Ukip sets up inquiry into ‘altercation’ which left MEP in hospital

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 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, Mr Farage declined to name the other man involved but condemned the incident as bad for UKIP’s image.

“It’s made us look like we’re violent,” he said. “It’s not good.”

Mr Woolfe was expected to make a full recovery, Mr Farage said, adding that he did not expect the matter to be referred to French police.

In a statement, Mr Woolfe said he was feeling better but staying in hospital overnight for observation.

“The CT scan has shown that there is no blood clot in the brain.

“At the moment I am feeling brighter, happier, and smiling as ever. As a precaution, I am being kept in overnight awaiting secondary tests to make sure everything in fine.”

Thanking parliamentary and medical staff and fellow Ukip lawmakers who were with him at the Strasbourg hospital, he added: “I am sitting up and said to be looking well. The only consequence at the moment is a bit of numbness on the left-hand side of my face.”

The spokesman said Mr Woolfe, who was marking his 49th birthday, had passed out and had two “epileptic-like fits” but tests had shown no bleeding on the brain.

His collapse was announced earlier by Ukip founder Nigel Farage who said, in a statement, “I deeply regret that following an altercation that took place at a meeting of Ukip,MEPs this morning that Steven Woolfe subsequently collapsed and was taken to hospital. His condition is serious.”

Sources said Mr Farage was not involved in the incident in Strasbourg.

Mr Woolfe, a qualified barrister, was elected to the European Parliament in 2014. He was widely seen as a possible successor to Diane James, the Ukip leader who resigned this week after 18 days in the role.

Mr Woolfe was famously prohibited from entering the Ukip leadership race following Mr Farage’s decision to step down as leader in the wake of the British referendum in June, after he missed the application deadline by 17 minutes.

Earlier this week there were reports that Mr Woolfe was considering defecting to the Conservative Party, but he confirmed on Wednesday that, despite considering the issue, he would remain with Ukip.

“I have been enthused by the start to Theresa May’s premiership,” he said, noting that her support for grammar schools, pledges to tackle social mobility and commitment to a clean Brexit “prompted me, as it did many of my friends and colleagues, to wonder whether our future was within her new Conservative Party.

“However, having watched the prime minister’s speech on Sunday, I came to the conclusion that only a strong Ukip can guarantee Brexit is delivered in full,” he said.

Ukip topped the poll in the European Parliament elections in Britain in 2014, with 24 UK MEPs elected to the parliament.

Members of Ukip had gathered in Strasbourg this week for the regular plenary session of the European Parliament, which concludes today.