Anti-racists mobilise against Ukip as fresh scandals hit the party

It’s been a bad week for the racist Ukip party. Senior MEP Amjad Bashir defected to the Tories—prompting claims from Ukip that it had suspended him.

Bashir, who had been a party member for over three years, complained about Ukip’s “ridiculous” lack of policies. 

Ukip is currently revising its policies after many of them caused embarrassment. 

These included banning people with HIV and tuberculosis from Britain and “exploding” wind farms.

Its secretary Matthew Richardson came under fire last week for comments made in 2010, which described the NHS as the “Reichstag bunker of socialism”.

Richardson also defended Ukip’s bigotry, according to the Sunday Times newspaper. At a meeting last month he said, “People talk about Ukip being bigots. There are hundreds of thousands of bigots in the United Kingdom and they deserve representation.”

Meanwhile, party leader Nigel Farage said he was “proud” to have taken votes from the Nazi British National Party. 

He made the comments to the Bolton News before speaking at a business dinner in the town.

A Stand Up to Ukip (Sutu) protest took place outside the dinner. 

Sutu activists also campaigned for the third week in a row in Great Yarmouth last Saturday.

In Harlow, Essex, 30 campaigners, including councillors, trade unionists and students came to a Sutu launch meeting. 

And more activists plan to protest at Ukip’s spring conference in Margate on 28 February.