Become a Member
Marcus Dysch

ByMarcus Dysch, Marcus Dysch

Analysis

Curious Kippers are unpalatable

December 4, 2014 11:26
The Ukip Friends of Israel logo attracted attention on Twitter for joining the pound sign which features in  the party’s own emblem with a Star of David
1 min read

When people discuss Ukip's "odd bedfellows" they are usually referring to the party's questionable partners in the European Parliament. But there is another uneasy alliance fighting for air - Ukip's relationship with British Jewry and Israel supporters.

Tuesday's Ukip Friends of Israel meeting in Westminster was a peculiar event, attended by around 50 party supporters and interested onlookers.

Nigel Farage's "people's army" appeared on this occasion to consist largely of Anglo-Saxon men in their sixties, clad in purple trousers and Ukip-branded ties. There was, admittedly, a smattering of kippot and noticeably Orthodox Jews among them. Women were largely conspicuous by their absence.

The star turn was new Ukip MP Douglas Carswell, who said he shared the concerns of Israel supporters. People should oppose the "hot, dripping, bigotry of the elite who make BBC programmes, the elite in the Foreign Office, the elite in their universities, and their drip, drip of anti-Israel content", he proclaimed.