Paul Nuttall pulls out of a hustings as Ukip leader’s Stoke by-election campaign rocked by calls to resign as an MEP over inaccurate Hillsborough claims
Organisers were only told he would not be attending an hour before it was scheduled to begin
PAUL Nuttall has pulled out of a by-election hustings today after facing calls to resign as an MEP over inaccurate claims that he lost close friends in the Hillsborough disaster.
Organisers of the campaign event ahead of next week's Stoke Central by-election say they were only told the Ukip leader would not be attending about an hour before it was scheduled to begin.
Mr Nuttall's principal political adviser and fellow MEP, Patrick O'Flynn, stepped in to speak on his behalf at the event organised by Stoke-on-Trent's City Centre Partnership business group.
A spokesman for the event, held at a hotel in Hanley, said he had been informed that "essential party meetings" linked to a Ukip conference tomorrow meant Mr Nuttall was not able to appear.
Mr Nuttall's non-attendance at the hustings follows a decision to take his official website off-line for "scheduled maintenance".
The 40-year-old has apologised over claims - carried on the website for six years - that he lost close personal friends at Hillsborough, which he admitted was wrong during a live radio interview.
Just a week before he contests the crucial Stoke by-election he was branded a "coward" after a Ukip press officer said she was to blame for the posts.
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Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson called on him to resign as an MEP, and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron branded Mr Nuttall a "disgrace”.
A Ukip spokesman said on Wednesday that the resignation had been rejected, adding: "Obviously Paul is grateful for her offer, but what sort of chap would he be to say her career is dead for what seems to be a minor error six years ago?"
Speaking at today’s hustings, Mr O'Flynn told an audience of business leaders: "Paul Nuttall is a great working-class success story in British politics, which is incredibly rare, and would really be a role model for young people in this city."
A Ukip spokesman said Mr Nuttall would keep to a commitment to appear on BBC Radio Stoke alongside Conservative, Green Party, Lib Dem and Labour by-election candidates at 7pm tonight.
It comes after his rival for the Staffordshire seat, Labour’s Gareth Snell, was caught up in a row over text messages sent threatening Muslims with damnation if they didn’t vote for him.