A Tory MP has signed an election pact with Ukip after announcing he agrees with many of the party's policies, including the controversial burka ban.

Ukip will not contest Philip Hollobone's Kettering seat after the MP, who enjoyed a 12,590 majority at the last general election, said he shared the party opinions on Brexit, HS2 and foreign aid.

As part of the pact Mr Hollobone agreed to meet with Ukip members 'every three months' to discuss the progress of Brexit, reported The Telegraph.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone (pictured) has signed an election pact with Ukip after announcing he agrees with many of the party's policies

The deal was brokered by Jonathan Bullock, who was the Kettering Ukip candidate in 2015.

He said: 'We came to the conclusion that if Philip is prepared to sign our policies, he is our candidate in all but name.'

Mr Hollobone is also an outspoken critic of the burka and in 2010 attempted to steer legislation through the Commons to regulate the wearing of some 'facial coverings'.

At the time he said that he thought it was 'inappropriate' to cover the face in public and described the traditional Muslim dress as 'offensive' and 'against the British way of life'.

The MP, who enjoyed a 12,590 majority at the last general election, said he shared the party's opinions on Brexit, HS2, foreign aid and the controversial burka ban

Paul Nuttall, who will stand in Boston and Skegness, has announced he will not field candidates against true Brexit-backing MPs.

He said he decided to take up the tactic to help 'stop remainers' ousting Brexit voters on June 8.

He denied claims that Ukip will only field 100 candidates at the upcoming election, and insisted the party would fight tooth and nail for seats.

Today the Ukip leader announced he will stand in Boston, the most Eurosceptic seat in the country

Ukip confirmed it would step aside in Kettering to give Tory MP Philip Hollobone an easier run.

And they will not put up a candidate against the Brexit-backing Labour MP for Vauxhall, Kate Hoey.

Mr Nuttall told the Birmingham Mail: 'If there is a Brexiteer with a slender majority and there is the opportunity that they will lose the seat to a remainer, then the UKIP branch will indeed be asked if it is a good idea to stand aside.

'We are talking tens of seats, not hundreds.'

He added: 'Someone like David Nuttal in Bury North. I think it would be counterproductive if UKIP stood and stopped David Nuttall from being re-elected, or indeed someone like Kate Hoey.'

The comments came after he formally officially launched the party's election campaign.

The event in central London was briefly disrupted by protesters who managed to get inside the venue and shouted condemnation about Ukip's attitude to Muslims.

Ukip will also not field a candidate in Vauxhall in south London against Labour Brexiteer Kate Hoey

Taking to the stage after they had been ejected, Mr Nuttall insisted Brexit was a job 'half done' and declared 'we are only half way through the war'.

Accusing Mrs May of 'flagrant opportunism' in calling a snap election, he insisted the Ukip would fight it with 'vigour'.

'We also believe that a whopping Conservative majority will only serve to put Brexit in peril,' he said.

'Hordes of Tory lobby fodder will allow the Prime Minister to backslide safe in the knowledge that she has the votes banked.

'We are not convinced that the Prime Minister, who campaigned to Remain in the referendum, will get the deal the British people want.

'She is already beginning to backslide on immigration, with the Government now telling us that immigration will run at today's level for the next decade.

'She has said nothing to guarantee our waters and protect our fishermen and she will not rule out paying a huge divorce bill once we have left the European Union.'

Stating that his party will fight to put Ukip MPs into the House of Commons, he said: 'Anyone hoping that Ukip is going to fade away from the political scene is going to be bitterly disappointed over the next few weeks and, I predict, confounded over the next few years.

At the launch in London today, Mr Nuttal dismissed claims that Ukip will only field 100 candidates on June 8 - but admitted that it would stand aside in seats where there was already a strong Brexiteer in the running

'We have a great opportunity in this election because it is an election on Ukip's turf. It is a Brexit election.'

Setting out details of what will be in Ukip's 'bold and radical' manifesto, Mr Nuttall said the party would be fighting for 'the kind of Brexit people voted for', involving regaining control of borders, freedom to strike trade deals and a refusal to pay any 'divorce bill' to the EU.

Ukip will promise to cut the foreign aid budget and plough the proceeds into the NHS, with a commitment to keep the health service in public hands and free at the point of delivery.

The party will campaign for an English Parliament, the abolition of the House of Lords and the scrapping of the first-past-the-post voting system in favour of proportional votes for Westminster elections.

And it will tackle the 'repulsive' practice of female genital mutilation and insist that people must not cover their faces in public places - effectively a ban on Muslim women wearing the burka.

Mr Hollobone welcomed the news that Ukip would not be standing against him.

'I share Kettering UKIP's desire for a clean Brexit and am delighted that they will not be running a candidate against me,' he said.

'We all worked hard together for Brexit, being jointly committed to this as being in the best long term interests of the country. 'As this has become a Brexit election, I pay tribute to Jonathan Bullock and Kettering UKIP's integrity in making this decision.'

The event in central London today was briefly disrupted by protesters who managed to get inside the venue and shouted condemnation about Ukip's attitude to Muslims

Ukip officials struggled to eject the protesters before Mr Nuttall took to the stage today