A CONSERVATIVE election candidate has been suspended by his party after suggesting that homosexuality could be the result of being abused as a child.

Mohammed 'Harry' Boota, a former Ukip activist who is standing for the Tories in Bradford in May, has been suspended pending an investigation into a comment he made on Twitter.

Mr Boota, a former Royal Navy technician who now runs an aromatherapy business, replied to tweet by a radio station earlier this month which asked: "Paedophiles are being medicated to see if it prevents them abusing children. Should we have a more open minded approach to paedophiles?"

Mr Boota replied to the tweet, saying: "What we should also be examining is that is paedophilia related to their own prev abuse. Some homosexuality cud be because of this too!"

His comments were branded "outrageous" by Councillor Richard Dunbar (Lab, Thornton and Allerton).

He said: "As a proud member of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, as an elected member of Bradford Council and as a human being who believes that equality is the golden thread to a fair and just society, I am deeply offended by Harry Boota's outrageous comments linking homosexuality to paedophilia and child abuse.

"There is no link and there can be no place in politics or in society as a whole for hatred and homophobia.

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"It is not uncommon for members of the LGBT community to be victims of hate crime, suffer from acts of physical intimidation and and experience the associated mental trauma which can lead to deep rooted depression and in some cases suicide.

"This is why the comments made by Harry Boota must be challenged and tackled head-on.

"Harry Boota needs to retract his offensive and crass statements. As a matter of urgency myself and leader of Bradford Council, Cllr David Green will be writing to chairman of the Conservative Party (Lord Feldman of Elstree) calling for an immediate and full investigation into this matter."

Mr Boota, who stood as a Ukip candidate in Bradford West in 2015, defended his comments on homosexuality last night but said he would apologise if he had offended anyone. He denied being homophobic.

A Conservative party spokesman said: "Mr Boota's membership has been suspended by the party chairman pending an investigation."

It is understood that his candidacy in the Clayton and Fairweather Green ward is not affected by the suspension.