The inside word on Bloom by Paul Brand

Today Nigel Farage has kindly credited me with ending Godfrey Bloom's career with UKIP. So how exactly did ITV Calendar end up at the centre of the political storm?

You have to credit Mr Bloom with one thing: he is not afraid of cameras or reporters. In fact, he had just slapped one Channel 4 journalist with a brochure when I decided to track him down and ask him if he thought that kind of behaviour was acceptable. True to form, he agreed an interview. And true to form, he did not hold back, telling me in no uncertain terms that he would do far worse to me or any other journalist if we keep asking him questions he did not like.

Immediately after the interview I phoned a contact at UKIP to explain what had happened. She was horrified. Not only had Bloom overshadowed the UKIP conference with the brochure incident, he had made things worse by being completely unrepentant. With Nigel Farage holding a meeting about Godfrey Bloom's behaviour right that minute, she ran up to tell the leader the contents of my interview.

And now we are told that Mr Bloom's remarks to ITV Calendar were the final straw. Not the 'slutgate' comments about women who clean behind the fridge. Not the physical attack on a Channel 4 journalist. But his inability to recognise that violent behaviour (even if it was only a light slap) is unacceptable, especially for a public official.