Nigel Farage: 'Don't hound Godfrey Bloom out of UKIP'

Godfrey Bloom, the politician who last week joked that a group of female activists who did not clean behind their fridges were "sluts", has said he is quitting UKIP.

In a statement, he said he intended to sit in the European Parliament as an independent until the end of his term.

The leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage, said the comments were unfortunate but that he did not want Godfrey Bloom ''hounded out'' of the party.