Paul Nuttall is paying the price for backtracking on yet another claim - this time admitting he did not lose “close, personal friends” in the Hillsborough disaster.
The declaration had appeared on his website, but was taken down on Tuesday and attributed to a blunder by a Ukip press officer.
It follows further claims made under his own name, such as that he was once a professional footballer for Tranmere Rovers, or that he holds a PhD, that he has since had to admit were false.
After the latest embarrassment for Nuttall, Twitter users roasted him with the hashtag ‘#AskPaulNuttall’.
Some of the questions ranged from the pointed...
... to the down-right silly.
Even Nuttall’s claim on his nomination form in the upcoming Stoke by-election that he lived in a property in the constituency he had never set foot in were tackled.
One user also evoked Nuttall’s previous backing for NHS privatisation - something else he has since changed his mind on.
Nuttall had said his press officer was to blame for claiming close friends of his were among the 96 Liverpool fans killed during the Hillsborough disaster.
When confronted with the allegation that appeared twice on his website, Nuttall told Radio City Talk: “I haven’t lost anyone who was a close personal friend, there were people I knew through football and things like that,” he admitted. “I’m sorry about that. I haven’t put that out. That is wrong.”
Ukip press officer Lynda Roughley later issued a statement saying she was “entirely responsible” and offered to resign.
She said: “Paul is a man of great integrity and would not say something he knew to be untrue. It’s me who has made this mistake, and one I feel absolutely terrible about.
“I am frankly mortified at the distress this issue has caused Paul and may have caused to anyone involved with the Hillsborough tragedy.
“I have today offered my resignation. I could not be more sorry.”