Nigel Farage withdraws claim made about Hope not Hate campaign group

Nigel Farage has withdrawn a claim that a campaign group pursued "undemocratic means" before the start of a libel case over comments he made.

The former UKIP leader branded the campaign group Hope not Hate disingenuous after it described winning a legal dispute with him as a victory.

He said that he was "perfectly happy" to accept that Hope not Hate, which launched High Court action against him, does not pursue "violent or undemocratic means".

Hope not Hate's chief executive Nick Lowles said: "I am delighted with this victory and that we've held Nigel Farage to account."

Mr Lowles continued: "The case was about the truth and about Hope not Hate saying no to Nigel Farage's attempts to smear us.” He said.

However, Mr Farage was quick to point out that he had not apologised or paid damages to the group so did not think that it could be classed as a victory.

The comments in question were made on an LBC radio show aired in December last year.

During the show Mr Farage was asked about an extremism row on Twitter with Brandan Cox, the late Labour MP, Jo Cox’s husband.

Mr Cox criticised a tweet written by Mr Farage in which he linked German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policies to the terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.

In response Mr Farage said that Mr Cox would know more about extremists than him as he backed organisations such as Hope Not Hate.

Mr Farage then said that the campaign group “masquerade as being lovely and peaceful, but actually pursue violent and undemocratic means.”

The group used crowd funding to raise money for a legal case against Mr Farage and to make him withdraw his claims.

Mr Lowels said: “For too long right-wing politicians have got away with smearing and abusing their opponents. We drew a line in the sand and ‘no more'.

"We are an avowedly peaceful organisation and Farage's false claims were deeply damaging to the vital work we do bringing communities together across cultural and religious divides.

"Anyone else repeating these smears our pursuing a false news agenda against our organisation should be put on note that we won't hesitate to take further action to protect our reputation.

"We also hope this case sends a wider signal to right-wing politicians that smearing people will no longer be accepted."

In response Mr Farage said: “I am very surprised at Hope Not Hate’s announcement today that they have won their legal case against me. Some victory! Their statement today is thoroughly disingenuous."