Nigel Farage: UKIP should ‘possibly not’ be taking money from a man who says gays are incapable of love
UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said his party should “possibly not” be taking money from a donor who believes gay people are incapable of love and who claims that it is not possible for husbands to rape wives.
In January, a UKIP spokeswoman said the party no longer had anything to do with Greek shipping tycoon Demetri Marchessini.
But on Wednesday, Channel 4 News revealed that Mr Marchessini has made at least one more major donation to the party, on Christmas Eve 2013, and is still in contact with UKIP’s treasurer Stuart Wheeler – who he described as an “old friend” who occasionally asked for financial support.
Asked by Channel 4 News Political Correspondent Michael Crick if he thought that the “nature of homosexual relationships is different”, Mr Marchessini replied: “Oh completely different, there’s no love, only lust – and also the actions they do are completely different.
“They go out at night and they and they pick up, five, ten, fifteen different partners in one night. Is that love?”
When Crick suggested that many gay couples are in stable relationships, Mr Marchessini said: “But it’s not husband and wife, they’re roommates and both of them go out cruising.”
“There is no such thing as fidelity in homosexual relationships. They just all go out looking for action. That’s the way it is.”
In response, Mr Farage said he was “sure the money was taken in good faith” but that he did not deal with the party’s finances.
Asked whether UKIP should accept donations from someone with such views, he said: “Possibly not, no. But ask the treasurer – I don’t run everything.”
Last weekend it was revealed that a council candidate for UKIP in Staffordshire had described the arrival of same-sex marriage in England and Wales as a “Sad day for all us straight people”.
Nigel Farage recently made light of the “fruitcakes and loonies” within his party while appearing on Have I Got News For You.
