“What do you want me to say? I’ve got a reputation for just saying it as it is. My plan is to go down to Clacton, see what the issues are and then we’ll start to campaign” said Banks, who has announced he will be officially launching his “Make Clacton Great Again” campaign tomorrow with his Leave.EU partners Andy Wigmore and Richard Tice.
Whilst Banks said he had a “fabulous day out” in Clacton during last year’s referendum, he also renewed his attacks on UKIP’s former MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell, calling him “wonky jaw”.
The enduring feud between the hard-line Farage loyalist Banks and the moderate, libertarian Carswell originated when former UKIP leader Nigel Farage began to take ever-more-xenophobic stances on immigration in 2015 General Election campaign.
The friction was exacerbated when Carswell chose to support the official Vote Leave campaign rather than the unrelentingly anti-immigrant Leave.EU campaign headed by Banks and Farage.
Banks was forced to apologise after calling Carswell “borderline autistic with mental illness wrapped in” in 2015. However his apology was proved hollow when he renewed his statement, tweeting “I was right the first time, autistic with a touch of mental illness” on 26 March after Carswell resigned from UKIP in March. Banks subsequently deleted the tweet.
Carswell is expected to defend his seat as an independent candidate. Banks, who also left UKIP in March, told the BBC he was meeting party leader Paul Nuttall later today to discuss the possibility of standing for UKIP, potentially delaying the launch of his new right wing populist movement “The Patriotic Alliance”.
The comments made by insurance tycoon Banks today make plain his intention is to run a gutter campaign motivated by ego and personal enmity rather than any concern for the people of Clacton.
HOPE not hate reveals two more extremist candidates from Reform UK, in the latest of a string of embarrassments for the party UPDATE: Just hours…
