Godfrey Bloom MEP who called lesbian ‘queer’ & women ‘sluts’ quits UKIP

UK Independence Party MEP Godfrey Bloom says he is quitting the party after becoming embroiled in another row about his outspoken language.

In a statement he said he intends to sit in the European Parliament as an independent until the end of his term.

Mr Bloom said he had “felt for some time” UKIP was no longer for him.

The Yorkshire and Humber MEP had the whip removed last week after he was recorded joking about women who did not clean behind their fridges, describing them as “sluts.”

Mr Bloom was later filmed hitting Channel 4 News reporter Michael Crick over the head with a party leaflet after he asked him why there were no non-white faces on a campaign flyer.

He responded by accusing the journalist of being “racist”.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he believed disciplinary action should be taken, since the row had overshadowed his conference speech.

In 2010, Godfrey Bloom was accused by lesbian MEP Nikki Sinclaire of abusively calling her “queer” – at the time UKIP and Mr Bloom denied the claims.

Ms Sinclaire subsequently left UKIP and successfully sued the party on allegations of sexual discrimination in December 2010.

Mr Bloom was criticised by the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT rights in January 2012 for asking the European Commission to justify funding given to the European branch of the International Gay and Lesbian Association (ILGA), part of one of the world’s oldest LGBT organisations.

At the time a UKIP spokesman told PinkNews.co.uk that Mr Bloom was not homophobic but was simply looking out for the interests of the taxpayer.

Mr Bloom provoked controversy last month when he talked about British foreign aid going to “bongo-bongo land”.

Earlier this month Nigel Farage, who previously claimed he would not expel UKIP members for calling gay people “disgusting,” said same-sex marriages were “illiberal” and lack “common sense”. 

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