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UKIP's leader Paul Nuttall says he wants to bring back the death penalty and he would be willing to kill terrorists and child killers himself.

Mr Nuttall, who is hoping to be elected in Boston and Skegness, said: "I would like to see the death penalty for terrorists and child killers."

Referring to the killers of soldier Lee Rigby, who was stabbed to death in London in 2013, Moors murderer Ian Brady, and terrorists who targeted children, Mr Nuttall said:

"For people who kill a [British] soldier and harm children, I would not have a problem doing it. I believe in capital punishment for treason."

"Opinion polls show the vast majority of people agree with me."

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday Mr Nuttall stressed his support for capital punishment was a personal view, not official UKIP policy, but added: "If enough people called for a referendum on this we would be only too happy to give them one."

But his opinion puts him at odds with former party leader Nigel Farage who opposes the death penalty, mainly because of the risk of a mistake.

Mr Nuttall was also forced to defend one of his party's most controversial policies today - the burqa ban.

He was accused by ITV's Robert Peston of using a 'spurious public health reason' for banning the burqa after his party's manifesto said full face coverings in public places "prevent intake of essential vitamin D from sunlight".

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But Mr Nuttall defended UKIP's position saying: "There is a myriad of medical research which shows that if you don't show your face and the rest of your body to the sun there will be vitamin D deficiency - but that's peripheral."

"What we're talking about is banning face coverings, whether that's the niqab or the burqa or indeed whether that's someone turning up at an EDL march."

Mr Nuttall said that everyone should have to show their face for security reasons saying: "I would ban face coverings in public."

"For CCTV to be effective we need to see people's faces," he said.

But carnival fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

Mr Nuttall revealed: "There's special dispensation for carnivals and things like that."