Paul Nuttall promises candidates in vast majority of the country and a radical manifesto for the party after EU exit

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Ukip has formally launched its general election campaign with a pledge to be the “backbone” in ensuring Britain fully leaves the EU, while promising a radical manifesto charting a future for the party after Brexit.

At the launch in London, the party leader, Paul Nuttall, said he would announce on Saturday where he will stand for parliament, and said the party would have candidates in “the vast majority of the country”.

However, he was forced to defend the new Ukip policy targeting Muslim issues against claims of racism, with two anti-racism campaigners ejected from the venue before he began speaking.

Play Video 0:36 Protesters ejected from Ukip launch – video

With Ukip facing significantly lower poll numbers than at the 2015 election, where it secured nearly 4 million votes but took only one seat, Nuttall promised a more focused approach this time.

“Vote share is important, but it isn’t that important, and we learned that from 2015,” he said. “We’ve got to target more sensibly this time around.”

Nuttall said the polls would rise and dismissed as “utter baloney” a report that the party may only stand in about 100 seats, saying it would step aside in “tens” of seats where firmly pro-Brexit Conservatives were standing.

“There’s a six-week campaign ahead – let’s just see what happens at the time,” he said of the polls.

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Nuttall has experienced an occasionally tough time since taking over from Nigel Farage as leader, failing to win the Stoke Central byelection in February.

Dismissing the snap election as cynical, saying “it is about the protection of the Conservative party, and not the good of this country”, Nuttall insisted Ukip still had a role amid polls showing many voters are switching to the Conservatives.

“Ukip goes into this snap election determined to hold the government’s feet to the fire on Brexit,” he said. “We will act as the government’s backbone in these negotiations. If voters elect a Ukip MP, they can be sure it will be a true Brexiteer.”

Answering questions after the speech, Nuttall said he would not resign if Ukip failed to win any seats. “Would I resign? I don’t think I would, because I think Ukip has a fantastic future ahead,” he said.

Promising a “bold and radical manifesto which is fully costed”, Nuttall gave few details beyond pledging again to “slash” the foreign aid budget and redirect this money to the NHS.

He also addressed what the party calls an “integration” programme, which would ban full-face veils and oblige girls deemed at risk of female genital mutilation to undergo medical checks.

Nuttall said this was wrongly “perceived as being anti-Muslim. It’s all about equality, it’s all about breaking down barriers. It’s all about integrating people into this society”.

Asked if the protesters, who left the event shouting that Ukip was racist, were correct, Nuttall replied: “No, they’re not right. It’s disappointing that certain people in politics don’t want to debate. What they want to do is shout people down.”

He also said Ukip’s national executive would meet later on Friday to decide the fate of Anne Marie Waters, a candidate who has described Islam as evil. He said: “I will be looking at evidence into the things she has said.”

On Ukip’s policies, Nuttall said: “We will be radical, because Ukip is at its best when it is being radical. We will continue to set the agenda, as we have in recent years. Anyone hoping that Ukip is going to fade away from the political scene is going to be bitterly disappointed.”