Ukip tells Godfrey Bloom to stop referring to 'bongo bongo land' | Politics | The Guardian UK Independence party (Ukip) Ukip tells Godfrey Bloom to stop referring to 'bongo bongo land' Party rebukes MEP after he defends use of phrase, saying he is articulating views of 'ordinary people in rugby club' Wednesday 7 August 2013 06.24 EDT First published on Wednesday 7 August 2013 06.24 EDT Close This article is 3 years old A senior Ukip politician who said Britain should not be sending aid to "bongo bongo land" has been ordered by his party to stop using the phrase because it could be considered "disparaging" by foreigners. Ukip issued the rebuke to Godfrey Bloom, a member of the European parliament, after his remarks made at a meeting of activists sparked outrage among some MPs and anti-racism campaigners. Bloom took to the radio on Wednesday morning to defend the use of the phrase "bongo bongo land", saying he was just articulating the views of "ordinary people in the rugby and cricket club". But shortly afterwards, the Ukip leadership distanced itself from Bloom's expression.

Steve Crowther, the Ukip chairman, said: "We are asking Godfrey not to use this phrase again, as it might be considered disparaging by members from other countries. However, foreign aid is an extremely important debate that needs wider discussion." Bloom made the comments to a meeting of supporters in the West Midlands, suggesting foreigners used aid to "buy Ray-Ban sunglasses" and "apartments in Paris". His remarks have emerged in the week Ukip is due to publish its list of approved candidates for next year's European elections, in which the party hopes to get the biggest share of the vote. Bloom was filmed speaking at a meeting in Wordsley, near Stourbridge, in July. In the recording he says: "How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month when we're in this sort of debt to bongo bongo land is completely beyond me. "To buy Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it that goes with most of the foreign aid. F18s for Pakistan. We need a new squadron of F18s. Who's got the squadrons?

Pakistan, where we send the money." Speaking on Today, he said he did not see why the government should send money overseas when hospitals were being closed down and British people were unable to receive cancer treatment. "If I want to send money to charity, I will do so of my own accord," he said. Asked whether he would apologise if instructed to do so by the Ukip leadership, he said: "I'd say right-o, sorry. If I have offended anybody in bongo bongo land, I will write to their ambassador at the court of St James." Bloom told the programme he was merely articulating the unheeded views of ordinary people, adding: "My job is to upset the BBC and the Guardian and I love it." Two months ago Farage ensured an Italian MEP was expelled from Ukip's European alliance for saying a black minister in Italy was part of a "government of bongo bongo" who would want to impose "tribal traditions", and would be better suited as a housekeeper. Bloom said suggestions that his comments carried any racist implications were "absurd" and "laughable", adding that he had two Kashmiri staff and a Polish wife. He stood by his remarks, saying: "What's wrong with that?

I'm not a wishy-washy Tory. I don't do political correctness … The fact that the Guardian is reporting this will probably double my vote in the north of England." In another part of the recording, Bloom says, in reference to a ruling from the European court of human rights: "You can torture people to death but you jolly well can't give them a full life sentence because that's against their human rights. "We can't hang them because we're now a member of the European Union and it's embedded in the treaty of Rome. "It's a personal thing but I'd hang the bastards myself … Especially for some of these, especially for the guy who hacked the soldier to death. I do hope they would ask me to throw the rope over the beam because I'd be delighted to do so." There have been reports that Ukip has been seeking a higher level of vetting for its prospective MEPs, after Farage admitted a "handful" of its local election candidates had caused the party embarrassment. Bloom's remarks caused outrage among many MPs and campaigners. Rushanara Ali, a shadow development minister, said: "It's just offensive and the kind of thing that should have been consigned to the history books.

It's completely at odds with the 21st century. "If Nigel Farage is serious about getting rid of racism and intolerance in his party, he should take action against politicians who think it's acceptable to speak of people in developing countries in that way." John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said Ukip should "throw him out and stop him standing as an MEP". A spokesman for the Hope, Not Hate campaign said Bloom's remarks were reminiscent of the "Tory party of 1985", when Alan Clark provoked outrage by referring to Africa as "bongo bongo land" in an official meeting. Bloom has previously caused controversy over some of his comments about women. The MEP was criticised for asking why businesses would ever hire "a lady of child-bearing age" and once said he wanted to get involved in women's rights issues because "I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough".

Editorial: Racist expressions have been legitimised by their use by elected politicians and, worse, the government itself Published: 9 Aug 2013 Alan Sked, who founded Ukip in 1993 but later quit due to claims of racism in party, says New Deal is a centre-left rival to Labour Published: 8 Sep 2013 August is suppposed to be a quiet time for politics.

But from 'fruitcake' tests to racist comments, Ukip has been making headlines with one PR disaster after another, reports Leo Benedictus Published: 25 Aug 2013 Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom defends himself against claims his complaints about sending aid money to 'bongo bongo land' were racist Published: 9 Aug 2013 UKIP's Godfrey Bloom: 'Bongo-Bongo Land' MEP in new rant about women drivers - Mirror Online News UKIP's Godfrey Bloom: 'Bongo-Bongo Land' MEP in new rant about women drivers In an astonishing and wide-ranging outburst, he branded women as bad drivers who cannot reverse as well as men Share Blooming heck: UKip MEP Godfrey Bloom (Photo: PA) Share Get politics updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email The ranting UKIP politician who said Britain should not give aid to “Bongo-Bongo Land” was slammed again yesterday for putting his mouth in motion without his brain in gear. In an astonishing and wide-ranging outburst, MEP Godfrey Bloom branded women as bad drivers who cannot reverse as well as men.

He also said women are genetically programmed to be less keen on work than men. Shadow minister Rushanara Ali said: “Godfrey Bloom seems to be on a mission to offend as many people as possible. “When he’s not talking about ‘Bongo-Bongo Land’ he’s spouting nonsense about the difference between men and women. “He is exposing the true face of UKIP, and it’s not pretty.” Mr Bloom’s rant included the claim that “modern feminism was spawned in the bra-burning 1970s by rather shrill, bored middle class women of a certain physical genre” who “represented few women”. They were supported by “slightly effete politically correct chaps who get sand kicked in their face on the beach”, the MEP said. He also listed what he thinks are the differences between the sexes. Mr Bloom said: “Most men can reverse a car better than a woman. “Most wives do not regard putting petrol in the car as any part of their responsibility.

"Men cannot see the point in making a bed if you are going to get back in it tonight.” He boasted he is “just about as Alpha” as a man can be, adding: “I am not a ‘new man’, would not be caught dead at the birth of a baby and [would be] happy to punch the first man who tries to steal my beer.” In another section he said executives at FTSE100 companies are “socially dysfunctional” and should be “ashamed” of working long hours if they rarely see their wives and children. He added: “I think a very significant number of women would think the same. "Especially with an inbuilt, genetic predisposition to give family a higher priority.” Video Loading Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now The remarks, made on German website ScienceFiles.org, came to light yesterday shortly after it emerged the MEP had made the Bongo-Bongo Land remark at a meeting in July after saying that overseas aid was being spent on Ferraris. He was condemned by race campaigners but insisted he is not racist.

He also said yesterday: “If I’ve offended anybody in Bongo-Bongo Land I shall write to the ambassador at the court of St James and apologise to him personally.” UKIP leader Nigel Farage has been urged to sack Mr Bloom but instead told the MEP to stop using the phrase. Mr Farage last night said on Twitter: “Godfrey 100% right over foreign aid budget but pleased he’s apologised over the wrong language he used.” Last night a UKIP spokesman defended Mr Bloom’s web rant, adding: “He has a fair point about attacking FTSE100 people for not giving a s*** about family. "So I don’t think the bit about women being more disposed to look after children is contentious at all.” UKIP hoisted by their Bloomers Leader: Nigel Farage (Photo: Reuters) Godfrey Bloom’s rant about women drivers is the latest in a long line of outrageous comments by the UK Independence Party’s MEP. Bloom once declared that “no self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age”. The remark came just weeks after he was appointed to the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in 2004.

Around the same time, he said: “I just don’t think [women] clean behind the fridge enough.” And he said: “I am here to represent Yorkshire women who always have dinner on the table when you get home.” Bloom later claimed that he made the comment “for fun” to illustrate a more serious point, that equal-rights legislation was in fact putting women out of work. He once wrote he had visited brothels in Hong Kong – without taking advantage of the services on offer – and claimed that “terrified young women beaten into prostitution often from Eastern Europe ... is only a very small aspect of the flesh trade”. “In short, most girls do it because they want to,” he added, in a Brussels political magazine.

Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Ukip MEP: 'bongo bongo land' is not racist because it refers to antelope | Politics | The Guardian Ukip MEP: 'bongo bongo land' is not racist because it refers to antelope Godfrey Bloom says dictionary defines bongo as white forest-dwelling animal Thursday 8 August 2013 09.01 EDT First published on Thursday 8 August 2013 09.01 EDT Close This article is 3 years old Godfrey Bloom , the senior Ukip politician under fire for referring to "bongo bongo land", has come up with another reason why the phrase is not racist – it refers to a white antelope. The MEP said the expression was "not racist at all" because the dictionary defined the "bongo" as a white forest-dwelling animal. Bloom had previously issued a qualified apology to anyone "genuinely offended" by the phrase, following pressure from his party leader, Nigel Farage. However, on Thursday morning he was back on the airwaves defending the expression once again.

"If anybody would care to take the trouble to get out the Oxford dictionary this morning and look it up, you'll find that bongo is a white antelope, lives in the forest, there is no connotation of racism about it whatsoever," he said. "Bongo land is the land of the antelope. "Some people have interpreted it as a racist remark but there is no evidence in any dictionary at all that it implies racism." Bloom this week found himself at the centre of a furore after he was recorded calling for an end to foreign aid going to "bongo bongo land" , sparking accusations the phrase had racist connotations. MPs and campaigners have pointed out that Alan Clark, the former Tory minister, was first at the centre of a "race row" 30 years ago for using the phrase during a Foreign Office meeting to refer to African countries. Dictionaries define the word "bongo" as either a small drum beaten with the fingers or a red-brown antelope found in Africa. As the controversy continued into its second day, David Cameron waded into the row , describing the comments as "offensive" and representative of a "sort of 'stop the world, I want to get off' approach" to politics.

Bloom has admitted he did not know what he meant by the phrase, but that "maybe" it could have been said in relation to African countries. He also suggested the phrase could have been "misconstrued by President Bongo of the Gambon", apparently referring to President Ali Bongo of Gabon. Speaking to Channel 4 News on Wednesday, the MEP said he had simply meant to describe "corrupt despots across the globe … who either spend the money we give them on arms or who misdirect it". Asked whether Farage thought the phrase was racist, Bloom said: "I think he does and it's a generation thing … If he tells me so it must be so." He later walked out of the Channel 4 interview in frustration at the questioning. The row is another example of the challenge facing Farage as he forges Ukip's reputation for straight-talking politics at the same time as pledging to wipe out any intolerance among its ranks. In an interview with Public Service Europe this week, he said: "It is a very difficult balance because on the one hand we are a non-politically-correct party that believes in free speech and debate, and we welcome strong-minded individuals that aren't just cardboard cut-out human beings.

But on the other hand, we can't allow the basic Ukip message to be taken by extremism or by lunatics bringing it into disrepute. It's a difficult line to tread." Bloom's original comments, first reported by the Guardian, were made to a meeting of supporters in the West Midlands last month. In the recording he said: "How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month when we're in this sort of debt to bongo bongo land is completely beyond me. "To buy Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it that goes with most of the foreign aid. F-18s for Pakistan. We need a new squadron of F-18s. Who's got the squadrons? Pakistan, where we send the money." The party's leadership asked Bloom not to use the phrase again after MPs and anti-racism campaigners called for him to be excluded from their list of candidates for the European elections, which are due to be announced this week. Rushanara Ali, a shadow development minister, said the party should take action against Bloom if Farage was "serious about getting rid of racism and intolerance" in his party.

Steve Crowther, the Ukip chairman, later said: "We are asking Godfrey not to use this phrase again, as it might be considered disparaging by members from other countries. However, foreign aid is an extremely important debate that needs wider discussion." Two months ago Farage ensured an Italian MEP was expelled from Ukip's European alliance for saying a black minister in Italy was part of a "government of bongo bongo" who would want to impose "tribal traditions", and would be better suited as a housekeeper. Editorial: Racist expressions have been legitimised by their use by elected politicians and, worse, the government itself Published: 9 Aug 2013 Alan Sked, who founded Ukip in 1993 but later quit due to claims of racism in party, says New Deal is a centre-left rival to Labour Published: 8 Sep 2013 August is suppposed to be a quiet time for politics.

But from 'fruitcake' tests to racist comments, Ukip has been making headlines with one PR disaster after another, reports Leo Benedictus Published: 25 Aug 2013 Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom defends himself against claims his complaints about sending aid money to 'bongo bongo land' were racist Published: 9 Aug 2013 Take note, Ukip: political discourse isn’t a free-for-all - Telegraph Personal View Take note, Ukip: political discourse isn’t a free-for-all Many floating voters are wary of a politician who presents bigotry as plain speaking. Godfrey Bloom’s remarks are a fork in the road for Nigel Farage Godfrey Bloom claims not "to do" political correctness. But what is often lazily dismissed as political correctness is simple politeness Photo: REX FEATURES By Matthew d’Ancona Comments You know that the silly season is upon us when the foolish remarks of a fringe member of a fringe party are front-page news. Yet the use of the phrase “Bongo Bongo land” by the Ukip MEP, Godfrey Bloom, was more than a lapse of taste and judgment. It raises important questions about political language in general and the prospects of Ukip in particular.

The rise of Nigel Farage’s party has been one of the main political trends of the past year, prompting fears in Tory ranks of an organic split on the Right. The Ukip leader insists that he should be included in the 2015 leaders’ debates. His party is expected to do well, perhaps even to win, next year’s European elections. So what Ukip’s senior representatives say matters rather more than it used to. The controversy stirred by the MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire deserves its media prominence. In his recorded declaration to a group of activists in the West Midlands, Bloom said: “How we can possibly be giving £1 billion a month, when we’re in this sort of debt, to Bongo Bongo land is completely beyond me. To buy Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it that goes with most of the foreign aid.” For this, he was forced by his party’s leadership to issue a barely there apology – but insisted on Channel 4 News that “I didn’t feel that I’d done anything wrong”. In the same interview, Bloom claimed that his candour had “started a national debate” on international development. But the opposite is true.

I happen to support the ring-fencing of the aid budget, and particularly recommend the writings of Prof Paul Collier, the Oxford economist, who advised the Prime Minister on the G8 and has become a centre-Right guru on development issues. I also see that – especially in times of domestic austerity – there is a legitimate counter-argument and a discussion to be had. But using a term like “Bongo Bongo land” is not an invitation to a debate. It is an ugly declaration of bigoted certainty, crass xenophobia dressed up as pub banter. It is so roundly dismissive of the countries that receive aid – many of them scarred by famine and millennial poverty – that one wonders what sort of discussion Bloom could conceivably have had in mind. Related Articles 'Bongo bongo land' Ukip MEP unrepentant 07 Aug 2013 Like a diplomat brandishing his immunity, the MEP also claimed that he was exempt from the criticisms levelled at him on the grounds that “I don’t do political correctness”.

He insisted upon this in the way that a child might announce a parental letter letting him off PE or warning of a nut allergy: “Dear Mr Cameron, Godfrey has a sore head and will be unable to do Political Correctness today. Please allow him to stay with matron during all discussion of sub‑Saharan Africa…” etc. If any phrase illustrates the importance of language and its accurate deployment in political discourse, it is “political correctness”. These two words once had real meaning, referring to a genuinely sinister bid, most potent in the Eighties and early Nineties, to purge US campuses of teachers who did not sign up to an ultra-Left approach to race, gender, sexuality and culture. The impact of this menacing phenomenon is beautifully memorialised in Philip Roth’s novel The Human Stain, David Mamet’s play Oleanna, and Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind. A lesser strain swept through the town halls and local education authorities (LEAs) of this country in the Eighties, as the far Left, defeated at national level, took refuge in the municipalities.

This bizarre hybrid of censorship and cultural relativism did immense damage in schools but was pushed into full retreat by the erosion of the LEAs — a long battle now in its final phase under Michael Gove’s successful captaincy. “Political correctness”, in other words, is a phrase with very particular historical origins and significance. Unfortunately, it has been debauched by over-use to the point where it is almost meaningless – and it is to David Cameron’s credit that he said as much during his leadership campaign in 2005. It is not “politically correct” to stop children calling each other “spastic” or “gay” in the playground. It is not “politically correct” for schools and employers to offer (for instance) practising Muslims the opportunity to pray and, where possible, halal food. It is not “politically correct” to say that Little Black Sambo, published in 1899, is no longer an appropriate book for the classroom. What is lazily dismissed as “political correctness” is often simple politeness, an example of our adaptive civilisation. This is a country of evolutionary change, successfully pluralist for millennia because of a national genius for good manners and peaceful coexistence.

This is why Enoch Powell, so right about monetarism and the problems that membership of the Common Market would entail, was so wrong to predict, with Virgil, that the river would foam “with much blood”. We are an island people constantly modifying our composition and our relationship with the rest of the world. This is a capacity – patriotic rather than nationalist — that any true Conservative should celebrate. It is often asserted that phrases like “Bongo Bongo land” only trouble a tiny Guardian-reading minority in Islington or those in the “Westminster bubble”, and that beyond these enclaves of liberal opinion such rugged language is not only accepted but celebrated. I do not believe such a sharp divide exists: the spectrum of opinion is much broader. There may indeed be some who inwardly cheered Bloom’s choice of words. But there will be many – including, crucially, some who agree with his position on aid – who felt queasy at the use of such antediluvian language. There is an amorphous mass of floating voters, those who decide marginal seats, who are wary of any politician who presents bigotry as plain talking and seems unable to make his case without recourse to crude language.

Bloom claims that “it’s a generation thing”, as if he were a Chelsea Pensioner baffled by the world today. But he is only 63, born a year and a half after the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury with the first large contingent of West Indian immigrants; he grew up in a post-imperial, post-Suez world. Bloom is considerably younger than Keith Richards and Sir Paul McCartney. If he talks like a character from Rider Haggard, that is a matter of choice, not generational inevitability. Ukip is presently a campaign body that does well in European elections because of PR, and in by-elections as a magnet for the protest vote previously mopped up by the Lib Dems. If Farage’s party is to become a force at Westminster, it has to attract more than a coalition of the outraged, the disenfranchised and anti‑Cameron defectors. A political party is not a free-for-all. It is a disciplined organisation dedicated to the acquisition and retention of power. To a greater extent than has been acknowledged, this is a fork in the road for Farage. Is Bloom really the sort of candidate his party will be putting up next year and in the general election?

Until he answers that question, we shall not know how great Farage’s ambitions truly are. UKIP's Nigel Farage gives the weather forecast on video | Daily Mail Online comments He has endured a few political storms in his time. So Nigel Farage relished the opportunity to predict the weather himself, as he took a light-hearted view of UKIP's recent gaffes in a spoof forecast. The Eurosceptic party leader also pulled no punches pointing out the more unsavoury elements of his Westminster rivals in a mock sequence on the BBC's Sunday Politics show. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Spoof: Mr Farage delivered a satirical take on the weather for the BBC's Sunday Politics 'Barmy': The broadcast warned that all political parties contain people with unpalatable views Mr Farage took the chance to respond to fury at remarks by David Silvester, a UKIP councillor who was suspended for linking recent flooding in Britain to the legalisation of gay marriage. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Mr Silvester caused outrage - and was suspended from the party - after he wrote a letter to his local paper in Henley-on-Thames saying that extreme weather was a punishment visited upon Britain by God after David Cameron pushed through new legislation.

But Mr Farage brushed the incident off as 'a storm in a teacup' and reminded viewers that other parties also harbour embarrassing elements. 'Storm in a teacup': Mr Farage sought to play down the implications of UKIP councillor David Silvester's remarks linking gay marriage with flooding Scandal: Mr Farage raised the case of Tory MP Aidan Burley, who organised a Nazi-themed party in a French ski resort He told viewers to beware of 'outbreaks of sometimes barmy, occasionally extremist views from people of all political persuasions'. Mr Farage then named-checked Simon Parkes, a Labour councillor in Whitby, who claims that his 'real mother' is a 9ft green alien with eight fingers, as will as a Lib Dem in Wales who was jailed after setting off explosions. Mr Farage also touched on the scandal of Tory MP Aidan Burley, who organised a Nazi-themed party in a French ski resort. The Mail on Sunday today published further claims that Mr Burley had lied to a formal inquiry into his behaviour. He opened his mock broadcast by promising to cover the weather for 'All areas of the British Isles...

but definitely not Bongo Bongo land', in reference to remarks by former UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom attacking the UK's commitment to international aid. 'Avoid light aircraft': The UKIP leader made a self-deprecating reference to the 2010 plane crash he was involved in Typical: The spoof sequence inevitably showed Mr Farage against a backdrop of beer The political fortunes of his party also got a mentioned, as Mr Farage focussed on 'rising temperatures' ahead of the European elections this May, in which UKIP hopes to make significant gains. In a self-deprecating move he also advised viewers to 'avoid light aircraft' - a reference to his own misfortunes on the day of the last general election. Mr Farage was rushed to hospital on 6 May 2010 after the light aircraft he was flying in crashed in a field. The plane was dragging a UKIP campaign banner behind it. The UKIP leader was also unable to resist taking a swipe at the European Union. He diverted from the UK's weather to warn that anyone visiting Brussels, where the European Parliament sits, faces 'a warm front of relentless hot air'. Godfrey Bloom: Bongo bongo's not racist...

it means antelope | UK | News | Daily Express UK Godfrey Bloom: Bongo bongo's not racist... it means antelope CONTROVERSIAL Euro MP Godfrey Bloom was yesterday under fire from the Prime Minister but denied his “bongo bongo land” phrase was racist, claiming it simply referred to... antelopes. 00:00, Fri, Aug 9, 2013 The MEP has denied the comment is racist David Cameron defended the Government’s soaring overseas aid budget and condemned the Ukip politician’s comments as “offensive”. But undeterred, Mr Bloom told ITV’s Daybreak: “These have been interpreted as racist comments, they are not racist at all.

“If anybody would care to take the trouble to get out the Oxford dictionary and look it up, you’ll find that bongo is a white antelope, lives in the forest, there is no connotation of racism about it whatsoever.” Mr Bloom, the MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, was rebuked by his party leadership earlier this week for saying in a speech to activists: “How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month, when we’re in this sort of debt, to bongo bongo land is completely beyond me.” Speaking on BBC Breakfast yesterday, Mr Cameron said: “I think it is an offensive remark anyway but what I think is wrong is this sort of ‘stop the world, I want to get off’ approach just doesn’t work. “Britain is a very open international country. The problems elsewhere come and visit us. So it makes sense I think to have an overseas aid programme that helps solve these problems at source.” Mr Cameron argued that giving overseas aid helped to cut immigration.

He went on: “I would say to people, even if you are not persuaded of the moral case for helping the poorest people in the world, there is actually a national self- interest that if we invest in these countries we can stop the mass migration.” In the past, Mr Cameron en­raged Ukip supporters by denouncing their party as a bunch of “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists”. But Conser­vative backbencher Philip Davies yesterday said: “Whatever people make of the language, in terms of the substance of the message I don’t doubt that the majority of the public is on Godfrey Bloom’s side.” Mr Bloom’s speech to activists at a Ukip meeting last month emerged on the internet earlier this week. He was ordered not to use the phrase again by Ukip’s leader Nigel Farage. In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Bloom conceded that the words “under certain circumstances could be interpreted as pejorative to individuals and possibly cause offence”. Labour’s shadow international development minister Rushanara Ali said: “It’s offensive for sure and the public have shown that they find it offensive.

“So I think Mr Bloom should apologise, it would do him good, it would do his party good.” Most read in UK Godfrey Bloom: Sending aid to Africa is treason, says unrepentant UKIP man in 'Bongo Bongo land' storm | Daily Mail Online comments Unrepentant: Mr Bloom, his wife Katryna and their terrier chippy yesterday The UKIP politician who complained about Britain sending aid to 'Bongo Bongo land' stormed out of a TV interview after being repeatedly challenged over whether he is racist. MEP Godfrey Bloom declared last night that sending aid to Africa was ‘treason’ and said he had no idea why he can’t refer to the continent as ‘Bongo Bongo land’. Repeatedly quizzed on whether he is a racist, Mr Bloom told Channel 4 News interviewer Krishnan Guru-Murthy: ‘Move on, there’s a good fellow. If you’re not going to move on to serious issues, I’m not going to continue – I can’t be bothered with it.’ He then tore off his earpiece and stormed off.

It was an abrupt ending to a day of Whitehall farce as Mr Bloom engaged in a whirlwind tour of radio and television studios, repeatedly defending himself and making the case against overseas aid. A fresh storm erupted over comments he made opposing women quotas on boards of top City firms, arguing men and women were very different. 'Most women can find the mustard in the pantry quicker than a man, most men can reverse a car better than a woman,' Mr Bloom suggested. He has previously suggested that he wanted to deal with women's issues because: 'I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough.' A former economist, he was elected as an MEP in 2004 and has been making headlines ever since with his views on women, climate change and Germans. But he was slapped on the wrist by party leaders after he was secretly recorded making what critics immediately branded racist comments. He told supporters in the Midlands that foreign leaders who received aid spent the money on ‘Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it’.

In the recording, the MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber says: ‘How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month when we’re in this sort of debt to Bongo Bongo land is completely beyond me.’ RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share UKIP leader Nigel Farage ordered Mr Bloom to stop using the term and the under-fire MEP issued a carefully-worded statement apologising if he had caused ‘genuine offence’. David Cameron weighed into the row today, branding Mr Bloom's remarks 'offensive' and defending the use of British taxpayers' money for overseas aid. He said: 'I think it is an offensive remark anyway, but what I think is wrong is this sort of "stop the world, I want to get off" approach just doesn't work. 'Britain is a very open international country. The problems elsewhere come and visit us. So it makes sense I think to have an overseas aid programme that helps solve these problems at source,' he told BBC Breakfast. Going: Mr Bloom starts to get annoyed during interview with Channel 4 News... Going: The MEP whips off his earpiece...

Gone: And waves goodbye to interviewer 'WOMEN CAN'T REVERSE A CAR AND MEN DON'T NEED TO MAKE THE BED' Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Or in Godfrey Bloom's case, men are better at reversing cars while women can find condiments in the pantry and fret about wet towels left on beds. The bowler-hat wearing 63-year-old as gained a reputation for his outspoken views. His latest musings on the differences between the sexes emerged in an article railing against setting quotes for the number of women on the boards of FTSE 100 companies. Mr Bloom argued that women have a 'genetic predisposition' to prioritise family over working hard. 'Most women can find the mustard in the pantry quicker than a man, most men can reverse a car better than a woman,' he said in an article. 'Men and women care about different things on a micro-scale. Leaving the lavatory seat up, wet towels on the bed and the top left off the toothpaste will drive a wife mad. 'A man simply cannot understand what the problem is. Most wives do not regard putting petrol in the car as any part of their responsibility.

'Men cannot see the point in making the bed if you are going to get back in it tonight.' He also boasted of being 'just about as Alpha' as a man can be. 'I am not a 'new man', would not be caught dead at the birth of a baby and [would be] happy to punch the first man who tries to steal my beer,' he said in the article last month. He also lashed out at modern feminism 'spawned in the bra burning 1970s by rather shrill, bored, middleclass women of a certain physical genre'. He said they represented few women but are now supported by 'the slightly effete politically correct chaps who get sand kicked in their face on the beach'. But Mr Bloom has refused to say sorry and insisted he had not done anything wrong. ‘What I’m not doing is apologising,’ he said. Last night an unrepentant Mr Bloom said he did not understand why Mr Farage had censored him. He added: ‘I didn’t feel I had done anything wrong, I mean, I’m 63 years old, that’s the sort of phraseology we used years ago.

‘He’s a younger man than me and I don’t see it that way but if he tells me it’s so, it must be so.’ Asked by the BBC where ‘Bongo Bongo land’ was, Mr Bloom said: ‘I don’t know where Ruritania is either – there is no such place of course is there? Like the Third World. Where is the Third World?’ Later he conceded: ‘It might have been misconstrued by President Bongo of the Gambon, he may have thought I was talking about him. ‘If he is offended, I shall write to his excellency in short order and say, “I’m very sorry I wasn’t talking about you”. Ali Bongo is president of Gabon, not Gambon. In another interview, Mr Bloom said the Government was committing treason by sending taxpayers’ money abroad while things were so tight at home. He said: ‘If you’re fed up with £1billion a month going abroad with no audit trail when we’re cutting our police and hospitals, vote for me.

If you don’t believe that’s treason – treason, I use the word advisedly – that’s how I feel.’ The original recording was leaked to the The Guardian newspaper, and a bullish Mr Bloom declared: ‘Look, my job is to upset the Guardian and the BBC – I love it, I love it. I don’t do political correctness.’ He added: ‘When a country has a trillion pounds of debt and we’re cutting our hospitals, our police force and we’re destroying our defence services, that money should stay at home. ‘People who want to give money to worthwhile charities, that is for the individual citizens. It’s not for the likes of David Cameron to pick our pockets and send money to charities of his choice.’ He added: ‘There are people in this country who can’t get treatment for cancer. There are people who are waiting in a queue for dialysis machines. Money should stay at home. Charity begins at home.

'I’m standing up for ordinary people at the pub, the cricket club, the rugby club, the sort of people who remain completely unrepresented under the political system that we have.’ The son of a Second World War fighter pilot, Mr Bloom – known to friends as ‘Godders’ – grew up in London and spent 40 years working as an economist in the City. He has been married to Katryna, a physiotherapist who hails from Poland, for nearly 30 years. Mr Bloom drifted into politics after being asked to write a research note on the single currency in the mid-1990s. ‘I gave it ten years before it started to inwardly collapse,’ he recalls. ‘I’ve been proved right in spades.’ Mr Farage, then a City colleague and drinking companion, persuaded him to join the party. He was elected as an MEP in 2004. Laura Pidcock, from campaign group Show Racism The Red Card, said Mr Bloom’s comments were ‘incredibly damaging’. 'I didn’t feel I had done anything wrong.

I mean, I’m 63 years old, that’s the sort of phraseology we used years ago' UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom She added: ‘It is highly offensive and what he meant by it isn’t important – it’s the outcome that’s important.’ Shadow international development secretary Rushanara Ali said: ‘These are an offensive and narrow-minded set of remarks.’ Mr Farage tweeted: ‘Godfrey 100 per cent right over foreign aid budget but pleased he’s apologised over the wrong language he used.’ But within two hours, Mr Bloom was back on the television declaring that he had no idea why ‘Bongo Bongo land’ was considered racist. ‘I was describing corrupt despots across the globe who have no audit facilities at all, who either spend the money we give them on arms or they misdirect it,’ he said. UKIP's Godfrey Bloom under fire over 'demeaning' joke - BBC News BBC News UKIP's Godfrey Bloom under fire over 'demeaning' joke 20 September 2013 Read more about sharing.

Close share panel Media captionUKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom: "I made a joke and said oh well you're all sluts and everybody laughed including all the women" A UKIP politician has had the party whip removed after joking that a group of female activists were "sluts". MEP Godfrey Bloom made the comments while addressing a "women in politics" event at UKIP's annual conference. Challenged afterwards, he said it had been a joke. The remark prompted laughter from some of those present. But UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he believed disciplinary action should be taken, since the row had overshadowed his earlier conference speech. Mr Farage said he did not have the power to suspend him without the authority of the party chairman and governing executive but would recommend sanctions against the Yorkshire and Humber MEP who he said had "gone beyond the pale". Media captionBloom's comments courtesy Huffington Post UK UKIP chairman Steve Crowther later confirmed the whip would be removed from Mr Bloom, suspending him from formal involvement in party business. The sanction does not affect his position as an MEP. In a fringe meeting at the party's annual conference in London, Mr Bloom made reference to previous comments he had made about women not cleaning behind the fridge.

When the women at the meeting said they had never cleaned behind their fridges, he said: "This place is full of sluts." 'Behind the fridge' He was appearing on a panel with three female UKIP activists. Confronted afterwards about his remarks, Mr Bloom said: "It was fun. It was a joke and most people in Britain have a sense of humour." He said he was using the word as it was originally intended. "It means you're untidy, you leave your kit lying around," he told BBC's Newsnight. Recent UKIP gaffes In September, UKIP leader Nigel Farage defended claims about his schooldays after Channel 4 claimed to have a letter from his teachers from 1981, who described him as "fascist" and a "bully". In August, MEP Godfrey Bloom was filmed on camera saying British aid should not be sent to "Bongo Bongo Land". In footage obtained by the Guardian he said payments were being used to buy items like sunglasses and luxury cars. He later said he regretted his remarks. Former UKIP member Chris Pain stepped down as regional chairman after a Sunday Mirror investigation in May revealed alleged racist comments he posted on Facebook.

He was expelled from the party in September for undisclosed reasons. The Sun newspaper in May revealed Bradley Monk, a former Hampshire County Council UKIP candidate, had posted a picture of himself online wearing a Jimmy Savile mask at a Halloween party. He later apologised, saying it was a "harmless joke". Local election candidate for Somerset Alex Wood was suspended from UKIP after pictures appeared of him apparently making a "Nazi-style" salute in April. Another UKIP candidate, Richard Delingpole, caused a storm in May by posting a doctored image of himself standing next to Adolf Hitler. UKIP local councillor candidate Geoffrey Clark was suspended in December 2012 after calling for an NHS review to look at compulsory abortion of foetuses with Down's syndrome or spina bifida in his online manifesto. Laughter can clearly be heard following his comment in an audio recording from inside the meeting, which has been published by the Huffington Post website . One of the women present, Janice Atkinson - who is a prospective candidate for the party in next year's European elections - said she did not take offence at the remark. She suggested that people were "out to get" Mr Bloom after a string of recent controversial comments.

Mr Bloom was later filmed hitting Channel 4 News reporter Michael Crick over the head with a party leaflet after he asked him why there were no non-white faces on a campaign flyer. He responded by accusing the journalist of being "racist". In his conference speech later, the MEP told activists it was "good to know who your real friends are". The word "slut" has different meanings to different generations. It is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "a woman of dirty, slovenly or untidy habits or appearance" or "a woman of low or loose character". 'Racist' Mr Bloom - who sits on the European Parliament's women's rights and gender equality committee - provoked controversy last month when he talked about British foreign aid going to "bongo-bongo land" - a reference to third world countries. Asked about the latest furore, Diane James - one of the most senior female figures in the party - said the language was "demeaning" but "did not reflect the views" of most UKIP members. Despite his friendship with Mr Bloom, Mr Farage indicated that he had lost patience with him and his behaviour was distracting from the party's electoral success and new policy initiatives.

Explaining the suspension to party members, he said: "It's all about Godfrey hitting a journalist and using an unpleasant word. It's gone. And we can't put up with it. "We can't have any one individual however fun or flamboyant or entertaining or amusing they are, we cannot have any one individual destroying Ukip's national conference and that is what he's done today." 'Earthquake' The row came just hours after Mr Farage hailed the progress that the party had made in the past 18 months and predicted the party would win next year's European elections. "My ambition and my conviction is that we can come first across the United Kingdom," he told activists in his conference speech. Media captionNigel Farage: "Godfrey has gone beyond the pale and I think we have no option but to remove the whip" "Let us send an earthquake through Westminster politics and let's say we want our country back." Britain would prosper outside the EU, he argued, and talk of its losing trade was not credible. The party sought to broaden its appeal beyond its core message of EU withdrawal, announcing policies in recent days on energy and welfare.

But, in a speech dominated by Europe, Mr Farage said the European Commission had "hijacked" the EU's original ideals and the UK would begin a process of "national renewal" by going its own way. UKIP ‘bongo bongo’ politician quits over ‘joke’ | The Voice Online UKIP ‘bongo bongo’ politician quits over ‘joke’ Godfrey Bloom was widely criticised for calling women ‘sl*ts’ during party conference Written by Bart Chan 24/09/2013 12:57 PM Image Text: QUITTING: Godfrey Bloom (PA) CONTROVERSIAL AND highly gaffe-prone politician Godfrey Bloom has announced he is quitting his UKIP MEP role after he called women “sl*ts” at the party conference last week. In a statement, he said he will retain his party membership but is to act as an independent for the rest of his term in the European Parliament. Bloom said that he “felt for some time” UKIP had become a party that no longer suited him.

“I have felt for some time now that the 'New UKIP' is not really right for me, any more, perhaps, than New Labour was right for the Dennis 'The beast of Bolsover' Skinner”, read the statement. He added that it had been a “pleasure” working with UKIP’s “loyal membership” for 15 years. Last week the party whip was removed from the Yorkshire and Humber MEP after he was recorded saying women who did not clean behind fridges are “sl*ts”. Bloom defended himself saying that it was said in jest and he was using the word for its old-fashioned meaning of untidy. He also generated a stir when he labelled Channel 4 News reporter Michael Crick as “racist” when the journalist questioned why there were only white faces on a UKIP brochure. Bloom then proceeded to angrily hit Crick over the head with the party pamphlet. The outspoken MEP also generated a storm last month when comments emerged of him criticising British foreign aid going to “bongo bongo land” – a term considered derogatory to developing African countries. In 2010, Bloom was ejected from the European Parliament when he made a “Nazi salute” to a German counterpart.

Speaking last week about Bloom’s latest Blunder, UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Bloom’s remarks about women were “beyond the pale” and overshadowed the conference. He said Bloom was doing “his best to garner as many headlines as possible, and you can laugh occasionally”, adding that his future “doesn’t look very good”. Posted on: 24/09/2013 12:57 PM Facebook Comments UKIP ‘bongo bongo’ politician calls women ‘sl**s' | The Voice Online UKIP ‘bongo bongo’ politician calls women ‘sl**s' Godfrey Bloom makes latest gaffe to embarrass party and blasts reporter as 'racist' Written by Bart Chan 20/09/2013 03:56 PM Image Text: OUTRAGE: Godfrey Bloom loses his cool with a reporter UK INDEPENDENCE Party politician Godfrey Bloom who recently made headlines for describing foreign countries as “bongo bongo land” has landed himself in another political storm after calling women “sl**s”. Bloom said the words while giving a talk at a “women in politics” event during UKIP’s conference in Westminster, central London.

Immediately after being challenged about his choice of phrasing, Bloom claimed he was making a joke and that it had elicited laughs from the audience. In a BBC interview, UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the party whip should be removed from Bloom for his “beyond the pale” comments. Farage said he did not have the power to “kick out” Bloom from the party, because it is not within the party’s constitution, but said that decision lies with the UKIP chairman. He added that he was “very, very unhappy” with Bloom and that his outburst is overshadowing the party conference and that “there comes a point where people cross too far over a line”. Diane James, of UKIP, said Bloom’s reference to women was “unacceptable”. WATCH: Godfrey Bloom's "racist" accusation to reporter and leaflet hit Bloom has also been filmed hitting a Channel 4 reporter over the head with a leaflet when being questioned on the street about the derogatory comments.

Defending himself, Bloom said: “All the girls said, 'None of us clean behind the back of the fridge' and I made a joke and said this place is full of sluts.” He added that female members of the audience had “laughed”. The outspoken and controversial politician, who is an MEP, was last month widely criticised last month after it emerged he spoke about British foreign aid going to “bongo bongo land”, a term seen as particularly degrading to African countries. Also, Bloom was thrown out of the European Parliament in 2010 for making a Nazi salute to a German counterpart. Adding fuel to the fire at the UKIP conference, Bloom slammed reporter Michael Crick as a “racist” for questioning why there were no non-white faces on the party conference brochure. The MEP then furiously smacked the journalist over the head with the party literature and stormed off saying he "won't tolerate racist people". Posted on: 20/09/2013 03:56 PM Facebook Comments

Question: Which Ukip politician was in trouble for talking about ‘bongo, bongo land’ in the summer?
Answer: Godfrey Bloom