Ukip’s new leader, Paul Nuttall, has defended claims his top team is not diverse enough by noting his deputy is an “open homosexual”.
Nuttal once described a court ruling that the owners of a gueshouse could not ban a gay couple from staying as a “complete joke”.
Upon succeeding Nigel Farage today, Nuttall appointed London Assembly Member Peter Whittle as deputy Ukip leader. He also appointed MEP Patrick O’Flynn as his chief political adviser and Paul Oakden as party chairman.
BBC Daily Politics presenter Jo Coburn suggested it was “not the most diverse group of people” given they were all white men.
“Oh come on. That’s splitting hairs,” Nuttall said. “I’ve literally appointed three people. If you want diversity, Peter Whittle, my deputy, is an open homosexual.”
In 2011, Nuttall said guesthouse owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull should have been allowed to discriminate against same-sex couples who wanted to stay.
“This week has been a good week for the PC brigade. Firstly, Christian hoteliers, Peter and Rosemary Bull lost a court case in Bristol, which was brought by two homosexual men who took exception because the couple refused to allow them to sleep in the same bed,” Nuttall wrote on his blog.
“What a complete joke. Aren’t people allowed to live by their religious beliefs in the country anymore? It seems not, especially if those beliefs clash with ‘modern’ views, which the PC ‘luvies’ constantly tell us, represents ‘progress.’ Progress in whose eyes I ask?”
Nuttall’s use of language raised eyebrows among some watching the programme.