A UKIP local election candidate was suspended yesterday after The Sunday Times exposed his support for the far-right English Defence League (EDL).
Chris Scotton, 24, faces expulsion from the party after repeatedly endorsing the EDL on Facebook and indicating that he has been an activist for the movement, which has gained notoriety for violent protests against Islam.
Scotton, who was due to stand in Leicestershire in Thursday’s council elections, also appears to trivialise racism on Facebook and “likes” a site called: “I hate [it] when I lose my black friend in the dark.”
His suspension will come as an embarrassment to Nigel Farage, the UKIP leader, who admits his party does not have the resources to vet its 1,700-plus candidates properly.
UKIP is predicted to win about 40-50 council seats this week and seriously damage Conservative prospects.
However, the unsavoury views and backgrounds of some of its candidates threaten to jeopardise its chances.
Yesterday a UKIP candidate in Suffolk was forced to resign after admitting to being a former member of the British National party (BNP). It also emerged that a candidate in Kent, who previously acted as an election agent to Farage, was once a National Front (NF) activist.
Scotton, who says on the internet that he has struggled to find a permanent job since leaving school at 16, has endorsed, or “liked”, at least eight pages related to the EDL on Facebook, including the page for the movement’s Leicester branch.
In November 2010 he sent a message to the EDL in Leicester with a link to a Vanity Fair article highlighting the organisation’s violent anti-Muslim demonstrations. Scotton said in his post: “Duno [sic] if you guys have seen this, we get a little mention in it.”
Scotton also “likes” Facebook pages attacking mosques and halal food, as well as a site called: “Racism?? Naa Mate its just ethnic banter.”
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Ukip has suspended a member from North Yorkshire who allegedly posted anti-Muslim jokes on Facebook, including one of US President Obama mocked up to look like a chimpanzee.
