BBC’s Laura is booed at Ukip meeting after terror question
SCOTS journalist Laura Kuenssberg was booed by angry Ukip supporters yesterday after asking the party leader if he was seeking to exploit the Manchester terror attack.
Stormy scenes engulfed the launch of the Right-wing party’s manifesto following the question from the BBC Political Editor.
Shouts aimed at the 41-year-old correspondent included ‘crawl back down your hole’, ‘Fake news’, ‘What a stupid question’ and ‘Don’t you understand English?’
It followed a speech by party leader Paul Nuttall, who used his opening address at the rally in Westminster to criticise Theresa May’s record as Home Secretary and Prime Minister, breaking the political truce held since Monday’s devastating events.
Miss Kuenssberg then asked Mr Nuttall if he was almost blaming Mrs May for the circumstances that led to the Manchester attack.
Shouts from party members followed before Mr Nuttall replied: ‘No, I’m not
‘Lighting candles is not enough’
accusing the Prime Minister. I’m saying that politicians in this country have been weak on this issue for many, many years.
‘In terms of her record as home secretary, I think it’s appalling. This is a home secretary who cut the numbers of police officers, cut the number of border guards, cut the number of prison officers.’
Mr Nuttall then said that ‘lighting candles is not enough’ as he vowed to provide tens of thousands of extra police officers and soldiers, as well as seize the passports of Britons who go to fight for Islamic State.
In an extraordinary swipe at the Prime Minister, Ukip deputy chairman Suzanne Evans said Mrs May had allowed the spread of extremism and cut police numbers while home secretary.
Miss Evans, who wrote the party’s manifesto, said: ‘I think she must bear some responsibility – all politicians who voted against measures or voted for measures to make cuts bear some responsibility.
‘I think when 9/11 happened, we should have had a serious rethink about immigration. It didn’t happen.’ She added: ‘Under her watch, even non-EU migration spiralled out of control and net migration reached record highs.’
Miss Evans later appeared to backtrack and said: ‘The only person who is responsible, or people who were responsible, for what happened in Manchester are the terrorists, let me make that absolutely clear.’
Responding to the comments, that came ahead of the other parties resuming national campaigning today, Home Secretary Amber Rudd last night described them as ‘entirely the wrong approach’ and said: ‘This is not the time to make political points.’
Flagship policies in the manifesto include recruiting 20,000 extra police officers, 20,000 new soldiers, 7,000 more prison officers and 4,000 border guards.
Other manifesto promises include an extra £11billion a year for the NHS and social care by the end of the next parliament, funded by cutting foreign aid from 0.7 per cent of national income to 0.2 per cent.
The party pledged to ban wearing the burqa and full face coverings in public places – partly because they ‘prevent intake of essential vitamin D from sunlight’.
It also vowed to scrap VAT on takeaways, such as fish and chips, as well as abolish the TV licence fee.