Ukip descends into farce as Douglas Carswell trolls Nigel Farage on Twitter over knighthood row as party donor Arron Banks pledges to stand against him
Sole MP faces calls to be kicked out after claims he blocked Mr Farage’s chances of being made a Sir
UKIP has descended into farce after the row over whether the party’s only MP blocked Nigel Farage from getting a knighthood saw Douglas Carswell troll the former leader on Twitter.
After he tweeted "Knight night" major donor Arron Banks has suggested he could stand against him at the next general election, while Mr Farage says he should quit the party anyway.
The figures at the top of Ukip have long been at war over the leadership and what direction it should take, but the in-fighting has reached crisis point this week.
Last night a series of emails were leaked, seeming to show the MP for Clacton mocking Mr Farage’s chances of a knighthood.
He said the MEP should instead be given an OBE “for services to headline-writers”, but has since insisted he had supported Mr Farage’s knighthood.
But Mr Farage declared that the exchanges reveal Mr Carswell is "consumed with jealousy and a desire to hurt me" and called on party leader Paul Nuttall to kick the MP out.
He launched a scathing attack on the party’s only MP, saying he had “sought to split and divide Ukip in every way imaginable” since defecting from the Tories in 2014.
Mr Farage said there would be “little future” for the party with Mr Carswell in it and accused him of seeking to stop him getting a knighthood.
“As a party, how can we let a man represent us in the House of Commons who actively and transparently seeks to damage us?” he added.
“I think there is little future for Ukip with him staying inside this party. The time for him to go is now.”
And speaking today he said he now expects Ukip to kick Mr Carsswell out, as well as revealing he had tried and failed to have him removed once before.
Talking to the media after a Brexit event in central London, he said: "It's not just me. A lot of people have been saying it and saying it for a very long time.
"We nearly got rid of him back in 2015 when he sabotaged all my efforts at the European summit. We didn't quite have the nerve to do it. I suspect now the party will."
Asked if Mr Carswell would be gone by the end of the day, Mr Farage replied: "I'm not involved. It's up to them. I'm retired."
But Mr Carswell has hit back with a series of Twitter posts, including one yesterday evening with simply the words “Knight night” and a smiley-faced emoji in a pair of sunglasses.
This morning he posted a picture from the window of his House of Commons office, with the message: “Beautiful spring day in Whitehall - view from the Ukip Parliamentary party office”.
The row prompted Mr Banks, who has donated millions to the party, to call for Mr Carswell and a "Tory cabal" to be expelled – labelling him a "terrible individual who has done his best to destroy Ukip".
The BBC is reporting that his office said he intended to stand in the Essex seat which Mr Carswell won with a 3,437 majority in 2015.
It is unclear if he will seek the Ukip nomination himself or stand as an independent. Mr Carswell, told the broadcaster Mr Banks' plans were "news to him".
Ukip leader Paul Nuttall has now stepped in, and asked the party’s chairman Paul Oakden to meet the MP for talks this afternoon on his future.