'Send the lot back': UKIP councillor defends anti-immigration video comments

Further embarrassment for the party after Victoria Ayling says the UK should "send the lot back"

The leader of UKIP Nigel Farage last night said that Ayling’s comments were “slightly odd” and admitted he did “recruit” her but was not involved in her selection as a local candidate. (EPA)

A video in which senior UKIP politician Victoria Ayling calls for immigrants to the UK to be sent home has been made public.

The former Conservative Party member made the comments in a video shot by her ex-husband that was intended to boost her political career.

Currently a Lincolnshire County Councillor and deputy leader of the local UKIP branch, the 54-year-old she jokes in the video that her offensive comments could be used to blackmail her.

She told the Mail on Sunday that she stands by her comments, but that they were “taken out of context” and she was only referring to illegal immigrants.

In the clip, Ayling says: “‘multiculturalism doesn’t work, Britishnes does,” and adds in between takes: “multiculturalism is dead, I’m allowed to say that, but maybe Britishness is waving the National Front flag a bit”.

She continues: “We must control immigration. We cannot sustain the numbers coming in; the strains on our infrastructure are enormous. Control should be done fairly and the points system like they have in Australia and all those coming here should be encouraged to speak English so they can integrate,” adding: “I just want to send the lot back but I can’t say that.”

In between takes she is asked: “Do we want the French to order our troops?”

She replies: “Sod that. Just think of Waterloo, bastards.”

Seen by the Sunday newspaper, the 20-minute video adds to an embarrassing year for the right wing party which saw MEP Godfrey Bloom refer to female audience members during a party conference speech as “sluts” and call developing countries “Bongo Bongo Land”.

The leader of UKIP Nigel Farage last night said that Ayling’s comments were “slightly odd” and admitted he did “recruit” her but was not involved in her selection as a local candidate.

“I have met her two or three times and I have discussed policy at length before accepting her into the party,” he said.

“I had no reason to believe she held views that were extreme or inconsistent with ours. While this comment looks odd and unpleasant there may be a context here that is slightly different to the way it appears.”

The video was filmed in 2008 when Ayling was still a member of the Conservative Party. She defected to UKIP in March this year because she no longer saw the Tories as “the party of aspiration”.

At the time, Farage called Ayling’s move “fantastic” and described her as a “talented and experienced person who will work hard across Lincolnshire, the East Midlands and, indeed, the county”.

At the 2010 election, Ayling was 714 votes short of becoming the MP for Grimsby

In an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel in June this year Ayling said Mr Cameron should “declare a state of emergency and close the borders” to curb immigration.

Ayling told the Mail on Sunday: “It is nothing different from what the Home Secretary is advocating now any way. And the blackmail music is from a Monty Python sketch. I don’t think there is anything there that can be seen as offensive or politically incorrect.

“I stand by what I said: illegal immigrants should be sent back home and multiculturalism won’t work. It was a throwaway comment that has been taken out of context.”

Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi urged Ayling to “retract her deeply damaging comments”.

“Hard-working immigrants contribute significantly to the UK”, he said.

Speaking about the footage that he filmed, Rob Ayling said: “Victoria said during the divorce she would never be entering national politics again. Now, with her being a rising star of UKIP, I think it is a public interest story in terms of the electorate knowing what kind of a woman she is,” adding: “I wasn’t shocked as she’s like that all the time.”

Last night, local MP Stephen Phillips, said: “Immigration is a huge issue. But anyone who says they “just want to send the lot back” has no place at all in frontline politics.

“People who have come here to work hard, to live by British values and to contribute to our communities have always been welcomed. [Many] will be as disgusted as I am by the views which Mrs Ayling apparently holds.”

A UKIP spokesman last night said the party stood by the councillor and that the media “hampered debate on immigration” by “failing to make the distinction between a frank discussion and unpalatable views”.

“Given that this was before the time Victoria joined UKIP we cannot comment on why this video was made for the Conservatives.

“However, we can vouch for her as a capable and decent councillor and support her through this time.”