Anti-gay UKIP candidate calls for compulsory abortion of Down’s syndrome foetuses
A UKIP candidate, who described same-sex marriage as an “abhorrence”, and called for an NHS review to look at compulsory abortion if a foetus has Down’s syndrome or spina bifida, has been suspended.
The Telegraph reports Geoffrey Clark, who is standing for the UKIP National Executive Committee and as a local councillor in Meopham, Kent, is under fire over his personal internet manifesto.
Mencap, the learning disability charity, said it is “disgusted and horrified” at the implications of the manifesto.
Mr Clark said on his website he did not endorse the ideas on abortion but was making suggestions to cut the national debt.
The manifesto also said a review should look into medical treatment for people over the age of 80, which the 66-year-old said is “extraordinarily costly” to the NHS.
He also appeared to describe immigration as a “cancer” in a poem about “defending British culture from attack”.
Earlier on Tuesday, a UKIP spokesman said: “This is a personal manifesto. There are large parts of what he says in it that we entirely disagree with.
“The people of Meopham will have their own opportunity to decide about them on Thursday.
“As in any party, our members have a range of views and opinions which may not always accord with party policy.”
UKIP have been in the spotlight of late.
Meanwhile, November’s By-election in Croydon North was mired in controversy after Winston McKenzie, UKIP’s failed prospective parliamentary candidate, stated that gay people should not be allowed to adopt children.
In the end, Mr McKenzie lost the election to Labour’s Steve Reed, a gay former south London councillor.
