Nigel Farage race laws call 'deeply concerning'

Video report by ITV News' Chris Ship

Nigel Farage's call to scrap race equality laws is "deeply concerning", Downing Street has said.

The Ukip leader said he would get rid of "much of" what he called "outdated" race legislation, saying employers needed more freedom to choose who they employ.

He described the current situation as "ludicrous".

Mr Farage - who described his party as "colour-blind" - made the comments in a Channel 4 documentary due to be aired next week.

The comments have been heavily criticised by Mr Farage's political opponents, with Downing Street describing the Ukip leader as "desperate for attention" and Labour saying he showed "breathtaking ignorance".

Speaking to ex-equalities watchdog chief Trevor Phillips for a documentary called Things We Won't Say About Race That Are True, Mr Farage said concern over preventing racial discrimination in employment "would probably have been valid" 40 years ago.

"I don't think it is today," he said.

"If I talked to my children... about the question of race, they wouldn't know what I was talking about," he was reported to have gone on to say."

Criticising current laws, Farage said: "I think the employer should be much freer to make decisions on who she or he employs.

"I think the situation that we now have, where an employer is not allowed to choose between a British-born person and somebody from Poland, is a ludicrous state of affairs.

"I would argue that the law does need changing, and that if an employer wishes to choose, or you can use the word 'discriminate' if you want to, but wishes to choose to employ a British-born person, they should be allowed to do so."

He also described some Muslims in Britain as a "fifth column living within our country, who hate us and want to kill us".

A Number 10 spokesperson said: "Nigel Farage is wrong and desperate for attention.

"The laws are there to protect prople from racial discrimination. It's deeply concerning he doesn't understand that."

Labour's shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan described the comments as "one of the most shocking things I have ever heard from a mainstream politician", accusing Mr Farage of demonstrating "breathtaking ignorance".

The Ukip leader has been forced to defend his remarks, saying they were intended to highlight the progress in race equality in the UK.

He told LBC that small businesses were "actually fearful" of taking on staff because of equality laws.

"They feel very, very pressured by continued legislation and in many cases are actually fearful of taking on staff.

"What I said is this: that if a British employer in small business wants to employ a British person over somebody from Poland they should be able to do that without fear that they contravene discrimination laws. That's all I have said."

Labour leader Ed Miliband added: "Farage's comments are wrong, divisive and dangerous."