Farage pledges to clean up Ukip after ‘gays cause floods’ comment
Nigel Farage has vowed to expel anyone with extremist views from Ukip, after one of his councillors blamed recent floods on legislation about gay marriage.
Speaking to the Sun newspaper, Farage said anyone who did not satisfy new criteria would not be allowed to stand for the party at election time.
"Politics needs people with personality and backgrounds and they will all have one or two flaws. I have got my own red lines on this. That is real extremism and nastiness," he said.
"We introduced a set of criteria by which we judged the exiting MEPs on how they've performed and what they have done.
"Some have been pushed and some have jumped. Of 13 MEPs elected, there are about five who won't be on the list of runners and riders again. Of all the candidates we fielded, only about half a dozen have caused us any embarrassment."
The comments come after Ukip councillor David Silvester blamed recent storms on same-sex marriage laws, saying he had warned the prime minister that the legislation would spark "disasters" such as "storms, disease, pestilence and war".
The disasters were the result of David Cameron acting "arrogantly against the Gospel", he added.
Godfrey Bloom recently lost his Ukip standing and became an independent MEP after he called a room full of women "sluts" and branded African countries "bongo bongo land".
