Former Ukip councillor expelled over racism row claims 'hidden agenda'
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Version 0 of 1. A former Ukip councillor who was expelled from the party after making “deeply racist comments” has defended her remarks and claimed that she was the victim of a hidden agenda within the party. The only people I do have problems with are negroes. And I don’t know why Rozanne Duncan, who said she had a “problem” with black people and used racial epithets to describe them, said her comments were a “cry for help”. She was kicked out of the party soon after making the remarks in front of BBC cameras in December last year, although the programme in question was not aired until Sunday. In the programme, Duncan told party press officer Liz Langton-Way: “The only people I do have problems with are negroes. And I don’t know why. “I don’t know whether there is something in my psyche or whether it’s karma from a previous life or whether something happened to me as a very, very young person and I’ve drawn a veil over it – because that sometimes happens, doesn’t it? “But I really do have a problem with people with negroid features.” Speaking to the Guardian as the BBC programme was due to air on Sunday evening, Duncan claimed the comments were not racist because – in her view – they were not derogatory. “It wasn’t racist, I think. It was in no way meant to be derogatory or insulting. It was almost like being a cry for help because I would love to know why I feel like this. I don’t like feeling like this.” Related: Ukip's health policy would include spending more on fighting dementia Describing Ukip’s decision to expel her from the party, she said: “It is a completely cavalier attitude. There must be a hidden agenda; they wanted rid of me, that was it.” Speaking on the programme, Meet the Ukippers, Duncan said she felt “betrayed”. But, on Sunday, she backed away from that comment. “I don’t feel that betrayed is the right word. What really annoys me is that, before they saw the content, the programme or anything at all, they had a kneejerk reaction and expelled me without offering me any sort of right to reply or disciplinary hearing,” she said. Duncan said she felt other party members had been given leeway that was not afforded to her. “Someone like Janice Atkinson [MEP], who has done so many things like telling people to eff-off and putting up her middle finger and calling a lady from Thailand a ‘Ting Tong’ ... is now a prospective parliamentary candidate.” Ukip leader Nigel Farage is seen posing for photographs with Duncan in the BBC programme but has since distanced himself from the former councillor. He told the corporation last week: “I haven’t seen the film but she is alleged, and she confirmed to us, that she had made a series of racist comments that is at odds with what we stand for.” |