UKIP's Paul Nuttall on Nadine Dorries defecting talks

Conservatives gave Nadine Dorries the party whip back as an "act of desperation" said UKIP's deputy leader.

Paul Nuttall was asked if his party had been talking to the Mid-Bedfordshire MP while she sat as an independent Conservative, amid speculation about her and the anti-EU party.

He said that "negotiations behind the scenes go on all the time" but he had not personally spoken to her.

The UKIP MEP reckoned a number of Conservatives who want a referendum on the EU in the current Parliament "need to grow a backbone and do something about it".

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