UKIP has asked for clarification on whether ‘casual racism’ is the same as ‘proper racism’.

The party wants to know if terms such as ‘ting-tong’ are offensive and when to apologise for using the word ‘Paki’.

Tom Logan, a UKIP candidate from Peterborough, said: “If people object to ‘casual racism’ then they shouldn’t call it ‘casual’. That makes me think everyone is very relaxed about it.

“This means there’s now a huge number of words I can no longer say out loud. Luckily the vast majority of my conversations take place inside my own head. It’s so noisy in there.”

Jane Thomson, a UKIP candidate from Doncaster, said: “This is confusing. Jeremy Clarkson used the word ‘slope’ in a very casual way. It’s not as if he wrote it down or used it while talking to a member of the Royal family.

“And he’s still being paid a huge amount of money by the BBC. It’s not as if they sacked him immediately. They just gave him a bit of a talking to and then wrote him another massive cheque.

“What about ‘dago’?”