On Saturday, a Ukip candidate for a council seat in Scotland went viral after saying she would like to see the death penalty reintroduced in the form of the guillotine.
But Gisela Allen expressed even more unconventional views when she was contacted by the Sunday Herald newspaper for a follow-up story, telling the newspaper that she finds gorillas “very attractive” - and that this somehow supports argument about why gay people should not “come out”.
The views of the 84-year-old, who is standing for the Paul Nuttall-led party in the Glasgow Council elections, were widely shared over the weekend thanks to an editorial in the Clydebank Post where she set out her desire to abolish nurseries, golf courses, plastic bags, sex education, free bus passes and LGBT communities.
The extract seized upon by most was her statement on capital punishment:
“I want the death penalty to be re-enacted. It doesn’t necessarily have to be hanging. You could have the guillotine. I think the public is entitled to protection.”
And she said there must be “no sex education in school” adding: “I don’t want any LGBT community - it’s private life, none of anyone’s business.”
It was this line where the Sunday Herald pressed further, and she ventured to compare homosexuality to her experiences volunteering at Glasgow Zoo after her husband died. She said:
“I am not anti-gay – but how can you call that a community? Sex life is everybody’s private affair. You do not come out and declare openly. Do you think I am going all over the city and saying my idea of a sexually-attractive creature is a gorilla? When I go to a zoo and I see a gorilla my hormones go absolutely crazy. I find a gorilla very attractive.”
She also told the newspaper she would castrate violent criminals, is in favour of euthanising the elderly and the sick, and insisted mothers with young children should not work, hence why nurseries should be abolished.
While Allen’s views are largely personal rather than party policy, Nuttall has been among those in the party to back the return of capital punishment in some form.
The Herald quoted an aide to Ukip MEP in Scotland, David Coburn, saying while Allen’s views are not party policy, the candidate’s “personal manifesto” should be put to voters.
On Saturday, Ukip’s head of press, Gawain Towler, told The Independent: “Having been able to read Mrs Allen’s personal manifesto, the people of Garscadden will be able to make their democratic decision as to whether they wish to be represented by her. One of the many fine things about Ukip is that its local councillors are not whipped. It is possible that we might make an exception in this case.”