UKIP leader walked out of interview when challenged on immigration

Gareth Bennett, UKIP's Welsh Assembly group leader, loves to bang on about immigration - until he is challenged on his beliefs, then he furiously walks out the room.

Ruth Mosalski, local government reporter for WalesOnline, simply wanted Bennett to back up his own views.

These include why he thought "ethnicities... possibly the Eastern Europeans" were causing litter problems in Cardiff, the burqa is part of an "alien culture" and suburbs of Cardiff feel like "Saudi Arabia".

She pressed him on immigration, asking him to think about people "like the shopkeeper at the end of my road". But he told her she should instead focus on the "net impact", suggesting that UKIP was weighing down on public services:

Try and look at the broader picture.

You're not really getting anywhere with this. 

But when asked about why a woman choosing to wear a burka was different to any other woman's choice, Bennett - who was elected to the National Assembly in 2016 and is being investigated by the standards commissioner - became agitated and told Mosalski:

Will you allow me to answer your question?

Mosalski replied:

If you answer it, yeah.

He pressed:

Will you listen? 

Will you actually try and learn something? 

Mosalski requested that he stop patronising her, which is when he started to take off his microphone, declaring:

You are a useless interviewer.

You have come in here with preconceived opinions and ideas.

You have no ability to engage with the argument and that was the worse interview I've ever had since [chief reporter Martin] Shipton, who also works for your organisation. 

Ht WalesOnline

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