Clarke’s ridicule for Ukip ‘clowns’

The Tory Cabinet minister said the party had no positive policies and was merely “against” foreigners and immigrants.

He also insisted it was perfectly acceptable for candidates in this week’s local elections to be picked up on dubious comments they had previously made on Twitter and Facebook.

The swipe came after Ukip accused the Conservatives of running a “morally reprehensible” smear campaign against its would-be councillors.

The party – which is investigating a handful of its record 1,700 candidates over links to groups such as the BNP and alleged racist and homophobic comments – has said it does not condone “unpalatable views”.

But a spokesman complained that dredging up old activities on social media amounted to a “political lynch mob”.

Speaking on Sky News’ Murnaghan show, Mr Clarke said: “They of course have not been able to vet their candidates. Fringe right parties do tend to collect a number of waifs and strays...

“Some of them are saying quite different things now they are in politics than their actual views.”

Asked whether he agreed with David Cameron’s 2006 assessment that the party was packed with “fruitcakes and closet racists”, Mr Clarke replied: “I have met people who satisfy both those descriptions in Ukip.

“Indeed, some of the people who have assured me they are going to vote Ukip I would put in that category. I rather suspect they have never voted for me.”

Mr Clarke said he was sure that “most of the Ukip people are perfectly nice when they are having a drink”.

But he insisted: “The trouble with Ukip really is it is just a protest party.

“It is against the political class, it is against foreigners, it is against immigrants. But it does not have any very positive policies. They do not know what they are for.”

He went on: “The temptation to ordinary voters to Ukip is these are very difficult times. The political classes are regarded as having got us into a mess.

“It is very tempting to vote for a collection of clowns or indignant, angry people, who promise that somehow they will allow us to take your revenge on people who caused it.”

Labour and the Liberal Democrats waded into the row amid speculation that they also face losing votes to Ukip on Thursday.

Shadow Communities Secretary Hilary Benn told Sky News some of the party’s candidates appeared “pretty unappealing”.

“If you are going to stand for elected office then you should be expected to be scrutinised for the views that you hold, including the views you expressed in the past, so I don’t know what they are complaining for,” the Leeds MP said.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg warned voters to scrutinise Ukip’s policies.

However, Ukip MEP Paul Nuttall said the other parties were engaging in “dirty tricks” and had their own faults.

“If the Conservatives have got people in central office doing these kinds of dirty tricks, going through the private lives of our candidates, going back to years on social media, it’s sad, it’s dirty, we’re not going to respond,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme.

Meanwhile, emails leaked to The Observer revealed that another of the party’s MEPs is concerned about excessive “political correctness” among new recruits.

Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire MEP Godfrey Bloom also complained that forging Ukip’s policy platform was like “herding cats”, insisting that senior figures needed to learn to toe the line.