A Ukip councillor and candidate for the European Parliament has denied wanting to ban Islam after being accused of sharing a message on Twitter saying that the religion 'has no place" in Britain.
Dr Julia Reid, who is a Ukip councillor and European Parliament candidate in the South West, shared Ukip supporter David Jones' message on Twitter saying that "Islam has no place in the UK [sic] needs banning", according to a snapshot being circulated on the social network.
Since allegedly sharing the message on Monday from Jones, the Ukip candidate has since deleted her account on the social network. The Ukip candidate told HuffPostUK that she did not recall sharing Jones' tweet about Islam and disputed whether the screenshot was accurate.
"As far as I am aware I did not retweet the David Jones tweet - it is not the sort of thing I would retweet - and even so a retweet is not an endorsement.
"I did tweet a reply to Joseph Willits (@josephwillits) to say that I couldn't find the tweet and Steve Rose (@steveplrose) tweeted a link to the alleged retweet, however, when I opened the link the retweet symbol wasn't green, which it should have been if I had retweeted it, so I do not understand why this should have appeared as a retweet under my name."
"I have never called for Islam to be banned in the UK and would not wish for Islam to be banned in the UK or anywhere else."
Reid has so far not explained why she decided to delete her Twitter account. A Ukip spokesman said that party had nothing to add to Reid's current response.
The Ukip candidate warned last April that the acceptance of Sharia courts in Britain could see the "majority of Muslim women" forced to abide by them.
The candidate's controversial comments come months after former Ukip leader Lord Pearson warned that a "dark side" was "moving strongly within Islam".
Ukip MEP Gerard Batten suggested in February that British Muslims should sign a declaration denouncing certain parts of the Qur’an, having previously bemoaned the EU for allowing an "explosion of Mosques" across the European homeland.