Ukip candidate suspended after claiming Muslims are 'devil's kids'

 
'Entirely inconsistent': Nigel Farage distance his party from the controversial comments (Picture: Getty)
Robin de Peyer3 May 2014
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A Ukip candidate who posted a string of racist and homophobic messages on Twitter has been suspended, as Nigel Farage admitted his party counts "some idiots" among its members.

Harry Perry, a candidate in Stockport, reportedly tweeted a series of offensive remarks, including calling for Pakistan to be "nuked" and branding Muslims "devil's kids".

He also branded Prime Minister David Cameron a "gay-loving nutcase" and said homosexuality is an "abomination before God".

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the comments were "entirely inconsistent" with being a member of his party.

But at the launch of his party's latest poster campaign, Mr Farage insisted the scrutiny Ukip has been subjected to has been "disproportionate."

Mr Farage responded: "Every party has these kinds of problems but there is a completely disproportionate media spotlight on what goes wrong in Ukip compared to the others.

"I've never heard of the bloke until last night. I've no idea who he is. Clearly his attitude and views are entirely inconsistent with being a member of Ukip. Simple."

Asked about Mr Cameron's claim that Conservatives do not need to discredit Ukip as they were doing a "good enough job themselves", Mr Farage added: "It was good clever politics. I'll give him that. Yeah, we've got some idiots."

The Ukip leader also waded into the Jeremy Clarkson racism row by claiming the latest controversy was "typical" of the Top Gear host.

"I would think it's just typical Clarkson, getting very, very close to the line of being offensive but perhaps not quite going over it," he said.

Mr Farage was speaking against the backdrop of the cliffs of Dover at the launch of Ukip's billboard campaign for May's Euro-elections.

The campaign poster features a picture of the famous landmark with an escalator running up the middle and the slogan: "No border. No control. The EU has opened our borders to 4,000 people every week."

The poster adds: "Take back control of our country."

Mr Farage said: "On Monday this billboard will be going up on hundreds of sites right across the United Kingdom, and even if the politicians don't want to discuss this issue, I think this very simple, straightforward message is going to get the public talking about it."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in