Labour MP Jess Phillips says she was confronted by a man defending Carl Benjamin's rape comments

UKIP have made some truly diabolical appointments in previous months.

First, they appointed milkshake soaked EDL founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Tommy Robinson as an advisor.

Then it emerged that their European election candidate for South West England tweeted that he "wouldn't even rape" Labour MP Jess Phillips.

Rather than apologise, Carl Benjamin further expanded on his inexcusable comments in a video on his Youtube channel, saying:

"With enough pressure I might cave.”

While the police are now officially investigating his comments, Mr Batten's own refusal to back down seems to have emboldened his own supporters in their anger against Ms Phillips.

Yesterday Ms Phillips alleged on Twitter that upon leaving parliament she had been accosted by a man asking why the UKIP candidate should not be allowed to joke about rape.

The same day she spoke on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show, saying:

"Rape is not about sex, rape is about power and control.

"It is an act of violence to control somebody subordinate to you. It is never about sex.

"And what Carl Benjamin is trying to do in his actions is to control me and make light of the things that control women.

"This discourse being allowed to go on makes women unsafe not just in the Commons but across the country."

While UKIP leader Gerard Batten initially defended the comments as "satire", he said on Tuesday:

"I condemn all jokes about rape - they are not funny and never appropriate and I have told Carl to keep to the serious political issues in this campaign."

Several UKIP candidates have resigned from the party in recent months citing a shift towards the far right.

Read more: This UKIP MEP candidate blamed feminism for actions of male mass murderers

Read more: UKIP leader storms out of Sky News after question about candidate who said he 'wouldn't even rape' a Labour MP