by Bradley Gray, reporter

English Defence League co-founder Tommy Robinson has been appointed as an advisor to UKIP leader Gerard Batten.

The move has caused uproar in the party, with former leader Nigel Farage calling for Batten to resign.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is famous for launching campaigns against Islam and leading his large following through marches and rallies.

The appointment of Robinson is yet another move by leader Batten to shift the party further right since he was announced as leader at the start of the year.

Earlier this year, he suggested British Muslims should be required to sign a document renouncing certain elements of the Qu’ran, as well as introducing policies to restrict immigration from certain Muslim-majority nations.

Former leader Farage has said he will write a letter asking for a vote of no-confidence to the party’s executive committee.

“Gerard Batten has got this sort of fixation with Tommy Robinson and discussing Islam, and dragging UKIP in a direction of effectively being sort of a street activist party.” said Farage.

“It goes against all the things I did as leader to say we will talk about immigration, we will talk about the extreme forms of Islam. We’ll do it as a non-racist, non-sectarian party.

“This blows a hole in all of that.”

Current party rulings forbid any member of former members of the EDL or BNP from becoming a UKIP member, as their racial views are deemed too extreme.

Robinson’s appointment as an advisor doesn’t breach these rulings, but many anti-EDL UKIP members see this appointment as a betrayal.