Spotlight: New UKIP leader vows to unite party, ensure Brexit

When Paul Nuttall was on Monday named as the new leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), it was regarded as a new beginning for a party that gathered 4 million votes at the 2015 general election.

UKIP was set up 23 years ago in London to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.

With fears that pro-Remain supporters want to delay Britain's exit from Europe, or even sabotage it, both Nuttall and the man he succeeded, party co-founder Nigel Farage, stressed the need for the party to continue.

UKIP EYES BIG LEAGUE

Without UKIP, said Farage, there would never have been a referendum in the first place. In less than two decades, Farage said, UKIP had managed to shift the center of gravity in British politics.

He said UKIP's example was having an impact in Europe's mainland among growing numbers of eurosceptic parties.

Nuttall, aged 39, was born at Bootle near Liverpool and serves as an a member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing the northwest of England. He stood down as the party's deputy leader in September after serving for six years.

He announced his comeback to unite the party following a series of infighting that threatened to deal a fatal blow to the party.

Nuttall said his mission as leader was to force the British government to give people "a real Brexit."

"We will hold the government to account to ensure that Brexit does mean Brexit," he said.

In his acceptance speech, he said: "The country needs a strong UKIP more now than ever before. If UKIP ceases to be an electoral force, there will be no impetus on (British Prime Minister) Theresa May and her government to give us real Brexit and we will end up with some mealy-mouthed, backsliding version. This will be a betrayal of the British people and a united UKIP under my leadership will never, ever allow that to happen."

He also said he wants UKIP to replace the Labour Party to become the patriotic voice of working people, particularly in Labour's traditional heartlands in northern England where the party has won considerable support.

Nuttall's election comes just days before the Supreme Court in London starts to hear a case that will decide whether May's government or parliament decide who should trigger the process for Britain leaving the EU.

ENSURING BREXIT

Leave supporters fear if the task is put into the hands of the Houses of Parliament with its many pro-Europe supporters, there will attempts to sabotage Britain's exit.

Labour's National Campaign co-ordinator MP Jon Trickett said: "You only need to know one thing about UKIP's new leader, Paul Nuttall: he wants privatization in the NHS."

Nuttall's success also coincided with reports that May's government is facing a legal battle over whether Britain remains inside the European single market after it has left the EU.

The challenge will be on whether Britain will continue to be a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) when it leaves the EU. The government contends that EEA membership will end when Britain and the EU finally sever their links.

The think tank British Influence is to contact the government Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis, saying it will seek a formal judicial review of the government's position on the EEA.

Many politicians, including former prime minister David Cameron, have said that there is now no reason for UKIP to continue. Nuttall, as the man at the helm, is determined to prove them wrong. Endit