Ukip leader's U-turn after urging deportation of doctors for parking tickets

Ukip's Northern Ireland leader has done a rapid U-turn after emphatically saying that foreign doctors should be deported for offences as minor as over-staying their prepaid parking period in a car park.
David McNarry, Ukip's Northern Ireland leader, at the party's manifesto launch at the Park Avenue Hotel in BelfastDavid McNarry, Ukip's Northern Ireland leader, at the party's manifesto launch at the Park Avenue Hotel in Belfast
David McNarry, Ukip's Northern Ireland leader, at the party's manifesto launch at the Park Avenue Hotel in Belfast

David McNarry outlined the draconian policy during an in-depth interview on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show this morning.

The Ukip manifesto proposes that foreigners who commit crimes in the UK will be deported. Mr Nolan asked the Ukip leader in the Province: “Does that include a speeding fine?” Mr McNarry replied: “Yes.”

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Mr Nolan then asked: “What about a parking ticket?” Mr McNarry said: “Yes.”

Mr Nolan asked: “If a foreigner gets a parking ticket, they will be deported?” Mr McNarry replied: “Yes.”

The presenter asked: “So a Polish doctor working really hard in our NHS overstays his 30-minute parking, gets a parking ticket, he will be deported?”

Mr McNarry replied: “It’s a crime, yes.”

Pressed further on whether this was a serious proposition, Mr McNarry said: “It’s called claiming back your country, Stephen.”

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Later in the programme, Mr McNarry then appeared to contradict what he had repeatedly said about deporting people for minor traffic offences. He said: “It has to be a crime that’s been endorsed by the court. Now you’ve just gone overboard...you’re being absolutely silly.”

Without explanation, at the end of the interview Mr McNarry also said: “We can’t have ISIS running our country.”

But less than an hour after the end of the programme, Mr McNarry issued a statement to “clarify” what he had said.

Referring to one caller who had contacted the programme, he said: “George on the Shankill was right. I do need to clarify my remarks on the Nolan Show this morning.

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“Clearly, no-one should be deported for a minor offence. It is only where a very serious offence occurs, followed by due process and subsequent conviction in the courts, that anyone should be deported.

“This morning’s remarks were part of what I considered a silly line of questioning taking an extreme example and blowing it out of all proportion.

“I wanted Stephen Nolan to consider Ukip’s deportation policy seriously and not in an extreme light as he did, geared more to entertainment rather than public information.

“Let me make the position absolutely crystal clear – Ukip would not deport anyone for anything other than a serious offence followed by due process and conviction in the courts. That is our policy on deportation. UKIP have serious policies on migration and deportation.”