Scrapping Welsh Assembly not UKIP policy, Gerard Batten says

Abolishing the Welsh Assembly is "not UKIP policy", party leader Gerard Batten has said, putting him at odds with UKIP's new Senedd group leader.

Gareth Bennett is expected to repeat his call to scrap the assembly at UKIP's conference in Birmingham.

But Mr Batten told BBC Wales he had not yet decided the party's Welsh policies, and was not minded either way.

Meanwhile Mr Bennett has denied claims he is a racist, after his call to ban Muslim women from wearing the burka.

The South Wales Central AM is the third leader UKIP has had in the assembly this year.

Shortly after he won the group leadership in August, Mr Bennett he told BBC Wales he expected the party to back his campaign to abolish the assembly, but two of his fellow UKIP AMs disagree with him.

Mr Batten told the Good Evening Wales programme: "That is Gareth's opinion and he is entitled to have that opinion about what the policy should be.

"I have not yet decided on the policy going into the next Welsh Assembly elections."

Denying that the difference of opinion was another example of chaos within UKIP, Mr Batten added: "I am not minded either way.

"I am going to think it out and decide on what is the best approach."

Currently, UKIP policy is to support devolution in the UK.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Mr Bennett said UKIP should "be radical and say radical things" after Brexit.

On Tuesday, he accused First Minister Carwyn Jones of being "out of touch" for saying his call to ban Muslim women from wearing the burka was racist.

Interviewed by BBC Wales at conference on Friday, Mr Bennett said: "Racism is a term bandied around so freely now, I think it has largely lost its meaning.

"It has no effect on me if I'm accused of being racist."

Mr Bennett will address the conference on Saturday as part of a panel which will include UKIP's leaders in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

He replaced South Wales West AM Caroline Jones as UKIP's Senedd group leader in August when he won a leadership election.

Mrs Jones - who took over from Neil Hamilton as leader in May - has since left the party accusing it of shifting to the far right under Mr Batten.

The UKIP leader is known for making controversial statements on Islam, and has welcomed controversial YouTube commentators to the membership of UKIP.

"Whether it's going to the right or the far right - these are just terms, it's the terminology. I agree with the direction he's taking the party in," Mr Bennett said of the party leader.

The original group of seven UKIP AMs has dwindled to four following the departure of Mark Reckless - who sits with the Conservative group - and Caroline Jones and Mandy Jones, who now sit as independent AMs.

Mr Hamilton, who is one of the remaining UKIP AMs, told conference on Friday that his party was "fighting the battle for post-Brexit Britain".

"Our manifesto will deal with absurdities like political correctness and diversity taken to extreme limits. We will restore a sense of proportion to the British political system," he said.

The former Conservative minister also criticised Theresa May's stance on Europe, saying she had chosen "the path of Neville Chamberlain" - the British prime minister who sought to make peace with Nazi Germany - as her attempts to do a Brexit deal with the EU stalled in Salzburg.