UKIP candidate Paddy Singh suspended over 'racist' tweets
In social media posts, Paddy Singh compared Chinese people to "animals" and said Israelis were "basically Nazis in mentality".
Sunday 21 May 2017 06:19, UK
A UKIP candidate has been suspended by the party over a series of tweets dating back to 2014 that have sparked racism allegations.
In the social media posts, Paddy Singh compared Chinese and Pakistani people to "animals" and said Israelis were like "Nazis".
UKIP is no longer endorsing him but he will still be listed as a party candidate on the ballot paper for North Wiltshire in the General Election on 8 June.
The former cavalry officer had posted a message saying: "It won't be long before the Chinese start eating human meat. It may be a super power, but they are like animals."
He described Israelis as "basically Nazis in mentality" and said there was no hope of a Middle East ceasefire "with the Nazi Jews like wild dogs on the rampage".
Last year, he tweeted a link to an article about the murder of a Pakistani politician with the comment: "Is Pakistan a country inhabited by humans or animals?"
Anti-racism campaigners have highlighted the tweets, which have been called "totally unacceptable" by party leader Paul Nuttall.
A UKIP spokesman said: "As soon as these social media comments came to our attention, we suspended him from his membership of the party and we have removed our endorsement of him as candidate."
Speaking from India, Capt Singh denied being a racist but accepted some of his comments had "gone too far".
He said: "I have never been anti-anyone and I have nothing against Israeli people. I would say I stick up for the underdog and I criticise the governments.
"Those tweets go back several years, when I had nothing to do with UKIP. I was commenting on articles that came out in the media. It was on the spur of the moment and it was my fault for being that spontaneous."
Mr Nuttall said: "It looks as if what he's said on Twitter is totally unacceptable and as a party we've done something about it."
While on the campaign trail in Dagenham, east London, the UKIP leader also admitted he was not confident he would be elected in the Boston and Skegness constituency next month - but also claimed his party will be stronger than ever in two years' time.
He refused to be drawn on how many seats UKIP would win in the election but pointed out they were "targeting sensibly" and they would "get people over the line".