Ukip official in charge of vetting candidates admits he spends half his time ‘weeding out the lunatics’
- David Soutter said he did not have time to find good new candidates
- Comes after a series of scandals which have rocked the party this weekÂ
- One candidate recorded making a series of astonishing remarksÂ
- Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Basildon South seat, referred to‘old pooftahs’
- Mr Smith issued an ‘unreserved’ apology and retracted corruption claim
By Tom McTague, Deputy Political Editor for MailOnline
Published: 15:48, 14 December 2014 | Updated: 17:33, 14 December 2014
The Ukip official charged with vetting the partyâs election candidates has revealed he spends half his time âweeding out the lunaticsâ.
David Soutter told Ukip activists he was not able to spend enough time finding good new candidates â because he was too busy getting rid of people âwho shouldnât be thereâ.
The remarks come after one Ukip candidate was recorded making homophobic, racist and obscene comments – while another was exposed as a fantasist after becoming embroiled in a public sex scandal.
Nigel Farage is battling to contain a series of scandals which have hit Ukip over the past weekÂ
Ukip MEP Patrick O’Flynn played down the revelations – claiming they were ‘hand grenades rolling down the corridor’
In recorded comments passed to the Sunday Times, Mr Souter said the party needed to become more disciplined,Â
He said: âOne of the things that Ukip has lacked as a party â and looking at it the way Iâve been able to from the outside â discipline is one of the things thatâs really been missing.
âHalf my job is spent not finding good candidates to stand, it is weeding out the lunatics, the people who shouldnât be there.â
Mr Soutter had even resorted to âdoing tests to make sure people were vaguely sane and that they could string their words together more or lessâ, Ukip’s Scottish MEP David Coburn said.
Mr Souterâs role vetting party candidates was thrown into the spotlight last week over his failure to spot a series of glaring errors on the CV of leading Ukip candidate Natasha Bolter.
Ms Bolter was introduced to the Ukip party conference as a Labour defector, who taught at a local comprehensive school and had a degree from Oxford University.
But after she accused the partyâs general secretary Roger Bird of sexual harassment it emerged that she never attended Oxford â and may not have been a teacher.
Doubts were first raised about her account after a series of affectionate text messages she sent to Mr Bird were published.
Kerry Smith (centre) was recorded making a series of astonishing comments including a baseless claim Nigel Farage had accepted ‘a nice fat envelope’ for promoting a Ukip ally
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EXCLUSIVE: Leaked phone calls expose rants of Ukip man
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In a shock announcement on Monday evening, Ukip announced Mr Bird had been suspended while it investigated allegations of ‘impropriety’.
On Tuesday Mrs Bolter gave an interview claiming to have been the victim of sexual harassment.
But Mr Bird has said the pair were in a relationship. Mrs Bolter told the BBCâs Newsnight: âI didnât sleep with Roger Bird, end of.â But he insisted: âFor the record, yes she did.â
The scandal came after a series of tape-recorded phone calls were leaked to The Mail on Sunday, showing party candidate Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex making a series of offensive remarks.
In the tape he mocks âf***ing disgusting old pooftahsâ who belong to a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning group, calling them âBLTsâ â bacon, lettuce and tomato.
He also jokes about âshooting peasantsâ and refers to a woman with a Chinese name as a âChinky.â
But Mr Farage last night refused to sack Mr Smith. A well-placed Ukip official said: âKerry wants to make a full apology and is hoping it all blows over.â
Ukip MEP Patrick OâFlynn today defended Mr Smith – claiming he had been drugs at the time.
He said: âThis was a phone call sometime ago while he was on sedatives by his own account, not really speaking, thinking rationally. He was on prescription sedatives after suffering an injury.’
But he said: ‘Using derogatory terminology, this slang, is not right at this level of politics and you shouldnât do it.’
‘Clearly what he said there is unacceptable. Heâs apologised unreservedly, there are big mitigating circumstances, itâs from some time ago, and weâre willing now to judge him on his performance going forward from this.’
Ukip game to rate ‘blacks’ and Muslims to win ÂŁ100… or golf umbrella: Farage in another race row over ‘rate on immigrant’ surveyÂ
The Ukip leader has found himself embroiled in another row over race
Nigel Farage was in another race row last night after asking supporters to rate âblacks, Muslims and Eastern Europeansâ in a game â with prizes of cash and a Ukip golf umbrella.
The ârate an immigrantâ survey is part of a Ukip private survey of members aimed at helping the party draw up its policies.
Sent last week by Ukip chairman Steve Crowther, it asks members to say âhow close they feelâ to a number of groups.
They include âBlacks, Asians, Muslims, English, Eastern Europeans and Whitesâ as well as the four main political parties.
Ukip activists are urged to rate each on a scale from 0 for ânot close at allâ to 10 for âvery close.â
But the survey was slammed as a racist stunt after details were leaked to The Mail on Sunday.
Last night, senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge condemned the Ukip survey as âshockingâ.
Mrs Hodge, who won a campaign against the BNP in her Barking constituency in east London, said: âThis openly brings race into politics. Itâs shameful, itâs shocking and itâs offensive.
‘It lifts the lid on the unacceptable face of Ukip.â The survey comes after a series of claims of racism involving Ukip, although Farage has insisted âstupid or offensiveâ comments by a handful of candidates ânever have and never willâ represent the views of his party.
The email to thousands of Ukip members from chairman Crowther is headed: âHelp the Party and Win Prizes!â
It declares: âUkip is growing quickly. We want to strengthen our party by understanding our rapidly growing membership. We are asking all our members to complete a new survey.â
The aim was to âuse the insights to strengthen the Ukip operation⌠Your responses will be invaluable in making sure we fulfil our promises over the coming years â and in government!
âSo please, do complete the survey. It should be fun! You might even win some prizes!â
Prizes included âone prize of ÂŁ100, two of ÂŁ50, three prizes of a Ukip golf umbrella, four prizes of ÂŁ25, five Ukip notebooks and six Ukip pocket diaries.â
Other Ukip race rows include:
- National executive member Gerard Battenâs call for Muslims to sign a âcharter of understandingâ in which they rejected violence and parts of the Koran that promote âviolent physical Jihad.â
- Parliamentary candidate in Grimsby Victoria Ayling was recorded saying âletâs keep the blacks outâ. Council candidate Andre Lampitt said Africans should âkill themselvesâ.
- Council candidate William Henwood said Lenny Henry should âemigrate to a black countryâ.
- Exeter activist David Challice denounced the âlunacy of multiculturalismâ and called Greeks âvileâ.
- Town hall candidate David Wycherley said Mo Farah was African, not British.
A Ukip spokesman denied the survey was racist, claiming every major employer carried out similar research of their staff.
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
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