A Eurosceptic group in the European Parliament (EP) that includes Britain's UKIP and Italy's Five Star Movement has collapsed after an MEP withdrew.

The development means a loss of funds and less influence for the parties in the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group.
The EFDD accused EP President Martin Schulz of engineering Latvian MEP Iveta Grigule's exit from the group.
Speaking to BBC News, Mr Schulz's office denied any wrongdoing.
The office said that after meeting Mr Schulz on Wednesday, Ms Grigule had brought her letter of resignation from the group to his office on Thursday morning.
Consequently, leaders of the European Parliament decided that the EFDD had to be dissolved, the office told the BBC.
To qualify as a group, parties must represent at least seven countries and Ms Grigule's departure had reduced the EFDD to six.
Ms Grigule, an MEP for the Latvian Farmers' Union, has applied to Mr Schulz to become an independent MEP.
According to one source in the European Parliament, the EFDD group was due to get just over 4m euros (£3.2m; $5m) in funding in 2015 - more than 80,000 euros per MEP in the group.
For UKIP, with 24 MEPs, that's more than 2m euros of revenue hanging in the balance. Half of it usually goes to the communications budget - a valuable resource in an election year.
If Mr Farage is no longer the leader of a group, he will also get less speaking time in the parliament, and fewer opportunities to make speeches on big set-piece occasions.
UKIP alleges that the Latvian MEP who has left the group was bullied into submission by parliamentary leaders but she is so far unavailable for comment.
A UKIP statement accused the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, of acting like he was running the parliament of a "banana republic". But without a formal political group, UKIP will be a less powerful voice in Brussels.
Nigel Farage said his party had been the victim of a back-room stitch-up and he accused Martin Schulz of "effectively blackmailing" Ms Grigule by offering her the leadership of an overseas delegation. That, he said, was how the British got treated in Brussels.
The EFDD's collapse has also forced MEPs to postpone a decision on the winner of the Sakharov Prize for 2014 until next Tuesday, for administrative reasons.
UKIP's 24 members made up half of the 48-strong EFDD group.
They were followed by Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement which had 17 MEPs. Other members included the Sweden Democrats, one French independent, and MEPs from the Czech Republic and Lithuania.
Eurosceptics made major advances at the European elections in May, with the EFDD gaining an extra 17 seats.
News of the EFDD's fall was welcomed by the largest group in the parliament, the centre-right  European People's Party (EPP), which tweeted: "First defeat for Eurosceptics! EFDD group disappears with departure of Latvian Iveta Grigule."
The leader of the UK Labour Party at the European Parliament, Glenis Willmott MEP, said Nigel Farage had suffered a "massive blow".
Mr Farage has predicted UKIP could hold the balance of power in the UK following the general election next year after his party gained its first elected MP last month and narrowly failed to take a seat from Labour at a by-election.
Why being in a group is better


The best friend of a student thought to have died after taking toxic diet pills bought online says she was failed by doctors.

Eloise Aimee Parry, 21, from Shrewsbury, died in hospital on 12 April after becoming unwell.
Police said the tablets were believed to contain dinitrophenol, known as DNP, an industrial chemical.
Her friend, who wants to remain anonymous, says Ms Parry had begged doctors for help.
She said she thought it would be in the public interest for an investigation to take place into the care Ms Parry received, "to make sure that everything was done to help Eloise, to make sure that if there is another person in her situation we can learn from this".
The Glyndwr University student had initially attended A&E after taking more than the recommended dose of the tablets.
The friend explained: "She took four pills at 4am and then when she woke up she took another four. But she had pushed her body to be able tolerate this and then she pushed it over the edge. She did not intend to kill herself, she did not want to die.
"She sent me a text message saying that she knew she was going to die a few hours before she died and she was alone.
"She knew she was going to die, and she was alone and she was scared. I was about to board a plane and by the time I'd got home she was dead."
The friend said Ms Parry had been in the mental health system since at least the age of 16, she had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and took medication daily. She had a social worker and regular GP check-ups.
But she said Ms Parry needed more help.
"They were very aware. She was definitely on their radar. She did not fly under the radar. Everyone was aware of her problems. There was no secrecy.
"I think she needed to be an inpatient, she could no longer keep herself safe. Medical professionals have a duty of care to keep people safe who cannot keep themselves safe.
"I was with her when she told medical staff that she could no longer keep herself safe and that she needed their help."
Last week, Ms Parry's mother Fiona told Victoria Derbyshire it was "an awful way to die" and people should not take the drug "in any quantity".
An inquest has been opened and adjourned until 2 July by Shropshire coroner John Ellery after a hearing in Shrewsbury.
The Wrexham Maelor hospital said it was unable to comment on the case.
The Royal Shrewsbury hospital said Ms Parry sadly died when staff were unable to save her and they would be contributing to the inquest.
The director of public health in Shropshire, who is responsible for mental health teams and social workers, said they would work with the coroner.
West Mercia Police have now obtained Ms Parry's laptop and phone and said they were investigating where the pills came from.
Listen to PM on BBC Radio 4 at 17.00 BST. Victoria Derbyshire is broadcast weekdays from 09:15-11:00 BST on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel. Follow the programme on Facebook and Twitter, and find all our content online.


The shareholders of both Marriott and Starwood Hotels have approved the tie-up of the two hotel chains.

The approval is the latest hurdle Marriott has overcome in its effort to buy Starwood- owner of the Sheraton, Westin and W hotel brands.
Marriott will pay $12.4bn (Â£8.7bn) - a figure it reached after a bidding war against Chinese insurance firm Anbang.
Anbang abandoned its $14bn takeover offer for Starwood last week, citing "market considerations".
"Today's vote is a significant step toward closing, and we are grateful for the continued enthusiasm and support for this merger," said Thomas Mangas, Starwood's chief executive officer.
The purchase will create the largest hotel chain with 5,500 properties worldwide.
Marriott said the deal is expected to close by mid-2016. Its shareholders voted 97% in favour of the deal, while 95% of Starwood's voted for the purchase.
The three week back-and-forth between Marriott and Anbang highlighted the growing role of Chinese companies in global mergers and acquisitions.
There have been $92bn worth of foreign takeovers by Chinese companies this year, according to data provider Dealogic.
Marriott shares were up 0.9% and Starwood shares rose 0.25% on Friday.


More than 60 dogs - many of them pets - have been poisoned to death in the last few weeks in the Mexican city of Hermosillo, leading to demands for an inquiry from animal rights activists.

Many of the pets have been killed in their own homes by meat, laced with rat poison or insecticide, that has been tossed over walls and gates.
Several stray animals are also thought to have been killed.
It is unclear if the police has the resources to investigate the deaths.
Hermosillo, an industrial city of some 800,000 people in northern Mexico, is plagued by violence and drug crime.
The poisonings came to light in mid-March.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the authorities were stunned when 10 dog deaths were reported in a single day - as many as the city usually registers in a month.
"Everyone here believes that it is only one person performing these actions," animal rights activist Carolina de la Torre told AP.
According to the agency, a Los Angeles-based actor, Raul Julia Levy, has offered a $10,000 (Â£6,700; â‚¬9,200) reward for information leading to an arrest.
Local media have nicknamed the person responsible, "mataperros" - "the dog killer".


Steven Finn became the first England bowler to take a World Cup hat-trick with wickets off the final three balls of Australia's innings in a 111-run defeat in Melbourne.

Finn, 25, removed Brad Haddin, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson to deny Australia a record total of 344 as they closed on 342-9.
He finished with figures of 5-71, the second most expensive five-wicket haul in one-day international history.
England then subsided to 231 all out.
Finn's hat-trick, in England's tournament opener against co-hosts Australia, was the first by an Englishman and eighth in World Cup history.
All of the paceman's wickets were taken with skied catches.
"A fortuitous and unheralded hat-trick," said ex-England spinner Graeme Swann. "He seemed embarrassed by it."


Mark Allen blamed his failure to prepare for morning play for his 13-9 second-round defeat by John Higgins at the World Championship.

Northern Irishman Allen, 31, led 5-2 before the four-time champion fought back to win.
"It's my own fault. I don't prepare properly for these tournaments," world number 11 Allen.
"I don't practise at 10 o'clock in the morning. I didn't get started until 12 o'clock today."
The Northern Irishman led 5-3 after hitting three century breaks in a brilliant first session on Friday only for Higgins to dominate Saturday's morning session as he moved 9-7 up.
Allen won the first frame of the final session to reduce the lead to the minimum but suffered a kick while on a break of 58 in the next and after Higgins pinched that frame, the Northern Irishman was largely frozen out for the remainder of the contest.
"I think 13-9 wasn't really a fair reflection on the match. I felt like I really played well in spells but a couple of things went against me," added the Antrim man.
"John played really well himself. Take nothing away from him. He closed out the match the way you would expect John Higgins to do."
Media playback is not supported on this device
However, Allen felt the match slipped away from him in Saturday's morning session as Higgins took six of the eight frames.
"Twelve o'clock is normally the time when I'm getting up and lazing about the house," added Allen, who has won three ranking tournaments in his 12-year professional career.
"You need to prepare in all facets. Not just working on the table but working on the table at the right times. I just wasn't prepared for a 10 o'clock match."
However, when asked whether he will address the morning session issue in the future, Allen replied:"Probably not."
Allen added that he is attempting to lose weight in order to boost his ability to perform in the major tournaments.
"I've got to keep working hard and lose a bit of weight. I've lost a stone and half since the Masters. There's maybe another seven [stone] to go. I'll just keep working hard."
The Northern Irishman revealed that his hopes of working again with his former coach Terry Griffiths had been dashed.
"Myself and Terry thought we were getting back together. He's said 'no'. That's a hard one for me because we had a very close relationship."


A happy coincidence in the seafood industry has raised the prospects of harvesting uranium - the fuel source for nuclear power - from seawater.

Oceans hold billions of tonnes of uranium at tiny concentrations, but extracting it remains uneconomical.
A report at the 244th meeting of the American Chemical Society described a new technique using uranium-absorbing mats made from discarded shrimp shells.
A range of improved approaches were outlined at a symposium at the meeting.
The developments are key to a future nuclear power industry. Uranium is currently mined from ore deposits around the world, but there are fears that demand may outstrip the supply of ore as nuclear power becomes more widespread.
At issue is the tremendously low concentration of uranium in seawater: about three parts per billion, so that just 3.3mg exist in a full tonne of water. As a result, extracting it is an inherently costly process.
Much work carried out in Japan in recent decades has sought to address that.
Researchers there came up with a design of a mat of plastic fibres impregnated with molecules that both lock onto the fibres and preferentially absorb uranium. That work culminated in a 2003 field test that netted a kilogram of the metal.
The mats can reach 100m in length, suspended underwater at depths up to 200m. They are withdrawn and rinsed with an acid solution that frees the uranium, and the cycle is repeated.
Research has focussed on improving both the braided fibres of the mat and the "ligand" that captures the uranium, which has most often been a molecule called poly-acrylamidoxime.
Several groups at the conference said they had been working on variations on this molecular theme, or variants of porous "nanoparticles" made of silica (the stuff of sand) or carbon.
Robin Rogers of the University of Alabama, who organised the symposium, outlined an improvement developed in his own group: seafood shells.
He said that in the wake of both Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill in the region, "we began working with the Gulf Coast Agricultural and Seafood Co-operative... and with the shrimpers and crabbers there, and found they were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get rid of their waste [shells]".
"We discovered an 'ionic liquid' - a molten salt - could extract a very important polymer called chitin directly from shrimp shells," he added.
Chitin is a long-chain molecule that is the principal component in crustaceans' shells, but its toughness and its ability to be "electrospun" into fibres that can be made into mats make it an ideal sustainable and biodegradable choice for uranium harvesting.
While research is continuing, there is still some way to go to reach cost parity with the more mature - but more environmentally damaging - technology of mining uranium ores.
"We have not reached a point where we can 'downselect' to a [single] technology, but we have shown that we can double the capacity of what the Japanese have done," Dr Rogers said.
"But the economic analysis being done at the University of Texas has told us that we're not good enough yet, even in today's economy, so we have to improve."
The work is promising enough, though, to begin to remove a concern about the sustainability of those terrestrial sources and any stumbling block that may present to growth in the nuclear power industry.


A cycling event that brought £300,000 to Aberystwyth in 2016 will not return this year, it has been announced.

The town held a stage of the Pearl Izumi UK Tour Series to launch the AberCycleFest in May, with a report saying it drew 5,000 visitors.
Ceredigion council discussed spending £66,000 to host it again and said it was "fully committed" to the move.
But tour organiser Sweetspot told the council it would not be returning this year.
The professional cycling event will visit 10 locations around the UK but none in Wales in 2017.
Councillor Gareth Lloyd said a new format meant the town would not be included and council officials are now looking at alternative events to launch Aberystwyth CycleFest.


Barclays is looking into "technical issues" which appear to be affecting debit card users.

In a tweet the bank said it was "urgently investigating" the cause of the problem.
Customers have been contacting the bank on social media to report problems accessing their money and making payments.
A Barclays spokeswoman said: "This was a fault with our internal systems and not an external cyber-attack."
"We can confirm that customer services are now recovering from a technical issue we experienced this afternoon impacting some of our customers," the spokeswoman added.
The bank has tweeted that customers "should be able to make payments & access ATMs" and that online and mobile banking are "back online".
Twitter user @BenTavill said: "@BarclaysUK you need to fix your systems, need to withdraw cash but can't. Not good at all."


Poland will not accept David Cameron's proposal to stop EU migrants claiming benefits for four years, its deputy foreign minister has said.

Rafal Trzaskowski said any plans to discriminate on grounds of nationality would be a "red line" issue.
Poland was ready to discuss introducing a system under which all citizens, including from the UK, had to pay in before receiving benefits, he said.
The UK PM has admitted his plans would need EU support to succeed.
Mr Trzaskowski told the BBC's Newsnight Poland was ready to oppose the proposals as they stand.
Changing the rules
"If one wants to get away with all the benefits that are enshrined in the regulation of the EU and treat immigrants from the EU differently, and for example only pay benefits after four years of their stay in Britain or extradite people who can't find work, that would be against all the existing laws of the EU and obviously that would be a red line for us," he said.
"The Polish government is quite ready to talk about abuses of existing systems, sham marriages, extraditing criminals and so forth.
"But to be truthful this is not the problem - it is marginal. When it comes to changing the rules in the EU, when it comes to social support and so forth, when it comes to undermining the existing laws, obviously we are going to react quite strongly and we are going to be against.
"But the most important thing is that David Cameron wants to talk about it and doesn't want to change policies unilaterally."
He added: "This is an absolute red line, that there is no discrimination on grounds of nationality."
'Rule nothing out'
"If Britain were to change its policy, for example, into a contributory system in which everyone has to pay in to get some money from the system, we then could talk about changes if they were absolutely non-discriminatory," he said.
Mr Cameron has said lower EU migration would be a priority in future negotiations over the UK's membership and he would "rule nothing out" if he did not get the changes he wanted.
He said he was confident he could change the basis of EU migration into the UK and therefore campaign for the UK to stay in the EU in a future referendum planned for 2017.
But he warned, in a speech on Friday, that if the UK's demands fell on "deaf ears" he would "rule nothing out" - the strongest hint to date he could countenance the UK leaving the EU.
In reaction to Mr Cameron's speech Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Cameron had made a "no ifs, to buts" promise at the last general election to get migration down and he had "no credibility" on the issue.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the prime minister should have apologised for missing his immigration target, said he was "playing catch-up" with UKIP and said the only way to get control over Britain's borders was to leave the EU.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said some of the proposals were "sensible and workable" but said there were "very serious question marks" over others, including deporting jobseekers after six months if they had not found work.


The UK's only female polar bear will move into her new home today.

Media playback is unsupported on your device
28 April 2015 Last updated at 08:15 BST
Victoria's custom-built enclosure, complete with its own pond, will keep her separate from the male bears.
Keepers at the Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland hope she'll settle in soon.


US veteran of the Korean War Merrill Newman has arrived in San Francisco after being released by North Korea.

North Korea's state news agency said Mr Newman was expelled on "humanitarian grounds" after confessing to "crimes" in the 1950-53 war and "apologising".
He had been held since October on charges of "hostile acts" against the North, while visiting as a tourist.
Although Mr Newman, 85, did serve during the Korean War, his family says he is the victim of mistaken identity.
The US welcomed Pyongyang's decision.
"We are pleased that Mr Merrill Newman has been allowed to depart the DPRK (North Korea) and re-join his family. We welcome the DPRK's decision to release him," said state department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
"I'm delighted to be home," Mr Newman said in San Francisco. "It's been a great homecoming. I'm tired, but ready to be with my family."
He thanked the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang and US embassy in Beijing for helping to secure his release.
Mr Newman - a pensioner from Palo Alto, California - had been held in North Korea since being taken off a plane as he prepared to leave the country on 26 October, following a 10-day tourist visit.
In a video released by North Korean authorities last week, Mr Newman was shown reading his alleged apology, dated 9 November.
It claims he was an "adviser of the Kuwol Unit of the UN Korea 6th Partisan Regiment part of the Intelligence Bureau of the Far East Command" - an apparent reference to one of the special operations units acting against the North.
Mr Newman allegedly confessed to trying to contact surviving soldiers during his trip as a tourist.
The statement added: "Please forgive me."
But Mr Newman's family said there must have been "some dreadful misunderstanding".
Another veteran, also named Merrill Newman, was awarded a Silver Star medal for his efforts during the Korean War.
The North Korean authorities have previously been accused of coercing confessions from detainees.
US Vice-President Joe Biden, while welcoming North Korea's release of Mr Newman as "a positive thing", renewed calls for Pyongyang to free another American, Kenneth Bae, held since November 2012 and sentenced in May to 15 years' hard labour.
Pyongyang said Mr Bae - described as both a tour operator and Christian missionary - had used his tourism business to plot sedition.


Global efforts have halved the number of people dying from malaria - a tremendous achievement, the World Health Organization says.

Media playback is unsupported on your device
9 December 2014 Last updated at 17:59 GMT
Each year, more people are being reached with life-saving malaria interventions, the WHO says.
In 2004, 3% of those at risk had access to mosquito nets, but now 50% do.
See the story in 15 seconds.


The home village of Olympic gold medallist Chris Mears has installed a golden cardboard postbox as a tribute to his Rio 2016 success.

Raj Odedra, a postmaster in Burghfield Common, Berkshire, hoped the postbox in Recreation Road would be painted gold to congratulate the diver.
After Royal Mail refused to paint the postbox Mr Odedra decided to place a replica in front of it.
It has since become a popular landmark for "selfies".
Mears and his diving partner Jack Laugher won Great Britain's first ever Olympic diving gold in the men's synchronised 3m springboard event.
Dozens of people have posted photos of their "postbox selfies" on the Burghfield Community Facebook page.
"It started off as a low key tribute to our Burghfield boy, but the postbox has since become really popular in the community - particularly on social media," Mr Odedra said.
"People from all over Reading to Tilehurst have come to visit the postbox and to take a selfie in front of it.
"It has really helped bring the community together to help support the success of Chris Mears and his family who live here."
Royal Mail defended its decision not to paint post boxes gold.
A spokesman said: "After London 2012, we confirmed that all 110 post boxes would remain gold on a permanent basis, with a plaque naming the athlete and their achievement.
"However Brazil, as the host nation of Rio 2016, has the honour of celebrating the games in its own way".


Ulster have suffered two blows with prop Kyle McCall said to have sustained a "significant" hamstring injury while Peter Browne will miss Friday's game against Connacht because of concussion.

Both injuries were sustained in Sunday's European Champions Cup defeat by Clermont Auvergne.
Emerging prop McCall will see a surgeon in London this week to explore possible surgical options.
On the plus side, wing Andrew Trimble will be available for Friday's game.
Trimble has been out of action for three weeks after being forced off at half-time in Ireland's win over Australia because of a foot injury.
The absence of McCall and lock Browne adds to an already lengthy Ulster injury list.
Browne's absence further reduces Ulster's second-row options with Robbie Diack and Alan O'Connor also currently out and Dan Tuohy no longer available following his move to Bristol.
Director of rugby Les Kiss does have the option of moving Iain Henderson from the back row to the lock position that he usually plays for Ireland.
The list of injured players also currently unavailable includes Jared Payne, Stuart Olding, Craig Gilroy, Ricky Lutton, Ross Kane, Peter Nelson and summer signing Marcell Coetzee.


Sarah Vasey faces a tense wait to see if she will make the British team for the Rio Olympics.

The Derbyshire swimmer, 19, took a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the British Championships, behind Siobhan-Marie O'Connor, on Sunday.
But Vasey could still go to Brazil as part of the relay squad, as O'Connor also won the 100m freestyle.
"They could want me to swim the breaststroke leg if Siobhan-Marie swims freestyle," Vasey said.
British Swimming will announce the squad to go to Brazil on Thursday and can take a team of up to 30 male and female swimmers across the disciplines.
Only eight swimmers have so far guaranteed their places by going under the qualification mark in their respective events, with fellow City of Derby swimmer Adam Peaty one of those to do so.
Vasey said: "I had mixed emotions after the race because I swam a personal best and couldn't do much more, but finished second.
"If I hadn't swum very well and finished second then I would be devastated, but I was pleased with my performance, so I can't really complain."
Vasey has received support from the Derbyshire Institute of Sport (DIS) to help her attend overseas training camps in Australia, Doha and Dubai and says that has been crucial to her improvement.
"Getting to swim long course for six or seven weeks in a row is massively important, as we just don't get that access at home with so few 50m pools," she said.
"Hopefully it will have helped me get a place at the Olympics, which is every swimmer's dream, but if not I definitely have another Olympic cycle in me, if not two."


The US says it is sending dozens of troops to Somalia to train forces fighting Islamist group al-Shabab.

This is the first time regular US troops have been deployed in Somalia since 1994, although some counter-terrorism advisers are already there.
President Donald Trump last month approved a directive allowing tougher action against al-Shabab.
In 1993, 18 US special forces personnel were killed in the incident dramatised in the Hollywood film Black Hawk Down.
Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?
The deaths, and the shooting down of two US helicopters in Mogadishu, shocked the US and the rest of its military personnel were withdrawn from Somalia shortly afterwards.
Hundreds of Somalis were also killed in the 15-hour battle sparked when US forces tried to capture close allies of warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed.
Since then, the US has restricted most of its activities in Somalia to drone and missile attacks against Islamist militants.
BBC World Service Africa editor Mary Harper says the US has also trained a highly effective elite Somali force.
The main focus now is the Somali army, which is fractured, undisciplined and poorly equipped, she says.
Several other countries, including the UK and Turkey, are also training Somali troops.
Al-Shabab, part of al-Qaeda, has a strong presence in many rural parts of Somalia and often stages attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere.
The African Union has a force of about 22,000 soldiers helping the Somali government fight al-Shabab.


Cardiff's Grade II*-listed Coal Exchange has reopened after a £40m project to save it.

The Mount Stuart Square building, last used as an arts venue, closed in 2013 and was described as "a crumbling eyesore" by developer Signature Living.
Built in 1883, it was once where the world price of coal was set and the first £1m cheque signed.
Its future had been under threat but the Grand Hall and 40 hotel rooms opened on Saturday.
This represents the first phase and when all work is finished later this year, it will feature 200 rooms, a restaurant and events space.
The developer said it had to remove 1,100 tonnes of rubble from the site and repaired several floors that had collapsed during the eight-month restoration.
"The rot and decay has been swept away and the building has been fully revived," said Signature Living's Lawrence Kenwright.
"Every possible original feature has been saved and the feeling of grandeur has fully returned."


A former Stoke City trainee has told a court he was abused by then-goalkeeper Peter Fox for "serving cold tea" and "calling a bad decision on the pitch".

George Blackstock said he was held down and assaulted with a goalkeeper's glove smeared with Deep Heat - a type of muscular pain relief ointment.
Mr Blackstock, 44, is seeking damages for loss of earnings of nearly Â£170,000 against the footballer and the club.
Mr Fox and Stoke City deny all the allegations.
Preston County Court heard Mr Blackstock's claim that he was twice given the punishment - known as "the glove" - during the 1980s.
He said that after the alleged assaults Mr Fox said: "That will teach you a lesson."
Mr Fox told the court he "could not remember" Mr Blackstock, who left his Belfast home after scouts spotted his talent at the age of 15.
The court had heard that at least three other apprentices described the practice happening to them for such infringements as wearing someone else's boots or putting on the wrong studs.
But Mr Fox denied that the glove abuse had taken place, saying: "That's what story they have come up with."
He said if he had seen the practice taking place, he would have "stopped it and said something".
Mr Fox's representative has said Mr Blackstock was "willing to lie for financial gain".
Mr Blackstock's claim of Â£170,000 is on the basis that he would have played at least at Conference level for five years after leaving the club but for the alleged assaults.
He says he suffers from post-traumatic stress because of what happened.


Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has confirmed the length of his contract has been reduced, but insists "nothing changes".

The 46-year-old Argentine had a contract until 2020, but it now runs out at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Simeone is considered one of the world's top managers after leading Atletico to the La Liga title in 2013-14 and two Champions League finals.
He said: "We are fine. I'm happy here. I am guided by feelings and my heart."
Simeone, who has also won the Europa League and Copa del Rey with Atletico, added: "This does not change anything, and the only thing is to see if the lads keep giving me their hearts.
"During the two years we can renew the deal, if they don't want to get rid of me."


The family of a 106-year-old woman refused a vote at her polling station have said she is "devastated".

Win Hawkins was turned away from her local booth in the Monmouth constituency on Thursday by officials who said she was not registered.
Her family claim she was wrongly listed as Arwen, although her full name is Amy Winifred Hawkins.
Monmouthshire council officials said they would ensure Mrs Hawkins is registered for the next election.
One of her granddaughters, Tamzin Powell, said: "She always votes, and she did at the last election in 2015.
"Gran is pretty good for 106, but she was devastated. She's been a Labour voter all her life and this might have been her last chance".
Ms Powell, an academic, said the family believed the problem might be related to a verification process.
But they believe there should not have been a problem because an official had previously visited her grandmother's house to check her details.
Mrs Hawkins's mother was a suffragette who campaigned for votes for women.
In a Facebook video posted by her family, Mrs Hawkins said:  "I was born in 1911, I've seen two world wars, I've seen votes for women, I've seen pensions for all, I've seen the miners' strike.
"And today they wouldn't let me vote."
Paul Matthews, Monmouthshire council's chief executive and returning officer for the Monmouth constituency, said: "It's unfortunate that Mrs Hawkins was unable to vote yesterday.
"But if you aren't on the electoral register, which is constantly updated, you are not entitled to a vote.
"That is the law of the land."
Monmouth was held by the Conservative David Davies with an 8,200 majority.


Joost van der Westhuizen was the archetypal Springbok, an Afrikaner whose name became a byword for brilliance, total commitment and supreme physicality.

Former South Africa captain Joost van der Westhuizen has died at the age of 45. Here, in a poignant piece first published in August 2013, he tells the BBC about his "rollercoaster" battle with motor neurone disease and how his faith and family helped him come to terms with his condition.
Now the 42-year-old is confined to a wheelchair, struggles with his speech and barely has the strength to hold a sandwich or lift a drink.
For the last two years his body has been ravaged by the debilitating effects of motor neurone disease, which has taken control of everything except his mind. That remains as sharp as ever, but his body has become increasingly disobedient, making every day a challenge.
Van der Westhuizen admits he is on his "deathbed", having been given between two and five years to live when he was diagnosed in 2011.
Speaking on the telephone from his home in South Africa, it is difficult to understand what the 1995 World Cup winner and holder of 89 Test caps is trying to say.
His speech is slurred and muffled but you can just about decipher his sentences, so that we know the Springbok great is at peace with himself and his situation.
"I realise every day could be my last," he tells BBC Sport. "It's been a rollercoaster from day one and I know I'm on a deathbed from now on.
"I've had my highs and I have had my lows, but no more. I'm a firm believer that there's a bigger purpose in my life and I am very positive, very happy."
Van der Westhuizen, widely regarded as one of the greatest scrum-halves of all time, now lives in Johannesburg with his friend David Thorpe. Together they run his J9 Foundation, a charity that raises awareness about motor neurone disease.
The former Blue Bulls player first noticed something was wrong at the end of 2008, when he felt some weakness in his right arm.
He presumed it was an old rugby injury flaring up and paid little more attention to it. Then a few months later he was play-fighting in a swimming pool with an old friend, Henry Kelbrick, who is also his personal doctor, and the weakness in his arm became even more apparent.
It was clear this was something much more serious than he had previously thought.
"Kelbrick identified something, so he rang me up later and asked me to come in that afternoon," he said. "He apologised to me, and then he told me what it was."
The diagnosis was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, one of the most common forms of motor neurone disease.
"First of all I asked him to give me medication, but then he told me about the severity of the condition and that it was terminal."
Van der Westhuizen concedes "it's sometimes difficult to stay positive and motivated" after being diagnosed with a fatal illness. But as a devout Christian, his faith and family have played a big role in helping him come to terms with his condition.
And he says the disease has actually helped him to become a better person.
In 2008 he suffered a suspected heart attack and not long afterwards was at the centre of a sex-tape and cocaine scandal which led to the break-up of his marriage to the singer Amor Vittone. He also lost his job as a television pundit with the South African broadcaster Supersport.
"What I did went against all my principles - my life was controlled by my mind and I had to make my mistakes to realise what life is all about," he said.
"I led my life at a hundred miles an hour. I've learned that there are too many things that we take for granted in life and it's only when you lose them that you realise what it is all about.
"But I know that God is alive in my life and with experience you do learn. I can now talk openly about the mistakes I made because I know my faith won't give up and it won't diminish.
"It's only when you go through what I am going through that you understand that life is generous."
For Van der Westhuizen, life is now chiefly about spending time with his family. He has two children, Jordan, seven, and a five-year-old daughter, Kylie.
He is also committed to helping people with motor neurone through the J9 Foundation and plans a visit to the UK in the autumn to watch his beloved Springboks in action against Wales and Scotland.
The sport he loves has also looked out for one of its own.
"When I talk about the rugby community I am talking about everyone in the sport and I have to say they have been brilliant," he says.
"All the number nines I played against in internationals have been phenomenal. Rugby is a big family."
Source: NHS
Memories of his distinguished playing career are a source of comfort and satisfaction for Van der Westhuizen. The highlight was obviously 1995, when he was an integral part of the Springbok side that won the World Cup on home soil in front of new president Nelson Mandela.
His brilliant performance was characterised by a famous tackle on Jonah Lomu, when New Zealand's talisman was going at full tilt after scything past South Africa's captain Francois Pienaar.
He went on to win the Tri Nations in 1998 and captained the Boks at the 1999 World Cup, when they were beaten in extra time in the semi-finals by eventual winners Australia.
The only thing missing on his illustrious CV is victory over the British and Irish Lions. The Boks were favourites to beat the Lions in 1997 but lost the series 2-1. One of the iconic moments actually involved Van der Weshuizen, but not in a way he would have intended.
It occurred in the first Test, when he was one of the players who fell for an outrageous dummy by Matt Dawson, who then went over in the corner for a crucial try,
When he retired in 2003, Van der Westhuizen was the most capped South African player of all time, with 89 appearances, and had scored 38 Test tries, which was a Springbok record until it was recently broken by winger Bryan Habana.
Despite his brilliant record, the former scrum-half is not afraid to laugh at himself, or show humility.
"Everyone still talks to me about that tackle on Jonah Lomu in the 1995 World Cup final," he says, "but every time people mention it, I have to remind them about how I fell for Matt Dawson's dummy in 1997."
That was a rare misjudgement from one of the best players of all time. The archetypal Springbok admits he made mistakes in his life after rugby, but is now finally at peace.


The hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica is starting to get smaller, according to scientists.

But what is the ozone layer and why is it important?
The ozone layer is the part of the Earth's upper atmosphere where ozone, a form of oxygen gas, is found.
It absorbs UV radiation, preventing most of it from reaching us on the ground. This is important as UV radiation can harm humans, animals and plants.
Scientists first noticed a dramatic thinning of ozone above Antarctica in the 1980s.
It was being destroyed by gases called CFCs that were found in things like hairsprays, fridges and air conditioning units.
The scientists say that in September 2015 the hole had shrunk by 4 million sq km since the year 2000 - an area roughly the size of India.
They think it's because CFC gasses were banned around the world.


Partick Thistle began the new league season in positive fashion, spoiling Richie Foran's first Premiership match in charge of Caley Thistle.

Chris Erskine, back at Thistle for a third spell, underlined his status as a fans' favourite with the opening goal, curling the ball past goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams.
David Amoo poked the ball over the line to double the home side's advantage.
Foran's side were unable to fashion any genuine goalscoring opportunities.
Their lack of cutting edge would have disappointed their manager, having scored 12 goals in their previous two matches in the League Cup,
Tomas Cerny in the home goal was entirely untroubled over the course of the 90 minutes and though Thistle created few chances of their own, they were sufficiently clinical to punish their opponents.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Erskine's first-half strike was the solitary moment of class in a disappointing opening period.
Callum Booth drove forward, slipped the ball to Steven Lawless who managed to feed Erskine despite a heavy first touch.
Erskine's own first touch allowed him to fire past the diving Fon Williams from just inside the box - the ball arrowing inside the far post for a third goal of the young season for the midfielder.
Caley Thistle looked a better side after the break but found themselves further behind as they failed to clear from a Sean Welsh set-piece.
Abdul Osman headed across goal, Liam Lindsay also got his head to the ball and with the visiting defence struggling to clear the danger, Amoo pounced to stab into the net from close range.
Lawless went close with a fierce drive and Kris Doolan had a late strike pushed away by Fon Williams as the home side looked to add to their lead.
Though they were unable to do that, they came under little pressure at the other end to comfortably see out the victory.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Richie Foran: "It's only early. You don't become a bad team overnight. We're going to stay positive.
"I thought we had poor imagination in the final third. With the quality that we have up there I expect a little bit more but we didn't get enough help around Scott Boden.
"(It's a) disappointing result but I can't be too hard on the lads. They've been magnificent since I've come in.
"I think we're in for a good season. We've got the quality. We just need to work on a few bits and pieces."
Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald: "I don't think there was a lot in the half until Chris (scored) - it was probably our first good bit of play and Chris had a great finish.
"I thought it was a bit cagey. We looked a bit nervous to be honest but the goal settled us down and we started to play a bit.
"There was one bit of magic from Chris - he's capable of that, we know that and we need to make sure we use him in the right way. He'd only trained a couple of days this week and that's why we took him off as soon as we could."
Match ends, Partick Thistle 2, Inverness CT 0.
Second Half ends, Partick Thistle 2, Inverness CT 0.
Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Scott Boden (Inverness CT).
Foul by David Amoo (Partick Thistle).
Carl Tremarco (Inverness CT) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Adebayo Azeez (Partick Thistle).
David Raven (Inverness CT) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Gary Warren (Inverness CT).
Adebayo Azeez (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Scott Boden (Inverness CT).
Attempt saved. Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Attempt saved. Alex Fisher (Inverness CT) header from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Foul by Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle).
Ross Draper (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle).
David Raven (Inverness CT) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Adebayo Azeez (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kevin McNaughton (Inverness CT).
Corner,  Partick Thistle. Conceded by Gary Warren.
Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Liam Polworth (Inverness CT).
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Adebayo Azeez replaces Liam Lindsay because of an injury.
Substitution, Inverness CT. Alex Fisher replaces Iain Vigurs.
Delay in match Liam Lindsay (Partick Thistle) because of an injury.
Attempt saved. Iain Vigurs (Inverness CT) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Ryan Edwards replaces Chris Erskine.
Attempt missed. Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Liam Polworth (Inverness CT) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Liam Polworth (Inverness CT).
Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Corner,  Inverness CT. Conceded by Callum Booth.
Attempt missed. Greg Tansey (Inverness CT) header from the left side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution, Inverness CT. Ross Draper replaces Jake Mulraney.
Corner,  Inverness CT. Conceded by David Amoo.
Goal!  Partick Thistle 2, Inverness CT 0. David Amoo (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal following a set piece situation.
Foul by Iain Vigurs (Inverness CT).
Sean Welsh (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Greg Tansey (Inverness CT) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.


The first ever game between South Sudan and Sudan ended goalless at the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Ethiopia.

South Sudan's defensive tactics paid dividends as they held on for a point.
After beating Djibouti 2-0 in their opening Group C game on Monday it puts South Sudan in line to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament.
"We are happy that we have picked a point against a strong Sudan side," said South Sudan's goalkeeper Juma Ginaro after the game.
"We now wait to face Malawi in our last group game."
The draw leaves Sudan in third place behind their neighbours with just a single point so far after they lost 2-1 to Malawi in their first match.
Guest team Malawi top the group and have qualified for the last eight after brushing aside Djibouti 3-0.
Yaboh Idriss Moussa missed several chances for Djibouti before Gerald Phiri converted a penalty for Malawi and John Banda and Chiukepo Msowoya secured the victory.
In the other games played on Wednesday defending champions Kenya and Burundi settled for a 1-1 all draw.
While hosts Ethiopia recovered from their loss in the opening match to Rwanda to beat Somalia 2-0 in front of a capacity crowd.


Irreverent to the point of discomfort, politically savvy with no holds barred, Jan Boehmermann pushes humour well over the border of what is generally seen as acceptable.

Everyone is fair game. Most often his fellow Germans. The ones who hate foreigners.
And the vehemently nice ones, determined to save the planet and help refugees.
But Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is clearly not amused. In fact many in Germany do not find Boehmermann's controversial obscene poem particularly amusing either.
It is seen even by some of the satirist's fans as puerile and vulgar, with childish references to genitalia as well as sex with goats and sheep.
But the general consensus is that whether you find the poem itself funny or not, the comedian should not be prosecuted for it.
In true Boehmermann fashion, the poem was more complicated than simply a string of obscenities.
It was prefaced with an explanation that the poem was illegal in Germany, in reference to an Erdogan parody on German TV that the Turkish president had taken offence to days before.
The joke presumably was that in Germany you could be fined or even jailed for saying something so childish; and it highlighted Germany's own problematic issues with free speech.
That is why Boehmermann refuses to back down. "What appears to have been overlooked is that the poem was not broadcast on its own, but rather as part of an overall presentation about what is allowed in Germany and what isn't," as his lawyer explained on Thursday.
President Erdogan's German lawyer has urged the satirist to "make a commitment not to recite [the poem] again."
That does not seem likely. Boehmermann has made it clear he will not sign a cease-and-desist declaration.
President Erdogan holds leverage over Angela Merkel at the moment, and he knows it. The German chancellor used to chide the Turkish president over freedom of expression, stressing her opposition to Turkey's EU accession.
Suddenly Turkey is essential to stopping the migration flow to Europe and Mrs Merkel is treading very carefully.
Turks have almost stopped raising eyebrows when a case of "insulting the president" is opened, so often does it happen. Initially, when a former Miss Turkey, the country's most famous cartoonist or a 13-year-old boy were accused of insulting Mr Erdogan, there was shock among the president's opponents.
But now, with almost 2,000 such cases opened, there is little surprise left - even when the target is a German citizen.
Mr Erdogan's critics cry foul, his diehard fans rally. And as long as he has his support base, Turkey's president is secure.
Read more from Mark: The problem with insulting Erdogan
Jan Boehmermann's style is complicated self-parody at its best.
"We are Germans," he sings in one video, renowned for "our world-famous sense of humour".
The song mercilessly highlights how, during the Greek debt crisis, German society was simultaneously terrified of a vengeful Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, and in thrall to his biceps and upturned silk collars.
"Our minister of finance doesn't even have legs" - referring to the wheelchair-using German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble - is not a line most comedians would feel comfortable delivering.
President Erdogan may not get the joke but Mr Varoufakis does.
"He did me a lot of harm as minister of finance, but I have to say I appreciated the quality of his satire," Mr Varoufakis told German TV channel RTL. "I'll be damned if I see someone like him being prosecuted by people who oppose basic democratic liberties."
The legal fight is complicated by the fact that some of the references to Mr Erdogan could be interpreted as discriminatory against Turkish people, Germany's largest minority.
German public prosecutors have now launched a criminal investigation into Boehmermann and some of public broadcaster ZDF's programme directors.
However, an investigation does not mean that a crime has been committed. No one has yet been charged, let alone convicted.
Here's article 103 of Germany's criminal code: Defamation of organs and representatives of foreign states
(1) Whosoever insults a foreign head of state, or, with respect to his position, a member of a foreign government who is in Germany in his official capacity, or a head of a foreign diplomatic mission who is accredited in the Federal territory shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine, in case of a slanderous insult to imprisonment from three months to five years.
Criminal code in full (in English)
This case has now turned into a political problem for Germany's government.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended artistic freedom and insists that Article 5 of the constitution protects "freedom of opinion, freedom of science and of course the freedom of art". Given Germany's painful 20th-Century history of oppression and dictatorship, these values are not taken lightly here.
But the chancellor has to decide whether Germany's state prosecutors should start criminal proceedings against the satirist, because article 103 of the criminal code can only be triggered with authorisation from the German government.
Chancellor Merkel uncharacteristically waded into the debate precipitously on Tuesday by saying the poem was "intentionally insulting". Her allies covered her back, saying she was simply expressing a personal opinion about the quality of the poem.
But the damage was already done, particularly because the legal question revolves around whether the poem was meant to be intentionally insulting or not.
The difficulty for the chancellor is that if she allows the prosecution to go ahead she will be criticised for letting President Erdogan limit free speech in Germany.
But if she blocks it, she risks antagonising Mr Erdogan at a time when Europe needs Turkey to help solve the migrant crisis.


Three days of mourning have been announced in the Pakistani province of Balochistan after a series of blasts in the provincial capital Quetta.

Most of the casualties were from twin blasts at a snooker hall which killed at least 80 and injured many others in a predominantly Shia Muslim area.
Among the dead was Quetta-based rights activist, Irfan Ali, reportedly helping those wounded in the first blast.
Earlier, a bomb in a market area killed 11 people and injured 27 more.
By Orla GuerinBBC News, Islamabad
Even by the blood-soaked standards of Pakistan, the attack on the snooker hall was devastating. The Pakistani media is calling it a bloodbath.
This was a sectarian strike. Most of the dead were members of the minority Shia community. Human rights activists say the government is complicit in the killing of Shia because of its failure to protect them from Sunni militant groups.
Campaigners say the authorities are either in sympathy with Sunni extremists or incompetent and unable to provide basic security. Attacks on Shia have been increasing dramatically, with more than 400 killed last year.
A spokesman for militant group, the United Baloch Army, said it had carried out that bombing.
Mr Ali tweeted that he had narrowly escaped the market blast. But, like many of the casualties of the snooker hall attacks, he was killed as police and media rushed to the scene of the first blast.  The Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi said it was behind the blasts.
Balochistan is plagued by both a separatist rebellion and sectarian infighting between Sunnis and Shias.
The Taliban and armed groups that support them also carry out attacks in the province, particularly in areas near the Afghan border. Pakistan's military has been engaged in a long-running battle against those militant groups.
On Friday, Pakistani media reported that a loud explosion had been heard in the Saryab Road area of Quetta, but no more details are available.
A senior police officer, Hamid Shakil, told AFP news agency that a bomb exploded late on Thursday outside the snooker hall building on Alamdar Road and that the second blast occurred 10 minutes later.
Profile: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
The first blast appeared to have been carried out by a suicide bomber on foot, police said, while the second was a car bombing.
"The second blast was a deafening one, and I fell down. I could hear cries and minutes later I saw ambulances taking the injured to the hospital," local resident Ghulam Abbas told the Associated Press.
The dead also included at least two members of a media team and four workers from a private rescue organisation, the Edhi Foundation. At least five policemen also died.
Home Secretary Akbar Durrani told AFP the bombings were in an area dominated by the minority Shia Muslim community.
Mr Shakil said that many of the dead and wounded were Shia, adding that the death toll could rise.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is a banned organisation, said it had carried out the attack.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the group has in the past targeted the area's ethnic Hazara Shia.
A senior government official told the BBC he believed the bombings were the group's reaction to two incidents on Wednesday - the shooting of Sunni cleric and the seizure of arms and ammunition from a suspected Lashkar-e-Jhangvi hideout.
TV footage of the earlier market attack showed survivors picking through debris, and emergency crews taking away the wounded.
"Frontier Corps [paramilitary] personnel were the target because the bomb was planted underneath their vehicle," Mr Shakil told AFP.
The dead include one paramilitary soldier and two civilian officers.
Also on Thursday, at least 21 people were killed and more than 80 injured in an explosion near Mingora in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley.
The blast took place at a religious gathering.
Police initially said the explosion was caused by a gas canister, but a senior official later said it was a bomb.
Swat has been controlled by the Pakistani army since it drove out the Taliban in 2009, but the militants still carry out attacks, most notably on schoolgirl campaigner Malala Yousufzai last October.


AFC Wimbledon and Peterborough United's match at Kingsmeadow had all the hallmarks of a pre-season game as they played out a dour goalless draw.

With the Dons lying 13th and Posh 11th in League One, both sides granted opportunities to youngsters as the end of the season approached.
Right-back Toby Sibbick made his debut for the Londoners, while left-back Lewis Freestone played in his second successive game for the visitors.
The result leaves the two sides comfortably locked in mid-table with Bradford upcoming for Wimbledon and Bristol Rovers next for Peterborough.
In a quiet first half, Marcus Maddison came close but Wimbledon goalkeeper Joe McDonnell did well to hold his bulleted effort.
The home side then had a great chance in the 36th minute, when Lyle Taylor crossed for George Francomb, but Luke McGee kept the winger's header out.
In the second half, Wimbledon had a couple of chances as Taylor and Tyrone Barnett came close.
With six minutes left, Paul Robinson had a glorious opportunity to win it, but his header flew just over the crossbar.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.


Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb says the British and Irish Lions must stop "monster" centre Sonny Bill Williams to stand any chance of beating New Zealand.

Williams scored a try and created the winning score as the Blues beat the Lions 22-16 at Eden Park. on Wednesday.
Lions scrum-half Webb says the tourists will have to contain Williams in the Tests against the All Blacks.
"He's a monster; everyone knows what he can do," Webb, 28, said.
"He got them over the gain line," Webb added. "He's got that class about him.
"We know he's going to be a threat in a couple of weeks' time, so it's good to play against him now.
"He's special, he's an athlete, he's a world-class individual."
The Lions will play three Tests against the All Blacks on their 10-match tour, with the first one coming on 24 June, and Webb says they will need to watch out for Williams' deft offloads.
"We'll need to be on the money to stop him in a couple of weeks' time," he said. "Our defence has got to be strong, we've got to be physical, and obviously track that offload as well.
"He can throw these unbelievable offloads from nowhere. We need to be alert at all times. If you try to tackle him high [to stop the offload] he might sit you down and bounce you."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Webb is adamant the Lions are not about to send out any distress signals after the defeat by the Blues, which followed a stuttering performance in their 13-7 win over the Provincial Barbarians in their opening match.
"There's no sense of panic, not at all," said Webb, whose team's next match is against the Crusaders on Saturday.
"Obviously we lost and we're disappointed but we'll keep our heads up.
"They are easy fixes and not too much to worry about.
"We knew it was going to be tough, we knew it was going to be a challenge coming over, so we'll look forward to it."


A law student jailed for killing a father-of-10 with a single punch is appealing against his conviction and six-year sentence.

Ryan Cooper, 21, from Southampton, was convicted in April of the manslaughter of Gary Stacey, 49, in Newport, Isle of Wight, in February 2016.
Cooper had told a jury at Winchester Crown Court he acted in self-defence.
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that Cooper filed appeals in May, as reported by the Island Echo.
The trial heard it was not in dispute the defendant, a karate black belt, threw a punch in St James Street at about 04:00 GMT after a night out with friends.
Earlier that evening, Cooper, of Alma Road, had been ejected from Yates's pub for being drunk.
He had posted on Facebook about taking "the biggest line of cocaine" as well as drinking "half a litre of vodka".
Mr Stacey suffered a fractured eye socket and bleeding on the brain, after hitting his head on the ground. He was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital but later died.
The defence maintained Cooper was acting in self-defence after a "verbally threatening" Mr Stacey approached him "with aggressive nature" and clenched fists.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Warby said Cooper had not acted "in lawful self-defence" when he struck Mr Stacey with a "powerful punch".
He told Cooper: "I am sure you would take back those two seconds if only you could. But of course you can't. The case is sadder for Gary Stacey and his family."


Five men have been arrested after 67 vehicles were vandalised in one morning across Leicestershire.

Police were inundated with reports of people having their windows smashed and tyres slashed in Leicester and villages in the Wreake Valley.
Detectives, who said nothing was stolen from the vehicles, have appealed for more people to report Monday's damage.
The men, aged 18, 19, 20, 21 and 23, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage but have since been bailed.
Milkman Tony Fowler, who was one of the first people on the scene, said: "It was just pure mindless, senseless destruction.
"I've never seen so many [cars damaged] in such a short space of time."
Reports were made in areas including Leicester, Glenfield, Thurmaston, East Goscote, Rearsby, Frisby on the Wreake, Saxelby and Waltham on the Wolds.


A man has been arrested over the rape of a 30-year-old woman in Glasgow.

The victim was attacked in a lane near Queen's Drive, in the south side of the city, at about 21:00 on Thursday
Police said a 44-year-old man had been taken into custody in connection with the incident.
He is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday.


A judge in Brazil has revoked a decision which had halted work on the Belo Monte dam in the Amazon region.

Judge Carlos Castro Martins reversed the order he had issued in September, which had barred any work on the Belo Monte dam that interfered with the natural flow of the Xingu river.
He said the company behind the project had subsequently shown its work would not harm local fishing.
The project has been heavily criticised by environmentalists.
Judge Martins had originally ruled in favour of a fisheries group which argued that the dam would affect local fish stocks and could harm indigenous families who make a living from fishing.
He had barred the Norte Energia company behind the project from all work which could interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu river, including building a port, using explosives, installing dikes and building canals.
Legal wrangling
Norte Energia appealed against the decision and Judge Martins ruled on Friday that construction work on the dam could go ahead as the company had shown that local fishing boats would not be blocked or hindered in their work.
"Since the course of the water won't be altered, and there won't be much variation in the speed of its flow, (the project) won't have a major influence on the habitat of ornamental fish species used for fishing," he said.
Judge Martins did, however, say that the wider environmental impact of the project "could only be felt and analysed once the work was completed, as the studies into its effects were only forecasts of what could happen".
He also said that any work would have to comply with the regulations laid down by Brazil's Indian Affairs Department (Funai) and the National Environment Agency, Ibama.
Norte Energia said the temporary halt on the building work had not affected the project, as it had not yet reached the stage where the company needed to do any of the specific type of work which had fallen under the ban.
If it goes ahead, the 11,000-megawatt dam will be the third biggest in the world - after the Three Gorges in China and Itaipu, which is jointly run by Brazil and Paraguay.
The government says it is crucial to meeting growing energy needs, but environmentalists and those fighting for indigenous rights have been vociferous in their opposition.


Uncapped Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton has been called up to replace injured Joe Hart in the England squad for games against Germany and the Netherlands.

Hart and winger Raheem Sterling were taken off during Manchester City's 1-0 derby defeat by United on Sunday.
Heaton, 29, will join the squad for the friendlies against Germany in Berlin on Saturday and the Dutch at Wembley on 29 March.
England boss Roy Hodgson will not be adding to his outfield players.
"Tom has been with us on several occasions and I am welcoming him back into the fold," said Hodgson.
"Obviously it's very disappointing for Joe and Raheem to suffer injuries which will rule them out of our games against Germany and Holland.
"They are important players in our squad and I wish them a speedy recovery."
The Burnley captain joins fellow goalkeepers Jack Butland and Fraser Forster in the squad at St George's Park, with England due to travel to Berlin on Friday.
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley).
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur).
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool).
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).


Diego Maradona has backed the use of video assistant referees (VARs) despite accepting his infamous 'Hand of God' goal would not have stood had the technology existed in 1986.

Maradona used his hand to score against England in Argentina's 2-1 win in the World Cup quarter-finals 31 years ago.
"Obviously I think about it whenever I show my support for the use of technology," Maradona told Fifa.com.
"I thought about it and, sure, that goal wouldn't have stood."
Maradona admitted he benefited from the lack of technology at a World Cup not once, but twice.
"I'll tell you something else - at the 1990 World Cup I used my hand to clear the ball off the line [in a group game] against the Soviet Union," he said.
"We were lucky because the referee didn't see it. You couldn't use technology back then, but it's a different story today."
The 56-year-old added Geoff Hurst's controversial goal for England in the 1966 World Cup final would also have been ruled out had VARs been available.
"England won the World Cup in '66 with a shot that didn't go over the line," he said.
"There have been lots of incidents where World Cup history would have been different if technology had been used. It's time to change all that."
World governing body Fifa has tested VARs at several tournaments in the run up to next year's World Cup in Russia, where the technology will be used.
The system provides referees with the ability to use video to make rulings on goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards and cases of mistaken identity.
Its use at the recent Confederations Cup was met with a mixed reception, with several contentious moments drawing criticism from some players and pundits.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino described the system's use at the Confederations Cup as a "great success", but conceded work was needed on "the details" such as the speed of decisions.
"People used to say that we'd waste a lot of time, that it would cause a lot of annoyance. But that's not the case," added Maradona, who coaches Al-Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
"Football can't fall behind. Given the rate at which technology is advancing and the fact that every sport uses it, how can we not think about using it in football?"


US President Donald Trump is under pressure to address the killing of two men who had tried to stop a man abusing a Muslim teenager and her friend.

Mr Trump has not yet responded to the deaths of Taliesin Namkai-Meche and Ricky Best in Portland on Friday.
A reporter's tweet to Mr Trump for comment has been liked 14,000 times and another reporter's open letter has been shared 100,000 times on Facebook.
On Sunday Mr Trump accused the media of "disparaging" his social media output.
"The Fake News Media works hard at disparaging & demeaning my use of social media because they don't want America to hear the real story!" he tweeted.
Mr Namkai Meche and Mr Best were killed after they intervened when a man launched a verbal tirade against two teenagers on a train, one wearing a hijab.
A third man, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was severely injured.
Tributes to the dead men have already been paid by other politicians, including Portland's mayor, Oregon governor Kate Brown and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who described their deaths as "heartbreaking".
President Trump has tweeted since the attack about the "success" of his trip to the Middle East and Europe, plans for tax cuts and healthcare, and his criticism of the media.
On Monday he tweeted a tribute to members of the armed forces who had been killed on active service for US Memorial Day.
The suspected killer, Jeremy Joseph Christian - who police say had "extremist ideology" and allegedly said "all Muslims should die" during the attack - was later arrested.
In his open letter, veteran journalist Dan Rather suggested to Mr Trump that the murders did not "fit neatly into a narrative you pushed on the campaign trail" because the victims "were not killed by an undocumented economic migrant or a 'radical Islamic terrorist'".
"I wish we could hear you say these names, or even just tweet them. They were brave Americans who died at the hands of someone who, when all the facts are collected, we may have every right to call a terrorist," Mr Rather wrote.
Destinee Mangum - the 16-year-old who was travelling with her friend when the attack took place - has also thanked the men for stepping in.
"I just want to say thank you to the people who put their life on the line for me, because they didn't even know me and they lost their lives because of me and my friend and the way we look," she told local channel KPTV.
Close to 1,000 people gathered for a vigil in memory of Mr Namkai-Meche, 23, a recent college graduate, and 53-year-old army veteran Mr Best, a father-of-four, on Saturday evening.
More than $600,000 (Â£468,000) has been raised for all three men's families.
Mr Fletcher is recovering after sustaining a knife wound to his neck that his mother said was "a millimetre" from his jugular vein.
Mr Christian, 35, is due to appear in court on Tuesday, charged with two counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon.
The FBI said it was still unsure if he will face charges for hate crime.


Pleas have been made by members of the Scottish Parliament for better quality coffee to be served to them during committee meetings.

The call was made by Scottish Conservative Mary Scanlon and backed by SNP MSP Mike MacKenzie.
The state of Holyrood's coffee was raised during questions about staff and services at the Edinburgh building.
Linda Fabiani suggested the complainers could use "very good coffee bags" and "some really hot water".
She was answering on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body which runs the parliament.
After taking a question about food waste disposal, Ms Fabiani was informed by Ms Scanlon that she would like to "increase the amount of food disposal" in some areas, namely the coffee for committee meetings.
Ms Scanlon, the MSP for the Highlands and Islands, told the chamber: "On behalf of my colleague on the audit and education committee, Colin Beattie, and colleagues across this parliament from all parties can I ask if the corporate body will ensure that new and existing MSPs get a decent cup of coffee in committee in session five [after the next Holyrood election]."
Ms Scanlon was backed by Mr MacKenzie who said he "shared the concerns".
He had also observed that the quality of the coffee diminished the longer it sat in their flasks.
Ms Fabiani responded by saying: "I guess it is all a matter of taste I quite like the coffee that we get in committee."
However, she added that it was a complaint she had heard "over the last couple of years".
Ms Fabiani said the fact the coffee urns were being emptied each day suggested that most people were "quite happy" with what was being offered.


Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with a peanut allergy than girls, research has found.

The study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology by Edinburgh University researchers analysed 2005 data from over 400 English GP practices.
Children from higher income homes also appeared more likely to be diagnosed.
However, a leading allergy expert said that "inequality of access" to health care could be the reason.
The researchers looked at data on peanut allergies actually diagnosed by a doctor, rather than the actual incidence amongst a population.
The records of a total of nearly three million patients were examined.
Babies and younger boys were up to 30% more likely to be diagnosed with a peanut allergy than girls of the same age, a figure that confirms previous research into peanut allergies.
However, the gap in diagnoses between the sexes narrowed as the children grew up.
By the age of 15, girls and boys were being diagnosed at almost the same rates and by the age of 24 the figures were reversed, with more women being diagnosed than men.
A researcher from the university, Colin Simpson, said that other allergies had shown higher rates in boys than girls too.
The reason for the difference was, he said, still not clear: "There could be a link to the sex hormones, but we don't know for sure. The fact that at puberty there is a change could point to a link, but we need to do more work."
The results also showed that there were more diagnoses in those from higher income groups.
Patients in the highest income groups were almost twice as likely to be diagnosed as those from the lowest income homes. There were 0.7 diagnoses per 1,000 patients in the highest socio-economic group, compared with a diagnosis rate of 0.4 per 1,000 in the lowest.
This appears to confirm the common idea that peanut allergy affects those from the middle classes disproportionately.
But paediatric allergy expert Dr Adam Fox, from the Evelina Children's Hospital in London, said that this was not necessarily the case.
"It's interesting to see this difference but it does not mean that children from middle-class homes are more likely to have peanut allergies.
"It could be that those from more deprived backgrounds are not as good at getting their children diagnosed as those from the middle classes. We know that there is an inequality of access in health care."
Dr Fox said that more work should be done at looking at why the rates were different when comparing diagnoses from children in different income groups.
"Whatever the reason is, it's an interesting finding and we need to find out why these differences are showing up."
The overall numbers of people with a peanut allergy appeared much lower in this study, than in previous work measuring the amount of peanut allergies in the UK.
Previous studies have a reported prevalence rates as high as 18 per 1000 among children of primary school age. This study showed much lower prevalence rates - of just 2 per 1000.
Researcher Colin Simpson said that the rate was likely to be "somewhere between the two."
Dr Fox said that the difference in the rates could probably be explained by the different collection methods.
Unlike previous studies, this report measured only patients with allergies who had actually gone along to a see a GP and who had been diagnosed as having a peanut allergy.
Dr Fox said that some patients may also have been missed by the study if their allergy had been categorised in the GP records as a food allergy, rather than a peanut allergy.


Bristol Rugby back-row forward Mitch Eadie has signed a new deal to stay at the Championship club until 2017.

The 23-year-old Eadie came through the club's academy and has made 96 competitive appearances for Bristol, scoring 28 tries.
He has also represented Scotland Under 18s and U20s and made his competitive debut for Bristol in 2010.
"Bristol Rugby is my hometown club so it's an incredibly proud moment every time I take the field," said Eadie.
And Bristol first-team coach Sean Holley revealed the club and fought off interest from Premiership club for the player.
"It's great news, he was a big player for us last year and has started the season well," Holley told BBC Bristol.
"It just goes to show the ambition of the club that both parties want to get round the table and sign up.
"He is a local lad, performing well and highly sought after by big clubs but he has chosen to stay at Bristol where we have a huge project going on and he has recognised that."


Arsenal forward Chris Willock is to join Benfica when his contract expires.

The England Under-19 international, who has not played a Premier League game for the Gunners, will move to the Estadio da Luz on a five-year deal.
Willock, 19, had been offered a new deal at Arsenal, but his move to Lisbon has been revealed via Benfica's Twitter feed.
Manchester City had also been linked with the attacker, whose contract expires on 1 July.
"I hope I can show what I can do on the pitch. I think we have a great team and we can achieve great things in the future," Willock said on the Benfica website.
Willock had been with Arsenal since 2003 with his younger brother, Joe, remaining in the Gunners youth set-up.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Bristol Airport has rejected calls to boost tourism by including the city of Bath in its name.

Some tourism experts in the West have said the area would benefit more from the American market if the airport included Bath in its title.
They claim it would attract US visitors who are "more familiar" with Bath as a destination.
Airport bosses said Bath was a "key part" of its marketing efforts but "there are no plans" for a name change.
Gwyneth Lloyd, who is originally from Boston and runs a tourism company in Bristol, said Bath was more of a pull for tourists.
"I wasn't really aware of Bristol as a mid-sized city and I'd lived in England before," she added.
Ms Lloyd, who has lived in Bedminster for two-years, said: "I didn't become aware of it until a friend of mine drove all around and came back and said 'oh my goodness, Bristol's amazing'."
Martin Poole, from Bristol and Bath Cultural Destinations Partnership Project, said: "I think it's an example, a symbol really, of how the two cities can work together to attract more visitors and tourists to the region."
Mr Poole said the two cities attracted more than 20 million visitors and tourists every year, contributing Â£1.5bn to the economy.
In a statement, Bristol Airport said Bath's "strong international profile" was "incredibly important" in attracting visitors to the West of England.
It has been promoting both cities and has seen an increase in passengers.
"There are no plans to change the name of the airport now or in the foreseeable future," the statement said.


Wales lock Luke Charteris says the French internationals at his Racing 92 club are full of confidence under new national coach Guy Noves.

Charteris could play alongside five France squad members for Racing at Grenoble in the Top 14 on Saturday.
Six days later Wales play France as Warren Gatland's team bid for a potential title decider with England.
"They (Racing players) are all coming back full of confidence and very happy with the new regime," said Charteris.
He helped Wales draw with Ireland and beat Scotland in the opening two rounds while France saw off Italy before beating Ireland by a point.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Charteris says French players' mindset "is a lot more positive than it had been under the previous coaches".
He added: "It will make them a better team and it certainly won't be easy against them."
The former Newport Gwent Dragons captain says while France's tight play will again be a major obstacle, Wales' pack have improved.
"We know that any French team prides itself on their scrum - that doesn't change," said Charteris.
"We know that we have got to step up or keep things up, but I genuinely feel as a pack of forwards we have raised the bar, not only in the scrum, but defensively at line-out time as well.
"We didn't give Scotland any sort of change or platform to work from, which was hugely pleasing."
In the meantime Wales coach Warren Gatland faces an anxious weekend with the players based outside Wales due to play in domestic matches while his Wales-based players will be rested before the game against France.
Apart from Charteris in France, centre Jonathan Davies could also be in action for Clermont Auvergne.
In the Aviva Premiership, Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Rhys Priestland and Dominic Day (Bath), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester) and Tomas Francis (Exeter) could all be in action this weekend.


Salford recorded their biggest-ever win over Hull FC with a dominant performance at the KCOM Stadium.

Shaun Michaels' try put Hull in front, but the visitors scored seven tries to hold a 26-point lead at half-time.
Greg Johnson and Craig Kopczak both crossed twice, while Robert Lui, Junior Sa'u and Justin Carney also went over before the break.
Michaels and Jamie Shaul touched down for the hosts, but three further Salford tries ended Hull's hopes.
Michael Dobson, George Griffin and Ben Murdoch-Masila crossed late on to emphasise the Red Devils' dominance.
Salford's previous biggest win against Hull had been a 38-18 victory in front of their own fans in 1999.
Their new record margin of victory came in spite of their ill discipline, the visitors having been penalised 13 times by referee Gareth Hewer.
Justin Carney was sent to the sin-bin after Salford were issued a team warning for their persistent infringements, but Hull were unable to take full advantage, Dobson's try coming when the visitors were down to 12 men.
Hull, already without Man of Steel Danny Houghton and leading try scorer Albert Kelly, were further hampered by the loss of Gareth Ellis and Scott Taylor before kick-off.
The hosts also saw two players sent to the sin-bin, with Marc Sneyd shown a yellow card for a professional foul before half-time and Shaul receiving the same punishment late in the second period.
Salford climb to second in the early Super League table, with Hull sliding down to fourth place.
Hull FC head coach Lee Radford:
"It's obviously hugely disappointing. For five minutes in the first half we responded to how we defended last week, but then for the following 35 we rolled back into our insecure shell where we looked like we could be broken at any period.
"It hurts. I'm struggling to find any positives. It was a really poor performance and one we will have to address.
"The players who were out were replaced with good players, that's 100 per cent not an excuse. We had a good enough 17 out there to get a result.
"We've got to look at why the collapse was there after going 8-0 ahead and we'll look to correct that this week. The world doesn't stop turning, we've just got to make sure we get a response."
Salford head coach Ian Watson:
"It's where we want to be, challenging up there. What has got us there is our team ethic, our hard work and our togetherness and we've got to keep that as our core feature.
"We weren't too happy with our defence at certain points. We weren't as good as we had been defensively and it's something we need to look at because we pride on ourselves on our defence to make sure we are a top team.
"Our attack was great, once we got into a groove, we didn't feel there was any problems. We got our continuity back and we played really well, which was great to see."
Hull FC: Shaul; Michaels, Fonua, Griffin, Talanoa; Connor, Sneyd; Bowden, Washbrook, Watts, Manu, Minichiello, Thompson.
Replacements: Green, Turgut, Fash, Litten.
Sin-Bin: Sneyd (35), Shaul (67).
Salford Red Devils: O'Brien; Carney, Sa'u, Welham, Johnson; Lui, Dobson; Mossop, Tomkins, Tasi, Murdoch-Masila, Jones, Flanagan.
Replacements: Kopczak, Griffin, Walne, Carney.
Sin-Bin: Carney (59).
Attendance: 11,016
Referee: Gareth Hewer (RFL).


Emily Thornberry has resigned from Labour's front bench after sending a tweet during the Rochester and Strood by-election which was branded "snobby".

The shadow attorney general apologised for the message, which showed a terraced house with three England flags, and a white van parked outside.
UKIP said she had "sneered, and looked down her nose at a white van in Strood with the cross of St George on it".
Labour leader Ed Miliband was "angry" at her, a senior figure told the BBC.
The resident of the house, Dan Ware, said Ms Thornberry - the MP for Islington South and Finsbury - was a "snob".
"I've not got a clue who she is - but she's a snob," he told the Sun. "We put the flags up for the World Cup (in 2014) and will continue to fly them."
Mr Ware, a car dealer, said he would never vote for Labour in the future, adding that it did not "matter" who was in government.
"I think they (Labour) need to get out of their mansions and visit the working class. Her and Ed (Miliband) should come and say sorry to me."
Ms Thornberry posted the image on Thursday, while voting was taking place in the by-election in Kent. Alongside the picture, she wrote: "Image from Rochester."
Labour came third in the high-profile poll behind UKIP, which won the seat and saw its second MP elected to Westminster.
Speaking outside her London home, Ms Thornberry said she had "made a mistake" and apologised "if she had upset or insulted anybody".
Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander said Labour leader Ed Miliband had "not held back" in expressing his dismay with the MP's actions.
"Anyone who wants to stand for election and be successful next May has to start with a fundamental and deep respect for voters," he told BBC Radio 4's Today.
"The anger Ed (Miliband) felt when he saw that tweet reflected his understanding that we need to earn the support of people around the country."
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the tweet had "given the Tory press an alternative narrative" to the party's defeat in Rochester.
He said: "It is the most extraordinary self-inflicted wound I have seen an opposition party inflict on themselves in many, many years."
Prime Minister David Cameron said the Labour MP's actions were "completely appalling", suggesting that she was "sneering at people who work hard, are patriotic and love their country".
The 54-year-old entered Parliament as MP for Islington South and Finsbury in 2005 and served as shadow energy and health spokeswoman before taking the role of shadow attorney general in 2011.
The daughter of a former assistant secretary general of the United Nations, she was born in Surrey and was called to the bar in 1983, specialising in criminal law.
She had a majority of 3,569 over the Liberal Democrat candidate at the 2010 general election.
Rochester and Strood: What's next for parties?
How unusual is Rochester and Strood?
Ms Thornberry is believed to have had two conversations with Labour leader Ed Miliband after posting the tweet, and offered her resignation during the second one.
In a statement released by the Labour Party, Ms Thornberry said: "Earlier today I sent a tweet which has caused offence to some people.
"That was never my intention and I have apologised. However I will not let anything distract from Labour's chance to win the coming general election."
"I have therefore tonight told Ed Miliband I will resign from the shadow cabinet."
Labour MPs said she had been right to stand down, Chris Bryant telling the BBC "the first rule of politics is surely that you respect the voters".
"She was absolutely wrong to tweet what she did," he said. "All I can say is, if somebody came into my constituency and did that, I would be furious."
And John Mann said the incident was "horrendous" for Labour.
"It insults people like me, it insults the people I know - my friends and family - Labour voters across the country because white vans, England flags, they're Labour values and actually pretty routine Labour values for most of us," he told Today.
He praised Mr Miliband's response, adding: "I think this is a different approach from the Labour leader and his message came out very, very clearly last night and she's had to go, she's been forced out."
But Mr Farage suggested the episode reflected broader attitudes within parts of the Labour Party.
"The Labour Party hate the concept of Englishness," he told the BBC News Channel. "They have done for a very long time.
"New Labour can't even stand the concept of patriotism. They think the flag somehow is unpleasant, backward-looking and nasty. People like Emily Thornberry would rather we had that blue flag with 12 stars on it that comes to us from Brussels."


NHS Highland has apologised for "past failings" after an inquiry following the deaths of five babies at one hospital found at least two of the deaths were "potentially avoidable".

The deaths at Caithness General Hospital were examined in a review of the safety of neonatal services.
An external independent inquiry looked at two stillbirths and three neonatal deaths from 2010 to 2015.
It concluded that at least two of the deaths were "potentially avoidable".
"Sub-optimal care" and "avoidable factors" were recorded in all five of the perinatal deaths analysed.
It comes a week after the Scottish government ordered a review following six so-called "unnecessary" deaths of babies at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, since 2008.
Scottish Labour has called on ministers to announce a national review of staffing and workforce issues across all maternity units.
The comprehensive 116-page report into maternal and neonatal services at Caithness General Hospital will be discussed at a meeting of the NHS Highland board on Tuesday.
It recommends that Caithness Maternity Unit should operate as a midwife-led Community Maternity Unit (CMU), on the grounds of safety, while cases with a risk of complications should go to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
The review was prompted by the potentially avoidable death of a newborn baby at the hospital in September last year.
NHS Highland's medical director Dr Roderick Harvey, who ordered the review, said: "Families do rightly put their faith in the health service and the fact that infants died possibly as a result of sub-optimal care is unacceptable and I apologise unreservedly for these past failings.
"That is why I commissioned the current review and I would wish to assure you that the families have been uppermost in our minds when conducting the review.
"Having identified real safety concerns in my view we must move swiftly to address these concerns and that is the basis of my recommendations."
The health board confirmed that there had been no legal claims over the deaths.
No members of staff have been disciplined as a result of the five deaths because "any identified deficiencies did not reflect on individual clinicians, but rather the system that they work in".
Last week, Health Secretary Shona Robison instructed Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to carry out a review into certain cases in Ayrshire and Arran "to inform me whether the correct procedures and processes were properly followed" in these instances.
Between 2008 and 31 March this year, there were four Significant Adverse Event Reviews concerning stillbirth deaths at Ayrshire Maternity Unit at Crosshouse Hospital, NHS Ayrshire and Arran said.
The BBC said there have been six so-called "unnecessary" deaths of babies at the hospital since 2008.
Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: "These reports are heartbreaking, and our thoughts are with every family who has been affected by the death of a child.
"The report in Caithness and review at Crosshouse follow on from figures which revealed 25,000 incidents in maternity wards across Scotland since 2011."
He added: "Labour wants to see the Scottish government launch a national review of staffing and workforce issues across all maternity units."


Schools in England are set to be hit with a new programme of strike action over pay, working conditions and school funds.

National Union of Teachers members will walk out first on Tuesday 5 July, after 91% of those who voted backed the action. The turnout was 25%.
NUT deputy general secretary Kevin Courtney said teachers could not go on without seeing significant change.
The government said it was disappointed and was committed to formal talks.
The action is the next step in the union's long-running dispute with the government and will affect in schools in England and Wales.
Mr Courtney said: "The NUT is not taking action lightly.
"In light of the huge funding cuts to schools, worsening terms and conditions, and unmanageable and exhausting workloads, teachers cannot be expected to go on without significant change.
"The effects on children's education are also real and damaging.
"As a result of school funding cuts, class sizes in primary and secondary schools are increasing, subject choices are being cut, and children are getting less individual attention as teachers and support staff are made redundant or not replaced when they leave."
"There is worse to come, with the Institute of Fiscal Studies predicting that the biggest real terms cuts to per pupil funding in a generation are on the way.
"There is already a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in our schools.
"Without significant change to the pay and working condition of teachers, this will simply deepen.
"We know that many parents share our concerns."
The union is calling for an increase in funding to schools and education, and to resume negotiations on teacher contracts to allow workload to be addressed.
Teaching unions have complained that schools have not been fully funded to meet extra costs of pay, pension and National Insurance costs passed on by the government.
The Department for Education said: "It is disappointing the National Union of Teachers has chosen to take unnecessary and damaging strike action, which less than a quarter of its members voted for.
"It is even more disappointing when we have offered and committed to formal talks between ministers and the unions to address their concerns about pay.
"Industrial action causes disruption to children's education and parents who have to take time out of work to arrange childcare, we urge the NUT not to proceed with this strike and to resolve pay disputes at the negotiating table rather than playing politics with children's futures."


The government's failure to pay EU subsidies on time or help farmers hit hard by delays raises doubts about its ability to cope with Brexit, MPs say.

Delays to Common Agricultural Policy payments meant some farmers had to sell livestock to pay bills, they say.
Only 38% of England's farmers were paid on the first day possible in 2015 - in other years it had been more than 90%.
The government said major progress had since been made and it had met its 2017 target to pay 93% of farmers by March.
On 1 January 2015, the Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment Scheme replaced the previous Single Payment Scheme - bringing with it new requirements.
The Rural Payments Agency, which distributes EU funds to farmers, went from an "all time high" - paying out 95% of farmers on day one of the scheme in December 2014 - to paying out just 38% of farmers on 1 December 2015.
By the end of March 2016, only 84% of farmers had been paid - meaning some 14,300 farmers had received no payment.
Some were still owed more than 1,000 euros (Â£850) nine months after they could first have been paid.
Delays were blamed on changes to the CAP scheme and a problematic IT system.
Applications had to be processed on paper, because an online application system was not ready, which "introduced a significant amount of errors... despite farmers submitting appropriate evidence".
And new requirements under the CAP meant the agency did not hold the more detailed level of information about what type of land farmers had.
Payments made to flood-affected farmers in North Yorkshire and Cumbria had also "lagged behind the rest of England until June 2016", the MPs said.
The Public Accounts Committee report said: "The department's record of failure when developing systems to support subsidy payments to farmers does not inspire confidence in its ability to cope with the challenges associated with Brexit that lie ahead."
It called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to use better data and to make sure "accurate, full payments are made in a timely manner".
The committee heard that some farmers had needed to take out bank loans or sell livestock to cover their costs because payments had been delayed.
The government was also criticised for the high number of "disallowance penalties" - fines imposed by the European Commission for late or inaccurate payments or other failures to meet the rules.
England has already incurred Â£642m in the penalties - about 2.98% of the total value of payments made since 2005, the fourth highest in the EU.
The committee's deputy chairman, Richard Bacon, described the late payment of subsidies as "a sorry affair".
He said: "Farmers have suffered badly from the collapse in service levels, and government has done too little to help them cope with the fallout."
EU subsidies account for about 50% of British farm incomes.
The government has promised to match EU subsidies until 2020.
Mr Bacon added: "If farmers are to be properly supported through Brexit and beyond, it is vital their interests are represented at senior level.
"In particular, the RPA must be at the table during discussions of any future subsidy payment scheme."
A Defra spokesman said: "The Common Agricultural Policy is a complex and bureaucratic scheme.
"The UK government is working to improve the system and ensure farmers get the support they are entitled to.
"We have made major progress - this year the Rural Payments Agency has already met its target to pay 93% of farmers by March 2017, and it is working hard to get outstanding payments into bank accounts.
"We are leaving the European Union.
"This represents one of many opportunities to design a better system which supports farmers and our agricultural economy, and cut unnecessary red tape."