Conservative Party MEP Sajjad Karim has said that UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage “would have been dealt with” during his Brexit tour around the United Kingdom, were it not for the cameras present.

Karim – who defected from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservative Party in 2007 in order to hang on to his seat in the European Parliament – was engaged in a Twitter spat with a Conservative Party councillor over the EU referendum when he let slip his assertion that people would resort to violence if it weren’t for journalists and television cameras present. Mr. Karim’s defection earned him the nickname “Sal-vage Ca-reer” amongst EU Parliament colleagues.

On Twitter, he said: “Young Brits are now challenging @UKIP on lack of performance! UKIP’s Nigel Farage heckled on Birmingham walkabout”.

Yes he has bn brave to face them by himself – thank goodness cameras present otherwise I'm sure he wld hv bn dealt with… — Sajjad Karim MEP Conservative (@SHKMEP) June 2, 2016

He was quickly rebuked by Tory councillor Molly Giles who corrected Karim’s assertion that the walkabout saw mass opposition. “one guy on an “otherwise well received walkabout”….but hey don’t let the facts get in the way of spin” she said.

The MEP shot back: “Yes he has bn brave to face them by himself – thank goodness cameras present otherwise I’m sure he wld hv bn dealt with…”

Mr. Karim’s assertion that Britons would become violent has been met with anger by UKIP, with a party spokesman telling Breitbart London: “How dare Mr. Karim claim that instead of discussing, campaigning, and voting, that the people of Birmingham would resort to violence? In a walk around the Birmingham rag market, which is populated by 80 per cent non-indigenous Britons, the support for Nigel and ‘Leave’ was extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like it”.

While Mr. Karim did not respond to Breitbart London’s request for comment or clarification, he did reply to Ms. Giles, stating: “you clearly not supporting our party leader. Happy to stand by him b4 and after 23rd. Bye for now.”

The MEP’s record in the European Parliament is underwhelming. In 2013 he steered a preferential trade status for Pakistan, and was subsequently awarded the Sitara-i-qaid-i-Azam, Pakistan’s highest national honour to non-Pakistani nationals.

Mr. Karim has previously claimed that Britain would lose its seat on the UN Security Council if it left the European Union, as well as attacking Eurosceptics as “hysterical”. He has also called UKIP the “anti-EU Taliban”.