Nigel Farage: Ukip is not a racist party

Nigel Farage used a Ukip rally in London to proclaim a “Clause 4 moment” in rejecting racism in Ukip.

He was joined on stage by boxer Winston McKenzie and a group of black and Asian candidates to deny claims that the party harboured racism.

“Let this be Ukip’s Clause 4 moment,” he told cheering supporters, in a reference to Tony Blair’s announcement that he was scrapping Labour’s commitment to nationalisation. “I don’t care what you call us but from this moment on, please, do not ever call us a racist party. We are not a racist party.”

However, the rally was picketed by anti-racism campaigners and several protesters broke into the hall in Westminster to heckle, and were thrown out by stewards.

The event came after a number of Ukip candidates were revealed to have made offensive or racist comments. Mr Farage said Ukip was being smeared because it was a threat to the bigger parties. “There will always be, in any system, a few people who creep over the line and cause us embarrassment,” he said.

“I would rather the 10 people — out of 2,234 (candidates) — who said things that are either stupid or offensive in some case, I’d rather it hadn’t happened.