UKIP candidate for Kent County Council Geoffrey Clark has been slammed for including a call for forced abortion of disabled people in his manifesto.
The document, which was still live as of 3:00pm today and is titled “PERSONAL MANIFESTO OF GEOFFREY CLARK FOR THE ELECTIONS TO GRAVESHAM COUNCIL”, contains the “matter for the review body to properly consider” under the section “health care and the NHS”:
Other items for review: ceasing all free IVF treatment on the NHS; cutting unecessary waste e.g the destruction of drugs in care homes when residents move on to the next care home or the next world; the pregnancy abortion time limit; compulsory abortion when the foetus is detected as having Downs, Spina Bifida or similar syndrome which, if it is born, could render the child a burden on the state as well as on the family.
Mark Goldring, chief executive of learning disability charity Mencap said in response to the comments:
Mencap is disgusted and horrified by the manifesto of Geoffrey Clarke[sic]. Much has been written about the Paralympics this summer changing attitudes towards disabled people for the better. Yet in the very same year, a council candidate has proposed forced eugenics against disabled people.
It is abhorrent that Geoffrey Clarke sees disabled people solely as a burden, when people with a learning disability lead full lives, and make valuable contributions to their communities and families. We question if he is fit for public office.
Clark’s manifesto also contains, under the section “Our Party’s Image”, the acceptance that:
Any organisation’s image is always improvable, and in my opinion our party’s image is much improvable. Many voters still believe we are the BNP in disguise, are extremists, madmen or dotty.
So he’s right about one thing.
Update
The Guardian‘s Peter Walker has spoken with Clark:
Just had a chat with Ukip man Geoffrey Clarke. He says he’s “not phrased his ideas very well” & doesn’t support the idea himself
— peterwalker99 (@peterwalker99) December 18, 2012
He nonetheless says he likes to be “provocative” and to “think the unthinkable”. He’s sorry for offending people
— peterwalker99 (@peterwalker99) December 18, 2012
I asked him if there was a good way to phrase this idea. He sort of changed the subject
— peterwalker99 (@peterwalker99) December 18, 2012
Update 2
And it looks like Clark’s political career is over, if there was any doubt. UKIP’s head of communications for London, Gawain Towler, has confirmed that he will not be standing for UKIP in any future election.
Update 3
Of course, before all this blew up, UKIP had a very different view on Clark. A spokesman told the Gravesend Reporter, at 12:30 today, that:
The comments in Geoff Clark’s personal manifesto regarding abortion do not represent party policy. As in any party, our members have a range of views and opinions which may not always accord with party policy. Geoff makes clear that this is a personal manifesto, not a party document. Geoff is a hard-working local activist who would make an excellent councillor.
Clark himself also was rather more forthcoming in defense of his manifesto, saying:
They are a burden on the state. The NHS is no longer affordable and some services have to be cut. I’m tired of politicians saying we should cut managers.
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