PinkNews Q&A: Submit your questions for UKIP leader Paul Nuttall
The leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Paul Nuttall, will answer PinkNews readers’ questions in a Q&A ahead of the snap general election.
The UKIP leader joins Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron in agreeing to answer questions in a Q&A.
Mr Nuttall, an MEP who was elected leader with two-thirds of the vote, has been criticised in the past for comments he has made on LGBT rights, but has insisted he is pro-diversity.
UKIP strongly campaigned for the vote for Britain to leave the EU leading up to the 2016 referendum which saw 52 percent of voters opt to leave and 48 percent to remain.
At the 2015 election, UKIP got 12.6 percent of the share of votes, placing it third in the UK in terms of vote share.
Former UKIP leader, Diane James, who took over after Nigel Farage stepped down, quit the party after resigning as leader last year.
Douglas Carswell, the only MP elected for UKIP during the 2015 election,quit the party in March, is not seeking re-election and is now supporting the Conservatives.
You can ask your questions to the UKIP leader Paul Nuttall using the form below:
UKIP leader Mr Nuttall, previously attacked plans to challenge homophobia in schools and called for people with HIV to be banned from the UK.
But he has since said in interviews that he is not against diversity after he appointed an out gay deputy, Peter Whittle.
Mr Whittle is a member of the London Assembly and was the party’s candidate for Mayor of London in 2015.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Nuttall said: “If you want diversity, Peter Whittle my deputy is an open homosexual, if you want diversity.”
UKIP has in the past come under fire for nominating a string of candidates with questionable views on LGBT+ issues.
The party was back in March under pressure over a local candidate who wants to bring back public hangings and “doesn’t want any LGBT community”.
A UKIP councillor in Somerset claimed last month that the NHS is in a crisis because “too much” funding is given to LGBT services, leaving “other people feeling put out”.
Nigel Pearson, a councillor for Chard North in Somerset, made the sweeping statement in a leaflet that was distributed prior to local elections.
Mr Nuttall has previously been said to have courted the anti-LGBT vote, claiming UKIP is the “natural home” for Catholic voters who are angry over same-sex marriage and other social reforms.
He insisted in 2015: “Twelve percent of Catholics have already indicated that they are going to vote, or have already voted, UKIP.
“On moral issues, we, more than any other political party, are more in line with Catholic thought. Whether it’s on gender-choice abortion or same-sex marriage, we are absolutely 100 percent behind the Catholic Church.”
