 2019. Ukip leader Gerard Batten has told ITV News he would like to see former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson join the party, describing him … ... Mr Bolton had faced calls to quit when he left his wife for Ms Marney. But he is also — or claims to be on his CV — a member of Mensa, the ‘high IQ Society’. Lt.-Col. Litvinenko was admitted to hospital with suspected poisoning on 11 November 2006 after eating at a London restaurant, and died on 23 November 2006. The prison removed my wife’s phone number over a week ago so I have not even been able to speak with my children, it also upsets me that in my son’s head he must think his dad has done something bad to end up in prison. In this role, he attacked the-then Labour government's plans to introduce identity cards. Batten was neither. 6 April 2019, 11:24 | Updated: 6 April 2019, 13:14. He says it has already attracted thousands of new young members. Meghan's pals say she's been vilified by 'obscene' royals as US broadcaster Gayle King claims Palace... Exec at US TV firm behind Sussexes' interview was producer of controversial programme that screened images... Will Prince Andrew be dragged into the Palace's bullying investigation? He grew up on the Isle of Dogs in the East End of London. "[29] Under Batten, UKIP witnessed a resurgence in support during his first six months as Leader. [19] When Wilders was refused entry to the UK at Heathrow Airport in 2009, following an invitation from the UKIP peer Lord Pearson for Wilders to screen his film to members of the House of Lords,[20] Batten said: "We can't do anything about murderers, rapists and paedophiles coming from the EU but they will stop a democratically elected politician from the EU talking about the sources of terrorism. My platform will include: * National Democracy * Economic Democracy * Political Democracy * Freedom of Speech * No backtracking or surrender to political correctness", https://order-order.com/2019/07/09/gerard-batten-banned-re-standing-ukip-leader/, https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/gerard-batten-banned-from-standing-again-for-ukip-leader-a4185756.html, "Ukip to replace Gerard Batten with new leader", "Maidenhead parliamentary constituency - Election 2017", "Statement of persons nominated - Maidenhead", https://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/ServiceChild/Romford-2015-General-Election-results.aspx, Islamic fundamentalism is incompatible with freedom and Western liberal democracy, Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerard_Batten&oldid=1009784320, UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 2 March 2021, at 08:10. [43], Batten's extended term as UKIP leader ended on 2 June 2019, triggering a leadership election. Philips had written "People talking about raping me isn't fun, but has become somewhat par for the course." [33][34], In November 2018, Batten appointed anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson as his adviser on matters including 'rape gangs' and prisons. Gerard Batten has been married to Filipina wife, Frances Lina, 60, for 30 years The couple, who married in 1988 while she … I know Americans. The old white, working-class population of the dockland peninsular had long felt they were neglected by government and under threat by Bengali incomers. After a brief period working as a bookbinder with his brother Harold — who is said to design the UKIP stationery — he was a salesman for British Telecom until elected as an MEP for London in 2004. [Batten’s] conduct is an utter disgrace.’. In April 2019, Batten defended UKIP candidate Carl Benjamin's social media reply in 2016, "I wouldn't even rape you", to the MP Jess Phillips. UKIP has sold its soul to the far-Right: How leader Gerard Batten, who is married to a Filipina immigrant, has made Tommy Robinson a key lieutenant, calls Islam a ‘death cult’ and has ultra hard line on migration. He has also become increasingly irritated with the Mail’s research into the most basic facts of his personal history, tweeting that we have asked a bunch of ‘ludicrous’ questions about him. This week he was in the headlines once again as the 16- year-old Syrian refugee who was ‘water-boarded’ in a filmed racist attack in Huddersfield says he will sue Facebook ‘for not stopping Robinson posting accusations he violently attacked three English girls’. [6][18] According to Batten in Freedom Today, Wilders "is a brave man trying to defend western civilisation in the face of its own loss of the most basic instinct of self-preservation". Extra £200,000 legal bill 'could topple' Nicola Sturgeon after her government spent taxpayers' money on a... SNP meltdown as TWO polls find Scots would vote AGAINST independence and just a third believe Nicola... Former MSP BRIAN MONTEITH whose website had its ads banned by Facebook without warning or explanation... EVE SIMMONS: I did new DIY smear test in my office loo... and it really couldn't have been simpler. Mr Batten has known a number of other Russian exiles in the UK, including Alexander Litvinenko who was murdered by suspected Russian agents in 2006. How do we get in touch?”’. Investigators in the U.S. are looking at the alleged relationship between Donald Trump’s election campaign and Moscow. UKIP's Gerard Batten is under pressure to … He said that during the visit, around two decades ago, Mr Batten did not discuss his political opinions or views with family members. In 1993, the BNP — founded by former members of the neo-Nazi National Front — secured its electoral breakthrough there. Frances Lina, who now works in the courts service, moved to the UK after completing a medical technologies course in Manila. Opinion polls showed UKIP back between six and eight percent of the vote - with one (YouGov) revealing that almost a quarter of 2017 Conservative voters (23%) now considered UKIP to be the best party to handle Brexit, this was almost double the figure it had been in previous polling. Some in UKIP fear Robinson is being groomed to succeed his boss, who has said he’ll stand down sometime this year. [27] During Batten's initial interim leadership term, the party was saved from insolvency and put back on a sound financial footing after an appeal to members raised almost £300,000. In a video shared on social media, Tommy Robinson explained that his wife’s property was subject to an arson attack a few weeks ago, and “at that point, ... — Gerard Batten (@GerardBattenUK) July 28, 2020. For now, the purple-clad enigma marches on. You can't hold me to anything in it. Bolton was officially dismissed as party leader on 17 February 2018, after an Extraordinary General Meeting vote by the party membership, and Batten was announced as the Party Leader (on an interim basis) until the conclusion of the next leadership election. Now he is in a position to put their ‘bromance’ to work. Her eldest sibling Florencia, 75, had earlier moved to the UK after training as a teacher in the Philippines. [17], In 2017, in response to the Irish Government's intervention in the Brexit negotiations, Batten expressed the view on Twitter that Ireland, "a tiny country that relies on UK for its existence", is "the weakest kid in the playground sucking up to the EU bullies". [22], In 2011, Batten circulated a draft four-page document entitled "Confidential draft – Dismantling Multiculturalism" to Christian Concern, a lobby group. Out of thirteen candidates, he finished in fifth place with 871 votes, and a 1.5% share of the vote.[49]. In another tweet, Benjamin told a female Labour MP: ‘I wouldn’t even rape you.’ He attended Mr Batten’s first UKIP conference as leader, and spoke. Gerard Batten's house has been repeatedly targeted by vandals throughout his career with Ukip [GETTY] ... Mr Batten, 60, his wife Lina, 56, and two sons aged 25 and 23 were first woken by a …