Ukip is facing renewed criticism over its attitudes towards Islam after it emerged that one of its senior MEPs said non-Muslims should have a “perfectly rational fear” of the faith, which he described as a “death cult” steeped in violence.
The Liberal Democrats and Greens described the comments, written in a blogpost by Ukip’s Brexit spokesman, Gerard Batten, as “hateful” and “the gutter of British politics”.
Asked twice about the issue at the launch of Ukip’s election campaign on Friday, the party’s leader, Paul Nuttall, declined to say whether he agreed with Batten’s views.
Ukip’s stance towards Islam has been in focus since Monday, when the party announced what it terms an “integration agenda”, including a ban on full-face veils and compulsory medical checks for girls seen as at risk of female genital mutilation. [The Guardian] Read more
