Ukip candidate suspended for threatening to shoot his Conservative rival

A Ukip parliamentary candidate has been suspended from the party after he was filmed by an under cover journalist threatening to shoot his Conservative rival. Robert Blay, who is standing in North East Hampshire, reporters from the Daily Mirror that he would “put a bullet between the eyes” of the Conservatives’ Ranil Jayawardena. The video shows the 55-year-old saying that Mr Jayawardena “could become our first Asian MP”, adding: “If he is I will personally put a bullet between his eyes”. He added: “If this lad turns up to be our Prime Minister I will personally put a bullet in him. That’s how strong I feel about it. Paul Nuttal, the deputy leader of Ukip, has been on Radio 4’s Today programme. He said that the comments were unacceptable and that the party had acted swiftly. He added that inappropriate comments and actions were not limited to members of Ukip and claimed that problems with politicians from other national parties were not covered in such detail in the national press.