Ukip blame Theresa May for rise in Islamic terrorism in face of the Manchester terror attack

THERESA MAY was personally blamed by Ukip for allowing the “cancer” of Islamic terrorism to flourish in the UK yesterday by slashing the number of police and leaving Britain’s borders wide open.

Restarting the election campaign with a blistering attack, the struggling Brexit party faced a huge backlash after saying the PM and former Home Secretary must “bear some responsibility” for “allowing the hatred to spread”.

Unveiling his manifesto just minutes before the 11am minute’s silence to honour the Manchester Arena victims, Paul Nuttall vowed that any British jihadis would lose their citizenship under UKIP and be deported.

Branding Islamic terrorism a “cancer that must be cut out”, the party chief unveiled plans to hire 20,000 new police, 7,000 more prison guards and 4,000 extra border guards.

And he blasted the Theresa May for losing control of extremism in the UK – and said that “nothing will change if she wins a big majority.”

“When you are leader of a political party you have a duty to set out how you would protect the people of your country from the threat to their entire way of life, he said.

“Without the political will to take difficult decisions… things are only going to get worse,” he added.

Mr Nuttall said their manifesto – titled Britain Together – was a “clear cut, uncompromising agenda”.

And he said other parties were shying away from addressing the issue “because it makes them feel uncomfortable”.

But moments later party deputy chairman Suzanne Evans launched a prolonged and sustained attack on the PM’s record as Home Secretary.

She hit out: “Theresa May might like to portray herself as a strong and stable leader who can tackle extremism, but her record suggests otherwise.

“Theresa May has allowed jihadists who fought alongside Islamic State back into our country

And she added: “”She has failed to prevent extremists spreading hatred in our universities and our mosques.”

Asked if Mrs should take responsibility for this week’s attack, Ms Evans said: “I think she must bear some responsibility.

“All politicians who voted for measures to make cuts bear some responsibility.

“I think when 9/11 happened, we should have had a serious rethink about immigration – it didn’t happen.

And she went on: “Of course the European Union is equally culpable as well, and I also lay a lot of blame at the feet of the commissioners who are far too cowardly to face up to the real issues in our country and what needs to be done to keep people safe.”

But when challenged on her statement by The Sun moments later, she said: “I didn’t say what she must bear responsibility for.

“The only people who are responsible for what happened in Manchester are the terrorists. Let me make that absolutely clear.”

Home Secretary Amber Rudd hit back last night said it was “not the time to make political points”.

She said: “I think it’s entirely the wrong approach. What we’re trying to do now is support police, the intelligence services and of course the victims.

“We need to make sure they’re getting all the help they need; this is not the time to make political points.”

But former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Mrs May’s decision to cut police numbers has had “implications for people’s safety” although she said it was “simplistic” to link the cut in police numbers to Monday’s attack.

She told BBC 5 Live: “I think it’s pretty clear that my party, and I in fact, think that reducing police numbers by 20,000 isn’t something that you can do without implications for people’s safety.”

Asked if that meant she thought Mrs May had “let people’s safety down”, Ms Smith replied: “Yes, by reducing police numbers by 20,000, I believe so.”