UKIP deputy leader: We should throw Nicola Sturgeon in front of a horse
UKIP’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall has ‘joked’ that Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon should be trampled by a horse, to celebrate Emmeline Pankhurst Day.
The MEP made the comments after it was confirmed that the Scottish National Party would vote to oppose a repeal of the fox hunting ban in England and Wales.
Women’s suffrage campaigner Emily Davison died in 1913, after falling under King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby.
Remarking on the SNP’s decision, Nuttall wrote: “Tuesday is Emmeline Pankhurst Day, and whilst I am not going to throw myself in front of a horse to make my point about British democracy on this occasion, this is a vitally important constitutional matter and perhaps we should throw Sturgeon in front of a hunt horse as part of the commemorations.
“On this occasion you may feel that the end justifies the means, that if you are against fox hunting it doesn’t matter how the ban gets kept, as long as it does.”
The MEP added: “If we allow this to go unchecked, if we allow the Scottish MPs to be the decision makers on this issue, what happens when they take a stance you disagree with?
“What happens if they disagree with you on Trident, on immigration, on our membership of the EU?”
An SNP spokesperson hit out at Mr Nuttall, saying: “Even by UKIP’s standards this is a deeply crass comment. Political debate should be conducted in a respectful manner – UKIP show time and again that they are a party of intolerance and negativity.
“On Emmeline Pankhurst Day Scotland’s first female First Minister will be in London make a strong, positive argument for a fairer economy.”
Mr Nuttall has gone out of his way to encourage people who oppose marriage equality to vote for UKIP.
He slammed Labour’s plans to tackle homophobia in schools as “politically correct nonsense”, citing a Daily Mail headline that falsely claims pupils will have “Sex lessons at 5 under Labour”.
Mr Nuttall has also defended calls to ban people with HIV from the UK.
