New UKIP leader 'not much of a politician'
Updated on 27 November 2009
The UKIP's new leader, Lord Pearson, admits to Krishnan Guru-Murthy that he was wrong to claim UK Muslims breed 10 times faster than other people.
Former City insurance broker Lord Pearson of Rannoch will succeed Nigel Farage, who has led the party for the last three years.
Lord Pearson caused some controversy earlier this year when he invited the Dutch film maker Geert Wilders to show his controversial film about Islam, calling the visit a "matter of free speech".
Commenting on his remark that his UK Independence Party as "not for sheep or lemmings", Lord Pearson told Krishnan Guru-Murthy: "Once one's across, the whole of the rest of them follow."
He went on to assert: "UKIP is different. It is a band of people who think and act for themselves. UKIP is full of people who realise they've been completely misled by their political class, particularly over the issue of our European membership."
Responding to the charge that he had described UK Muslims as breeding 10 times more quickly than other people, he conceded: "That was a mistake. I got that wrong. I said it in Washington with jet lag and all the rest of it. But that's no excuse."
"What I meant was that the Muslim population is increasing 10 times faster than ours - and I understand that is accepted. That is both through immigration and conversion to Islam and through a much higher birth rate."
"I got that wrong. I'm not, I'm afraid, much of a politician."
Asked whether he thought there were too many immigrants in Britain, he said: "Not at all. But I think we need zero net immigration increase from now on.
"Immigration is certainly the most important issue to the British people, and it is closely connected with Muslims and Islam.
"Where we will be coming from is that we do not want sharia law to be superior to our law in this country - and in many places, in fact, it is."
Lord Pearson went on to state that Islam is guilty of "gender apartheid" and that it's treatment of women was "unacceptable".
When Krishnan Guru-Murthy suggested that his views on Muslims sounded remarkably similar to those of the BNP, Lord Pearson claimed the Channel 4 News present was confusing "racialism with multi-culturalism".
"UKIP is not a racist party," he said. "That is the great distinction between us and them. They are racist socialists or, if you like, socialist racists. We are neither."