Ukip candidate threatens to shoot Tory rival

Ukip's misfiring election campaign has suffered another blow after one of its candidates was filmed threatening to shoot a rival politician.

Robert Blay was suspended immediately by the party after the comments came to light. A Ukip spokesman described the incident as "abhorrent". The remarks threaten to worsen Ukip's reputation as a magnet for people with unacceptable viewpoints - a charge the party denies.

Mr Blay, who had been standing in North East Hampshire, was secretly filmed by the Daily Mirror making the comments about Ranil Jayawardena, his Tory rival.

The recording appears to show Mr Blay - himself a former Conservative - threatening to shoot Mr Jayawardena if he ever became prime minister.

The Mirror published a video of Mr Blay speaking to its investigators at a public meeting on Saturday in Ramsgate, Kent, addressed by party leader Nigel Farage.

Mr Blay, right, noted Mr Jayawardena had been tipped as Britain's first Asian prime minister, according to the Mirror report.

"If he is, I will personally put a bullet between his eyes," he said. "If this lad turns up to be our prime minister I will personally put a bullet in him. That's how strong I feel about it."

Questioning Mr Jayawardena's background, he said: "His family have only been here since the 70s. You are not British enough to be in our parliament. I've got 400 years of ancestry where I live. He hasn't got that."

North East Hampshire was held by the Conservatives at the last election with a majority of more than 18,500.

A Ukip spokesman offered an apology to Mr Jayawardena.

"Any comments of this sort have absolutely no place in British politics or public life, and the party would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mr Jayawardena for any distress caused."

Mr Jayawardena said he was shocked by the incident.

"My family believes in hard work. My father came to this country to do just that - never claiming a penny from the state," he said.

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Ukip is still polling at about 13 per cent despite expectations that its vote share would collapse close to yhe election. But under the first-past-the-post system it is unlikely to pick up more than three MPs because its support is so thinly spread.

Paul Nuttall, Ukip MEP and deputy party leader, accused the media of picking up on the misdeeds of his members while ignoring more serious transgressions by those of the mainstream parties.

"We've suspended him immediately, which is the right thing to do and we do have a history of getting rid of people when they do something wrong very quickly indeed," he said. But his party did not have a "monopoly" on this type of scandal.

Ukip's spokesman claimed that 300 candidates from Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems had been "suspended, expelled, or even jailed for foul behaviour" this year.

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