Bloom in " Bongo Bongo land" racism row

A senior Ukip politician has been caught on camera saying Britain should not send aid to "bongo bongo land", claiming the recipients lavishly spend the money on luxuries.

Controversial Yorkshire and the Humber MEP Godfrey Bloom was filmed at a meeting of supporters in the West Midlands saying those who received aid spent the money on "Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it".

The video, obtained by the Guardian, also shows Mr Bloom railing against the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for ruling that full life sentences could not be handed down.

In the footage of his July speech at the meeting in Wordsley, near Stourbridge, Mr Bloom says:

A Ukip spokesman told the newspaper Mr Bloom's comments were being "discussed

right at the very highest level of the party".

Later in the speech, but in the same video displayed on the Guardian's website,

he says in reference to the ECHR ruling:

Mr Bloom told the newspaper that his comments were not racist. He said: "What's wrong with that? I'm not a wishy-washy Tory. I don't do political correctness. The fact that the Guardian is reporting this will probably double my vote in the north of England."