The UK Independence party is facing a major crisis after the suspension of two parliamentary candidates within 24 hours and the resignation of a third who claimed there was “open racism and sanctimonious bullying” in the party.

Detectives are investigating an allegation of fraud after the suspension of Ukip MEP Janice Atkinson, its candidate in Folkestone and Hythe, over claims that a member of staff attempted to overcharge EU expenses.



The party has also suspended Stephen Howd, its candidate in Scunthorpe, while an investigation is carried out into an alleged incident at his workplace.

In a third development, Jonathan Stanley has stood down as parliamentary candidate for Westmorland and Lonsdale, complaining of a culture of bullying and racism.

Stanley, an Edinburgh-based doctor, said he quit because there was open bullying within the party.

Stanley told the Westmorland Gazette: “I have given my full resignation to the party because of issues happening in Scotland: open racism and sanctimonious bullying within the party.

“This sectarian racist filth in Scotland needs cleaning up. It is a great threat to the Eurosceptic cause and civil society.”

Stanley, a surgeon, has indicated that party turmoil in Scotland and Farage’s pledge to restrict migrants’ access to the NHS and schools are behind his reasons to leave the party.

In a resignation letter, he wrote: “Recent performances in the handling of issues in Scotland, in the banning of migrant children from state funded education, and in health care have left me unable to campaign for UKIP. This is a sad decision for me.”

Farage has recently said migrant children should not gain automatic access to the state-funded education system and that tourists, students and all those moving permanently except refugees would need medical cover before entering the country.

Stanley also claims that the party has engaged in “sectarian, racist filth” in Scotland which must stop if it is to make gains. “The language of English nationalism and the sectarian outfit in Scotland have been corrosive to the Eurosceptic movement and to Unionism,” he wrote.

A Ukip spokesman said: “We are treating Mr Stanley’s comments with the incredulity they deserve.

“Mr Stanley and the party have been drifting apart politically for some time and his resignation comes as no surprise to us. However, we wish him all the best for the future.”

Earlier this week Scottish Ukip MEP David Coburn was criticised for comparing Scottish minister Humza Yousaf to Islamist terrorist Abu Hamza.

The series of problems for Nigel Farage’s party has been pounced on by David Cameron. The prime minister said in a statement that it was “just the latest in a whole set of catastrophic blunders, disasters, missteps by this party”.

Atkinson and her office are at the centre of inquiries by the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate after a report in the Sun on Thursday night.

The newspaper reported that a staff member obtained an invoice from a restaurant for a sum more than three times the actual cost of an event, apparently with the intention of claiming it back from Brussels funds.

A Kent police spokesman said: “The allegation is being reviewed and the investigation is ongoing.”

The owner of the restaurant that hosted the function said he blew the whistle when he became aware that taxpayers’ money might be at stake, rather than that of a private donor.

David Goulding, of The Hoy, said: “She explained to me that it was a way of them getting some funds into their Ukip account to help with their campaign.

“I didn’t really have a problem with that as it was a sponsor. The problem for me became apparent when I found out that you and me and the rest of the British public were the sponsor because they were claiming the money back off the EU which we pay into.”

A Ukip disciplinary panel will determine on Monday whether Atkinson, who found herself in hot water last year after she was caught by TV cameras calling a Thai woman a “ting tong”, should face action over the allegations, Farage said.

Atkinson had been due to challenge the Conservatives in Folkestone and Hythe on 7 May, but has now been suspended from the party whip and removed as a general election candidate while the party investigates the claims.

The Sun reported that one of Atkinson’s staff members obtained an invoice from a restaurant for a sum more than three times the actual cost of a party event.

It said the individual told the manager of the restaurant: “The idea is we overcharge them slightly because that’s the way of repatriating [the money].”

The £950 food and drink cost of the event, held before the party’s spring conference in Margate last month, was reportedly paid by credit card, according to the report, which included video footage of the discussions over the bill.

But it is alleged that the staff member negotiated for and accepted an invoice for £3,150, made out to the newly formed group of rightwing parties Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, of which Ukip is the biggest member, and its associated foundation the Initiative for Direct Democracy in Europe.

Farage told LBC radio: “I was deeply shocked when I saw it. It was one of the most incredibly stupid and dishonest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

“This was a member of staff. Exactly what the relationship between that member of staff asking for a false bill and Janice Atkinson is, I don’t know.”

He added: “I spoke to her after midnight last night. She was in bed. I said: ‘What on earth’s going on? What is this?’ She said there was a confusion, there was a mess-up. I didn’t get a clear answer.”

The party was quick to stress that the decision meant Atkinson was no longer its general election candidate in the seat, where Tory Damian Collins is defending a healthy majority of 10,122.

The party’s spokesman said it had suspended another candidate over a separate incident.

“Ukip has suspended the Scunthorpe PPC, Stephen Howd, while an investigation takes place into an alleged incident at his workplace.”

In a statement, Howd, a barrister, said: “Allegations of harassment have been made against me. The allegations are contested.

“They are now the subject of tribunal proceedings and, as such, the matter is sub judice and it would not be appropriate for me to make any further comment.”