Nigel Farage: Ukip workplace racism row shows British media 'institutionally racist'

Nigel Farage's spokesman has described the British media as "institutionally racist" as the furore over the Ukip leader's comments on workplace discrimination laws continues.

Raheem Kassam defended the Ukip leader's controversial claim that the current laws to prevent racial discrimination in the workplace are "ludicrous".

Kassam told IBTimes UK: "I think the media is disgusting and institutionally racist. They hear 'British' and think he's [Farage is] saying 'white'. He's the only leader standing up for British workers, regardless of their colour."

Farage has been heavily criticised for saying the UK's existing laws on workplace discrimination are out of date and advances in British society have made them redundant.

The Ukip leader told a Channel 4 documentary: "I think the employer should be much freer to make decisions on who she or he employs.

"I think the situation that we now have, where an employer is not allowed to choose between a British-born person and somebody from Poland, is a ludicrous state of affairs.

"I would argue that the law does need changing, and that if an employer wishes to choose, or you can use the word 'discriminate' if you want to, but wishes to choose to employ a British-born person, they should be allowed to do so."

Farage has attempted to diffuse the row on his personal Facebook page, writing: "My comments [to Channel 4] were lauding the progress of race relations and equality in this country -- so as to say that racial discrimination in the workplace is almost unheard of nowadays. Britain's media should be proud of this fact instead of trying to do it down."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron believes Nigel Farage's call to scrap race discrimination laws is "deeply concerning" and shows the Ukip leader is "wrong and desperate for attention", Downing Street has said.