Clarke brands Ukip members 'clowns'

[dutchman]

Ken Clarke has launched a furious attack on Ukip, branding its politicians "clowns" and some supporters racist.



The Tory Cabinet minister said the party had no positive policies and were merely "against" foreigners and immigrants.

He also insisted it was perfectly acceptable for candidates in this week's local elections to be picked up on dubious comments they previously made on Twitter and Facebook. The swipe came after Ukip accused the Conservatives of running a "morally reprehensible" smear campaign against its would-be councillors.

The party - which is investigating a handful of its record 1,700 candidates over links to groups such as the BNP and alleged racist and homophobic comments - has said it does not condone "unpalatable views". But a spokesman complained that dredging up old activities on social media amounted to a "political lynch mob".

Mr Clarke told the Murnaghan show on Sky News: "They of course have not been able to vet their candidates. Fringe right parties do tend to collect a number of waifs and strays... Some of them are saying quite different things now they are in politics than their actual views."

"fruitcakes and closet racists"

Asked whether he agreed with David Cameron's 2006 assessment that the party was packed with "fruitcakes and closet racists", Mr Clarke replied: "I have met people who satisfy both those descriptions in Ukip. Indeed, some of the people who have assured me they are going to vote Ukip I would put in that category. I rather suspect they have never voted for me."

Mr Clarke said he was sure that "most of the Ukip people are perfectly nice when they are having a drink". But he insisted: "The trouble with Ukip really is it is just a protest party. It is against the political class, it is against foreigners, it is against immigrants. But it does not have any very positive policies. They do not know what they are for."

He went on: "The temptation to ordinary voters to Ukip is these are very difficult times. The political classes are regarded as having got us into a mess. It is very tempting to vote for a collection of clowns or indignant, angry people, who promise that somehow they will allow us to take your revenge on people who caused it."

However, Ukip MEP Paul Nuttall told the the BBC's Sunday Politics: "If the Conservatives have got people in central office doing these kinds of dirty tricks, going through the private lives of our candidates, going back to years on social media, it's sad, it's dirty, we're not going to respond."

Asked whether it was right to highlight any Ukip candidates with "neo-fascist" sympathies, he said: "We are the only political party in Britain which has it written into its constitution that if you have been a member of a far-right organisation you can never be a member of Ukip."

[rebbonk]

The Tories are running scared, and frankly, they've brought it all on themselves.

[dutchman]

Ukip hits back after Ken Clarke calls candidates ‘clowns’

The UK Independence party claimed it was the victim of a Tory smear campaign as the gloves came off ahead of local elections this week, in which Nigel Farage’s party is expected to continue its political surge.

Ken Clarke, cabinet minister, described Ukip candidates as “clowns” and said that some of the party’s potential voters were – echoing the words of David Cameron – “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists”.

But Ukip’s ability to field more than 1,700 candidates – almost as many as the Liberal Democrats – in Thursday’s polls has spread alarm among the mainstream parties, who could all end up being deemed losers when the votes are counted.

Mr Farage’s party claims that recent stories about allegedly racist or homophobic comments by Ukip candidates were part of a smear campaign orchestrated by Tory central office.

But Tories insisted the scrutiny was simply to be expected for any serious political party and Sir Menzies Campbell, former Liberal Democrat leader, said simply: “Welcome to Test cricket.”

Paul Nuttall, Ukip deputy leader, admitted the party was growing up quickly and had suffered “teething problems” but said it was the victim of a “sad and dirty” campaign by Tory Central Office.

Until now the main parties have often preferred to ignore Ukip, but they are now trying to arrest the Farage insurgency by scouring through the party’s list of candidates and policies.

With a small central operation and a cast of political mavericks, Ukip policy has not always been entirely consistent. For example, at the 2010 election the party campaigned for the construction of three new high-speed rail lines in Britain; a year later it was boasting that it was “the only party” opposing the proposed HS2 line from London to the north.

Mr Farage has admitted that his party has not been able to vet all of the party’s candidates in this week’s elections, which see almost 2,400 seats up for grabs, mainly in 27 English shire county councils.

The Ukip leader wants to use local elections to build his party from the grass roots upwards, but he recognises that its support is so widely spread across the country that a big breakthrough on May 2 may not be possible.

However Ukip gains of between 50 to 100 seats would be deemed a success and would probably make Mr Farage the biggest winner on an election night fraught with problems for the main parties.

Tory uncertainty on how to respond to Ukip was illustrated by Patrick McLoughlin, transport secretary, saying he was not worried about the anti-European party’s rise, while Mr Clarke suggested the opposite.

[dutchman]