A UKIP candidate from Swindon used a meme to respond to criticism of him tweeting to an MP that he "wouldn't even rape her".

Carl Benjamin, who calls himself Sargon of Akkad on YouTube, is standing in May's European Parliament election for the United Kingdom Independence Party and has come under fire for a reply he sent to Labour MP Jess Phillips in 2016.

Swindon Advertiser:

Mr Benjamin replied to the MP commenting that "people talking about raping me isn't fun but has become somewhat par for the course."

UKIP leader Gerard Batten did not endorse Mr Benjamin's remarks but dismissed the tweet as satire while being interviewed by the BBC this week, though Swindon politicians were less forgiving.

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland said that it was wrong to compare Mr Benjamin's "deeply offensive and threatening tweet" with satire, Green MEP for the South West Dr Molly Scott-Cato suggested Mr Benjamin was an example of "a very nasty type of person around in our society now: financialised controversialist" and South Swindon prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour Sarah Church said Mr Benjamin's tweet "cannot be explained away. Anyone who makes rape or death threats is unfit for public office."

The Advertiser approached Mr Benjamin for comment and is happy to post his response to this serious criticism in full:

Swindon Advertiser:

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