A Ukip MEP candidate has called Labour MP Jess Phillips “a giant bitch”, as the party’s leader insisted it was still relevant despite performing poorly in the polls.

Carl Benjamin, who runs a YouTube channel under the name Sargon of Akkad and is standing as a Ukip candidate in the South West constituency, was investigated by police over a 2016 tweet saying he “wouldn’t even rape” the Birmingham Yardley MP.

The comment emerged after he was selected as a Ukip candidate in next month’s European parliament elections. He defended it while speaking at the party’s campaign launch on Thursday and renewed his attack on Ms Phillips.

Recent polls suggest Ukip is languishing at around 7 per cent and has lost support to its former leader Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party, which has also leapfrogged Labour and the Conservatives and is on course to win 27 per cent of the vote.

But current Ukip leader Gerard Batten dismissed the row over Mr Benjamin’s comment as he launched the party’s European election campaign in London, saying “the vast mass of people out there couldn’t care less”.

And Mr Benjamin said he would not be “apologising for my crimes against political correctness”, adding: “I hate political correctness.”

He said: “I don’t think women are any different to men in the way we should treat them … I think we should treat women the same as men.

“And that means if a woman is being a giant bitch and laughing at male suicide, I’m going to be a giant dick back to her.”

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The comment received a round of applause from the audience of Ukip candidates and supporters.

Ms Phillips hit back at the YouTuber, writing on Twitter: “Massive bitch aka feminist woman you can’t control. Diddums.

“Carl Benjamin will forever have whatever career he has defined by me, he will hear my name wherever he goes. His whole political life defined by little feminist Jess – that my friends is comedy.”

Mr Benjamin was widely condemned after the emergence of the original tweet in which he responded to the Labour MP talking about rape threats she had received by writing: “I wouldn’t even rape you #antirapethreats #feminismiscancer.”

Mr Batten said the comment was “stupid” and that he did not condone it, but added: “I’ll tell you why I think the vast majority of voters won’t be offended by that in any way. Because they’re normal human beings who realise that someone who earns a living as a YouTuber and does a comedy act is also a normal human being who has political views and is very fierce in their defence of free speech, which is something useful they can contribute to the debate.”

He added: “People are fed up with the politically correct media telling them what is acceptable to say or not acceptable to say. Let’s grow up at bit.”

The chair of Mr Benjamin’s local Ukip branch has called for him to be deselected, saying: “Ukip Swindon wants absolutely nothing to do with Carl Benjamin or his websites. His appearance is not doing Ukip any favours.”

But Mr Batten said: “Whoever you select as a candidate, some people are going to object and some people are going to walk away. That’s the nature of the business.”

He also insisted he was not concerned by recent polls that showed his party was performing badly.

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He dismissed Mr Farage’s new party as “a phony party” and suggested the former Ukip leader was “on a personal ego trip”.

He said: “What is this party? It is one man, it has no constitution that I know of, it has no members (it has subscribers), it has no branch structure, it is not running any candidates in this local election and as far as I know it doesn’t have any plans to run in domestic elections.