Breitbart London Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam has claimed that the sudden resignation of UKIP MEP Steven Woolfe was due to bullying from other members of the party and the toxic nature of the last leadership campaign.
The shock resignation of former UKIP leadership candidate Steven Woolfe on Monday evening led to speculation as to the cause. Mr. Woolfe, who ran for the leadership of UKIP earlier this year, wrote a piece for the Spectator outlining why he had chosen not only to forgo another leadership bid, but quit the party entirely.
Current UKIP leadership candidate Kassam appeared on LBC radio and stated that Woolfe had been bullied by other members of the party. When asked to name names by host Iain Dale, Kassam took the high road saying he would rather deal with the matter privately.
On a live-stream last week Kassam outlined in part how he would deal with one element of the party, MP Douglas Carswell. Laying down ground rules he said were fair, he claimed he would foster party unity rather than division.
Mr. Kassam was asked if he thought that members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) had a role in the bullying of Mr. Woolfe. Still refusing to blame individuals publicly, the Breitbart London chief said he knew who was behind it though stated that he did not believe it was coordinated through the NEC.
The NEC has been a hot button issue for Kassam during his leadership bid. Claiming that the NEC doesn’t represent the average member of the party, Kassam has said that he would like to make decisions related to the party’s future more open and democratic, including directly involving regular UKIP members on big issues.
Speaking to the BBC News channel last night, Mr. Kassam also offered a way back into UKIP for Steven Woolfe, stating that he would be welcome back in the party under a Kassam leadership:
I did the BBC News earlier on UKIP's future. I hope you enjoy this and share it!
Posted by Raheem Kassam on Monday, October 17, 2016
The public infighting within the party has also been an issue for Kassam who sees himself a unifying force for UKIP and claimed that the party’s disunity was threatening to tear it apart.
Kassam had previously commented on Jon Gaunt’s radio programme that he would seek to unify UKIP so that it could replace the ailing Labour party as the true opposition to the government of Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May.
Listen to the full interview HERE:
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