Steven Woolfe in hospital after 'altercation' at UKIP meeting
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Oct 11, 2016
"I've said I'm quite happy with that".
"It was a scuffle between the two of us.it was two people grappling", he said.
"I did not punch, slap or hit Steven Woolfe", it said.
Woolfe, who turned 49 on Thursday, is among the candidates for the leadership of UKIP, which had been vacated by Diane James earlier this week.
In response to Mr Woolfe's injury claims, Mr Hookem has released a photograph of his hands which he says display no bruises, cuts, or grazes, to back up his insistence that he did not punch his fellow MEP.
Mr Woolfe collapsed following the brawl at the parliament building and was at one point said by those close to him to be "fighting for his life" with a bleed on the brain.
Mike Hookem took to social media in the latest freaky twist of his bitter spat with fellow MEP Steven Woolfe.
The party has launched an inquiry after the MEP went to hospital following an incident in which he was allegedly floored during a dust-up with ex-commando Mike Hookem.
The result was a political triumph for UKIP, but since gaining its long-sought goal the party has been torn by infighting.
Investigations are under way by both UKIP and parliamentary authorities into the incident, which has plunged the already divided party into fresh turmoil.
"As a precaution, I am being kept in overnight awaiting secondary tests to make sure everything in fine".
A UKIP source said a meeting of the party's members had been called Thursday morning by MEP Tim Aker to "clear the air" after Woolfe admitted, in announcing his leadership bid, that he had considered joining the Conservative party in recent weeks because of Theresa May's apparent commitment to a "hard Brexit".
"More importantly I did not punch Steven Woolfe", he added, also clarifying that "there was no violence" during the tussle.
The pair clashed in the European Parliament's headquarters in Strasbourg, France. "So we don't know if it was an attack or anything else".
The latest twist to the saga came as MEP Roger Helmer said a "black mark" will be put over Mr Woolfe's standing for the leadership of Ukip if a party probe rules he intentionally started a fight.
"If Neil Hamilton and Douglas Carswell remain in the party, and the NEC decide that Steven Woolfe can not run for leader, I will be leaving Ukip". "Wishing him well for a speedy recovery".
