Election 2017: Ex-UKIP donor Arron Banks says party wrong to go to 'war' with Islam
Ex-donor Arron Banks says UKIP is going in "entirely the wrong direction" after it unveiled a controversial "Integration Agenda".
Tuesday 25 April 2017 15:13, UK
UKIP has been accused of going to "war" with Muslims by one of its most prominent supporters.
Leader Paul Nuttall to force girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) to undergo regular medical checks, as well as a ban on burkas in public and outlawing sharia law.
The Muslim Council of Britain has said the policy - part of UKIP's "Integration Agenda" - was "deeply regrettable" and hit out at stereotyping around "bombs, beards and burkas".
And Arron Banks, a former donor to UKIP, has been critical, saying the party was going in "entirely the wrong direction".
Mr Banks, who on Monday to become an MP in Clacton, wrote on Twitter: "I don't approve of the war on Muslim religion."
The party's foreign affairs spokesman has also quit his post in protest at Mr Nuttall's plans to ban the burka.
West Midlands MEP James Carver described the policy as "incompatible" with his desire to represent all of his constituents and to seek a global perspective for the UK.
Defending the measures, deputy leader Peter Whittle said: "The burka is not something in the Koran, it's not specified by the Koran, it's a cultural practice, FGM is a cultural practice."
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We have talked about these issues in UKIP for many years - 2010 we actually had this in our manifesto, that we should ban face coverings - not, for example the headscarf, not those sorts of things at all, just purely the face covering, because we believe that is a literal barrier to integration in our society.
"We are actually in this country rather behind the curve on this, because even the biggest party in the EU has called for an EU-wide ban on this."
But UKIP has been strongly condemned by the Muslim Council of Britain.
Its general secretary Harun Khan, will say in a speech to a Muslim leadership dinner later: "It is deeply regrettable that the UK Independence Party is singling out Muslims in the most negative terms.
"This is not leadership. And it is certainly not becoming of a party seeking to represent British people.
"Together with fellow Britons, Muslims will be looking for true leadership that unites our country during this time of uncertain transition and seek to represent all British people, and certainly not scapegoat some.
"Bigots must not be allowed to set the terms of the debate.
"Due to the scourge of terrorism that we all oppose, bigots are obsessed with sharia law, keen to question our loyalty to our country and refuse to accept us Muslims as equal citizens of this nation."
Mr Khan will also raise fears about the way Muslims will be treated during the campaign.
"When it comes to public policy, we Muslims seem to be boxed into the narrative of bombs, beards and burkas," he will say.
"Instead, we Muslims insist that our story is one of faith, freedom and fairness.
"As the country prepares to go to the polls in June, I worry about the state of the debate as the election campaign intensifies.
"As electors, we will all be consuming the hotly-argued discussions on who is fit to govern, which parties have the right strategy for Brexit, and where our country will be going as it transitions out of the European Union.
"But I urge our politicians, and the media who frame our debate, to reject any temptation to resort to bigotry and scapegoat minorities."