The 'Ukip' Twitter account so offensive even Ukip are disowning it

A Twitter user posing under the banner 'Ukip East London' sent out a number of highly offensive, homophobic and bigoted tweets last night.

Claiming to be Richard Hamilton, the deputy chair of Ukip's Bethnal Green and Bow branch, the account has disparaged gay marriage, claimed homosexuality is "anti-British" and decried homosexuality as a "symptom" of "cultural Marxism".

The account user has said he “stands by his words” and that “the majority of us in Ukip feel the same way”. UkipEastLondon briefly trended last night as Twitter users responded angrily to the statements.

However, Ukip’s head office has strongly distanced itself from the messages and told i100.co.uk that the account is not from an official Ukip branch.

The UKIP East London Twitter account is not a UKIP account. We do not have an "East London" branch and nor would we in any way endorse the Tweets it has made. We have taken steps to report it to Twitter as both misleading and malicious.

• Ukip spokesperson

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