Gerard Batten today declared that he backs controversial moves to allow far-right activist Tommy Robinson to join Ukip.

He said the former EDL leader had shown ‘bravery’ and the party should make a special ‘exception’ to its rule banning ex members of far-right groups from joining.

His explosive intervention comes as Ukip’s ruling NEC body will today hold a meeting where they will vote on a motion paving the way for Robinson’s membership.

But some Ukip members are furious at the move to embrace Robinson - who was in the BNP before founding the EDL and becoming Britain’s most notorious far-right activist.

Gerard Batten (pictured) has declared that he backs controversial moves to allow far-right activist Tommy Robinson to join Ukip

At least one NEC member has warned he could quit if the activist is let in - raising the prospect that Ukip could split.

But in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Mr Batten praised Robinson, 35, for confronting grooming gangs.

The former EDL leader was jailed earlier this year for contempt for live-streaming details of a grooming trial on Facebook, but released last month when judges quashed the conviction.

Mr Batten said: ‘My personal opinion is that we should find a way of allowing Tommy Robinson to become a member.

‘Because, for all his faults - and I’m sure he will admit he has got them - and his indiscretions, he is incredibly brave and he has stood up and defended people in the face of grave danger to himself.

‘And I am talking now about these victims of industrialised sexual abuse.

‘He has got the sheer guts to stand up and defend those people. And my view is that in his case we should make an exception - a one off.’

Mr Batten was a supporter of the ‘free Tommy’ campaign and spoke at a rally in central London where thousands of activists descended on Whitehall to demand his release.

The two men are both vocal critics of Islam, which Robinson has dubbed ‘bigoted’ and Mr Batten has described as a ‘death cult’.

Under Nigel Farage and other leaders, Ukip has maintained a strict ban on former members of far right groups joining.

Mr Batten said he does not think Ukip should tear up its blanket ban - insisting his backing of Robinson is a one off case.

But he also said he believes the ex EDL leader will be able to help broaden Ukip’s appeal - particularly to voters in the north.

Mr Batten said: ‘Not everybody who has joined the BNP over the years is a bad person - they may have made a mistake because of a lack of understanding about the origin of these parties

‘But we have had a blanket ban on these people because we have to protect ourselves from infiltration.

In an interview, Mr Batten praised Robinson (pictured) for confronting grooming gangs

‘Now about Tommy Robinson, we have to keep that blanket ban because we can’t tell the people who made a mistake from the outright racists and people we wouldn’t want to have in the party.

‘But my personal opinion - and I’ve had various meetings with Tommy Robinson and [Ukip peer] Lord Pearson is a supporter of Tommy Robinson... - and I think he is a very special case.

‘He has explained that when he joined the BNP, he didn’t really know what they were about, he was quite young, he wasn’t particularly politically sophisticated.

‘Once he found out what they were about - when they refused entry to a friend of his because he was black - then he left the party

‘The EDL didn’t start out as an extreme right wing party. But Tommy Robinson will tell you himself that it was infiltrated, and that’s why he left.’

Ukip’s NEC is meeting today where they will decide whether to back a motion calling for Robinson to be given membership.

If they do and it is selected by the party chairman, it will be debated by Ukip party members at their conference in Birmingham later this month.

If the members back it then Robinson could be handed his party card.

Mr Batten played down talk that embracing Robinson could trigger a mass walkout of existing Ukip members.

He said: ‘This motion at conference will gauge the feeling of the party.

‘The members will be a representation of the party and we will see what they decide...

‘If they overwhelmingly vote against it then I will accept that democratic decision.’

Asked if the vote has to be overwhelming, he added: ‘If it is 80-20 it’s pretty clear, if it is 50-50 it’s not so clear.’

And he suggested that recruiting Robinson is part of his broader mission to turn Ukip into a mass populist movement.

He said that after Britain leaves the EU next March - and Ukip’s MEPs lose their jobs - ‘we have to develop the party and transform it into something else.

‘One of the things I will be saying at the conference is I want to develop the party into a populist party in the true meaning of the word - a party whose policies are popular with a large proportion of the electorate.

‘Now in March we have to then think about how we are going to do that.

‘As it becomes apparent that Brexit is being betrayed more people will join.

‘But I also think that if Tommy Robinson joins he has the ability to help us recruit members, particularly for example, in the north of England who maybe won’t want to vote Labour under Jeremy Corbyn but certainly aren’t going to vote Tory, but would seriously think about Ukip.’