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| Nigel Farage defends Ukip councillor Victoria Ayling over immigration remarks | Nigel Farage defends Ukip councillor Victoria Ayling over immigration remarks |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has given his support to one of his party's councillors who recorded a video on immigration saying at one point she would "send the lot back". | Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has given his support to one of his party's councillors who recorded a video on immigration saying at one point she would "send the lot back". |
| He insisted that Victoria Ayling's comment had been taken out of context, and that he had no reason to believe her views were extremist. | |
| Ayling, who is a Ukip councillor on Lincolnshire county council, recorded the video with her then-husband five years ago when she was a member of the Conservative party. A clip from the video posted on the Mail on Sunday's website shows her trying to explain her stance on immigration. During two outtakes, when the camera is still running but she is speaking casually to her husband, she talks about wanting to send immigrants back in general terms. | Ayling, who is a Ukip councillor on Lincolnshire county council, recorded the video with her then-husband five years ago when she was a member of the Conservative party. A clip from the video posted on the Mail on Sunday's website shows her trying to explain her stance on immigration. During two outtakes, when the camera is still running but she is speaking casually to her husband, she talks about wanting to send immigrants back in general terms. |
| At one point she says: "We must basically [re]patriate those that shouldn't be here. That's not quite policy yet. Maybe I should soften it a bit … OK, send them back." She also says: "OK, I just want to send the lot back, but I can't say that." | |
| In the message she was recording that was intended for a wider audience, Ayling said immigration had to be controlled, that a points system should be introduced and that immigrants should be encouraged to speak English. | In the message she was recording that was intended for a wider audience, Ayling said immigration had to be controlled, that a points system should be introduced and that immigrants should be encouraged to speak English. |
| After her comments were revealed in the Mail on Sunday, David Hanson, a Labour immigration spokesman, said Ayling should apologise because "this type of offensive language should have no place in modern Britain". He suggested she was using the language of the National Front and the British National party. | After her comments were revealed in the Mail on Sunday, David Hanson, a Labour immigration spokesman, said Ayling should apologise because "this type of offensive language should have no place in modern Britain". He suggested she was using the language of the National Front and the British National party. |
| But Ayling insisted she was the victim of a set-up by the Mail on Sunday, aided by her embittered former husband, and that she was not in favour of the mass deportation of immigrants. | |
| "During the process of making this video I struggled to find the right words to express the views I held which were that we needed a sensible immigration policy and must not be afraid to deport those who come here illegally or who fail the asylum process," she said. | "During the process of making this video I struggled to find the right words to express the views I held which were that we needed a sensible immigration policy and must not be afraid to deport those who come here illegally or who fail the asylum process," she said. |
| "It is often the case in finding the correct words to use that one takes the views from both sides of the argument and balances them out to find a sensible position. This is what I was doing. At no point in my life have I ever thought that all immigration was bad and all immigrants in the UK should be deported." | "It is often the case in finding the correct words to use that one takes the views from both sides of the argument and balances them out to find a sensible position. This is what I was doing. At no point in my life have I ever thought that all immigration was bad and all immigrants in the UK should be deported." |
| Farage said: "While this comment looks odd and unpleasant, there may be a context here that is slightly different to the way it appears." | Farage said: "While this comment looks odd and unpleasant, there may be a context here that is slightly different to the way it appears." |
| Ukip has had problems with candidates expressing extremist views. Many have been low-profile, but in September the MEP Godfrey Bloom left the Ukip group in the European parliament following a row after he jokingly referred to women as "sluts". He had earlier been in trouble after being recorded referring to "bongo bongo land". | |
| In an attempt to avoid controversies of this kind, the party has taken to vetting its potential candidates more closely. | In an attempt to avoid controversies of this kind, the party has taken to vetting its potential candidates more closely. |
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