Ukip candidate Lynton Yates wants jobless banned from driving

A Ukip politician who wants to ban unemployed people from driving cars has attracted widespread condemnation from rival politicians as well as his own party.

County councillor Lynton Yates -- who is running for MP at the general election -- claimed the jobless should not be allowed to run a car at the taxpayers' expense.

He suggested owning a car was a privilege and that people not in work should be made to take the bus instead: It's "common sense" he insisted.

Yates also called for British criminals to be locked up overseas and have their possessions confiscated.

The statements appeared in a leaflet topped with Ukip's purple and yellow logo, which was distributed to voters in Charnwood -- the Leicestershire constituency in which Yates is standing for Ukip in May's national poll.

Opponents heaped derision on Yates' ideas, comparing it to something dreamed up at a "drunken stag party".

Ukip distanced itself from the comments and branded Yates an "idiot" for the leaflet.

In the flyer, former Conservative Yates told voters: 'We could likely remove six million cars from the road if benefit claimants were not driving.

"Why do they have the privilege to spend the taxpayers' hard-earned money on a car, when those are in work are struggling to keep their own car on the road? These people could really catch a bus!"

Yates also added: "Any assets of convicted criminals [abroad] -- for example homes, cars, savings, etc -- should be confiscated to help pay for their sentence.

"I personally would look to overseas countries who could tender for their incarceration. I'm sure they could dramatically reduce this cost to the taxpayer."

Condemning the ideas, Labour MP Jamie Reed said: "'It's beyond a joke now. Not so much a political party but a stag night out of control."

A Ukip spokesman told the Daily Mail Yates' ideas would not feature in the party's election manifesto.