- Title: Senior member of Britain's UKIP allegedly hit by colleague, Labour MEP says
- Date: 6th October 2016
- Summary: STRASBOURG, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BRITISH FLAG AMONG OTHER EU FLAGS FLAGS VARIOUS OF BRIDGE IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WHERE UNITED KINGDOM INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP) MEP, STEVEN WOOLFE, COLLAPSED BUTTON ON FLOOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH LABOUR MEP, DAVID MARTIN, SAYING: "What I gather is there was an altercation, a dispute in the UKIP group meeting and one of the MEPs threw a punch, and hit Mr. Woolfe who is in hospital now. Mr. Woolfe banged his head on a metal pole apparently, but appeared to be okay at that point, carried on with his work, attended the votes here in the plenary. And about an hour after the incident, having left the plenary and walking across to go back to his office he collapsed and appears to have had a brain haemorrhage. But the latest good news is he appears to be recovering." BRIDGE SIGN FOR EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PLENARY ROOM / BRIDGE OFFICES IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT / BRIDGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH LABOUR MEP, DAVID MARTIN, SAYING: "Well we don't know because nothing is confirmed but it appears it was another MEP who again, and I have to emphasise I have no first-hand knowledge of this, appears to have tried to leave the country and if rumours are to be believed is now in the custody of Strasbourg police." BRIDGE SIGN IN PARLIAMENT SIGN IN PARLIAMENT NEXT TO BRIDGE CORRIDOR / BRIDGE
- Embargoed: 21st October 2016 17:03
- Keywords: UKIP Steven Woolfe MEP European Parliament David Martin
- Location: STRASBOURG, FRANCE
- City: STRASBOURG, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00152VCEO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Steven Woolfe, a leading candidate to be the new leader of Britain's anti-EU UK Independence Party, was in hospital on Thursday (October 6) after allegedly being punched by a colleague, British Member of the European Parliament David Martin said.
The incident took place at a meeting of UKIP's European Parliament lawmakers, or MEPs, held to discuss what direction the party, riven by factional infighting since Britons voted to leave the European Union in June, should take.
Martin, who was not present in the room at the time, had heard there had been an altercation.
"What I gather is there was an altercation, a dispute in the UKIP group meeting and one of the MEPs threw a punch, and hit Mr. Woolfe who is in hospital now. Mr. Woolfe banged his head on a metal pole apparently, but appeared to be okay at that point, carried on with his work, attended the votes here in the plenary. And about an hour after the incident, having left plenary and walking across to go back to his office he collapsed and appears to have had a brain haemorrhage. But the latest good news is he appears to be recovering," he said.
"We don't know because nothing is confirmed but it appears it was another MEP who again, and I have to emphasise I have no first-hand knowledge of this, appears to have tried to leave the country and if rumours are to be believed is now in the custody of Strasbourg police," Martin added.
UKIP was plunged into chaos on Wednesday when its leader Diane James quit just 18 days after being elected to replace the charismatic and well-known Nigel Farage who announced he would step down after the vote for Brexit.
Woolfe had angered some in his party when he said he would stand as a leadership candidate to replace James but then also admitted he had considered defecting to join May's ruling Conservatives.
He collapsed and lost consciousness outside the EU legislature chamber and pictures showed him sprawled face down, still clutching a briefcase on a walkway in the parliament building. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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