Rag-tag, unprofessional, embarrassing: Former Ukip aide lets rip at the party

One of Nigel Farage's former senior aides has let rip at what he called the "rag-tag, unprofessional, embarrassing people" in Ukip.

In an extraordinary broadside, Raheem Kassam, who left the party in the aftermath of the general election, told the Guardian that Ukip HQ was "like a f--king playground".

He alleged that when showing journalists around, he and another aide would “have to lock certain doors because the people behind those doors were too embarrassing to be seen”.

He also told the paper that he saw many in Ukip as "a bunch of rag-tag, unprofessional, embarrassing people who let Nigel down at every juncture".

Someone needs to go in there with a big stick. It needs root-and-branch reform. The constitution is outdated, the national executive is outdated. The funding streams are all wrong. The website is all wrong. It needs a massive, massive overhaul.

• Raheem Kassam

Kassam, who since leaving the party has returned to work for right-wing news website Breitbart, also went on BBC Newsnight on Wednesday to criticise Ukip's sole MP Douglas Carswell.

I think he sees Ukip as a way of being an independent, whereas actually the way of being an independent is to sit as an independent MP.

When he talks about his priorities for the parliament, he's not talking about Ukip's priorities, he's talking about his priorities for this parliament.

You can watch the Newsnight video below:

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