Ukip British-Asian Member Sanya-Jeet Thandi Quits over Racism

Only days after Nigel Farage praised Ukip's inclusivity on a stage surrounded by black and Asian party members his party is facing more accusations that it is a home for racists.

Sanya-Jeet Thandi said she has quit the party because of its focus on immigrants from Europe allegedly taking jobs from Britons, a main platofrm for Ukip in the local election campaign.

The 21-year-old said that a string of racist outbursts by candidates had cost the anti-EU party her support.

Writing in the Guardian, Thandi said: "Ukip is exploiting the stupidity of ignorant anti-immigrant voters for electoral gain. While the party deliberately attracts the racist vote, I refuse to be associated with them.

"There was none of this "they took our jobs" business in the party's youth wing when I joined three years ago. Ukip's immigration policy, to me, was all about equality for every nationality; it was about treating Europeans and people outside the EU equally.

"But the recent racism scandals suggest that most other Ukip voters and members support the policy and the party, for a very different reason," the LSE student said.

Such strong condemnation from a party member will come a blow to Farage, who recently carried out a heavily stage-managed bid to shed the taint of racism from Ukip.

Sharing a platform with British minority ethnic members at the Emmanuel Centre in London, he declared it was comparable in significance to Labour's "Clause 4 moment" - when New Labour axed the party's socialist commitment to redistribute the means of production to workers.

Farage told the audience: "Let this picture of me on the stage with these wonderful men and women from all their different backgrounds, and their united belief in being British and in wanting this country to be free, independent, self-governing and proud, let this be Ukip's Clause 4 moment."

Recent weeks have seen one Ukip candidate tell Birmingham-born comedian Lenny Henry he should move to a "black county." Another candidate launched a racist diatribe on Twitter, only hours after appearing in a party political broadcast by Ukip on national televison.

Local and EU elections take place on May 22, with Ukip expecting big gains and the Conservative and Labour parties worrying about how many of their voters could defect to Ukip and potentially rewrite the political landscape.