Ukip to debate inviting Tommy Robinson to join party

Motion put forward by party spokesman compares far-right activist to Robin Hood and the Suffragettes and calls for him to be offered membership

Ukip's ruling executive is to debate a motion calling for Tommy Robinson to be offered membership of the party.

The motion has been put forward by Ukip's family and children spokesman and compares the far-right activist, who was jailed earlier this year for contempt of court, to "Robin Hood and the Sufragettes".

It calls for a vote at Ukip's annual conference later this month on offering Robinson membership of the party and praises his work to expose "decades-long silence and inaction over industrial-scale child sexual abuse by rape gangs".

​Ukip's National Executive Committee (NEC) will meet on Sunday and discuss whether the motion should be put to a vote at the conference.

Mr Robinson has previously met with Ukip leader Gerard Batten and told supporters he would be voting for the party in local elections earlier this year.

The motion to be debated reads: "Conference believes that Tommy Robinson stands on the long English tradition of anti-establishment rebels with a cause from Robin Hood to the Suffragettes and Nigel Farage; admires his campaigns both for #FreeSpeech and to expose the authorities’ decades-long silence and inaction over industrial-scale child sexual abuse by rape gangs; and requests the NEC to offer him membership of UKIP.”

It has been proposed by Alan Craig, Ukip's family and children spokesman, and seconded by Reece Coombes, the deputy chairman of Ukip's youth wing.

Mr Craig said Robinson was "a Kipper at heart" and should be welcomed into the party.

He told the KipperCentral website: "Tommy has become a global phenomenon representing those who have been excluded and silenced by the globalist liberal elite.

“He courageously turned his back on all racism and the EDL and now campaigns for free speech and on those issues like rape gangs that the authorities want to ignore.

“He’s now a Kipper at heart and we should welcome him.”

It comes days after Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, described Robinson as "brave but unwise".

He has previously raised doubts about admitting the far-right activist to Ukip, saying he had spent years "trying to keep people like him out of the party".

Any Ukip branch is able to propose motions for debate at the annual conference, with the NEC determining which ones are put forward.

A Ukip spokesperson said: "The NEC will discuss motions from branches to be voted on at the party conference, one of which asks the question whether Tommy Robinson should be allowed to join.

"The NEC always decides what motions will be discussed at the party conference. Any party branch is free to submit a motion to the NEC."