- Title: UKIP's Farage condemns MEPs' "altercation", launches inquiry
- Date: 6th October 2016
- Summary: STRASBOURG, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF HOPITAL DE HAUTEPIERRE WHERE UKIP LEADER, NIGEL FARAGE, WAS VISITING UKIP MEMBER, STEVEN WOOLFE, WHO WAS IN HOSPITAL AFTER AN "ALTERCATION" VARIOUS OF FARAGE LEAVING HOSPITAL (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKIP LEADER, NIGEL FARAGE, SAYING: "He did, as you know, collapse coming out of the chamber during the voting session, and hit the ground pretty hard. He has suffered two seizures, one quite major one, which is obviously pretty serious, and he did lose consciousness for a bit, so things were pretty bad. He has had a series of scans and pleased to say there is no bleeding on the brain, they've not found any clots. He is being kept in overnight for observation, he still has a bit of numbness down the left side of his face. So it has been a pretty serious medical incident. But I'm pleased to say he is sitting up in bed, he's feeling a whole lot better and I trust that overnight everything will be okay and he'll be released tomorrow. I have no doubt he'll be laid up for a little bit after this, he's been through quite a big shock today." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKIP LEADER, NIGEL FARAGE, SAYING: "As for the events that led up to it, well it's two grown men getting involved in an altercation. It's not very seemly behaviour, but I'm not today going to get involved in the blame game and name names and say who did what, but it shouldn't have happened." JOURNALISTS ASKING IF IT WAS A PHYSICAL FIGHT (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKIP LEADER, NIGEL FARAGE, SAYING: "We're talking about a dispute that finished up physically, yeah." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKIP LEADER, NIGEL FARAGE, SAYING: "I'm not going to do the blame game today, but we will as a party, as we always do, do it properly, have an inquiry and come to a conclusion. (Journalist asking: "Another mess for UKIP?") "Well, it never looks good. It makes us look like, you see third world parliaments where this sort of thing happens. It's not good. It shouldn't have happened." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKIP LEADER, NIGEL FARAGE, SAYING: "I didn't actually see it myself, I have my suspicions but, as I say, today, I'm not going to get involved in the blame game, we've got a colleague who was in a very bad place a few hours ago - so much so that a few of us thought is he actually going to make it? So for the moment, for his sake and his family's sake, I want to say thank God that he is getting better." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKIP LEADER, NIGEL FARAGE, SAYING: "It's been an extraordinary week, for somebody that had walked away from the leadership and now finds himself back in the middle of all of this, it's not exactly where I want to be, it's not exactly where UKIP need to be. Come on, it isn't very grown up, what's happened is not good." WHITE FLASH VARIOUS OF FARAGE LEAVING
- Embargoed: 21st October 2016 17:52
- Keywords: UKIP Farage Steven Woolfe European Parliament hospital
- Location: STRASBOURG, FRANCE
- City: STRASBOURG, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00152VCQIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he would launch a party inquiry into what he called an "altercation" between "two grown men" at a meeting of the party's EU lawmakers in Strasbourg on Thursday (October 6) that left one of them in hospital.
Speaking to reporters at the hospital were his would-be successor Steven Woolfe was being kept overnight after collapsing in the parliament, Farage declined to name the other man involved but condemned the incident as bad for UKIP's image.
"Well, it never looks good. It makes us look like, you see third world parliaments where this sort of thing happens. It's not good. It shouldn't have happened," he told reporters after visiting Woolfe in hospital.
Woolfe, a candidate to be the new leader of UKIP, was expected to make a full recovery, Farage said, adding that he did not expect the matter to be referred to French police.
The incident took place as the UKIP Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sought to clear the air amid factional infighting which has grown since Britons voted to leave the European Union in June.
The party 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. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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