Exeter Cathedral bans Ukip's Carl Benjamin from hustings

Exeter Cathedral has banned a Ukip candidate from taking part in hustings for Thursday’s European elections, saying he may be a risk to public order.

Carl Benjamin, who is under police investigation for comments he made about raping the Labour MP Jess Phillips, had been due to speak at the event alongside other candidates for the South West England region on Wednesday evening.

But the cathedral authorities decided Benjamin’s presence ran the risk of public disorder, and invited Ukip to send another candidate to the event.

On Sunday, Benjamin was doused in milkshake in Salisbury, shortly after a visit to the city’s cathedral.

Protesters also threw a milkshake and fish at Benjamin when he was campaigning in Cornwall earlier this month. Last week, the University of the West of England cancelled a hustings event which he was due to attend after activists called for him to be banned from the debate and promised to protest.

In a statement, Exeter Cathedral said: “Under the rules of the Electoral Commission, we may exclude candidates from a non-selective hustings for a number of reasons, including concerns about public order.

“In this case, the cathedral believes that the presence of one particular candidate may cause a risk to public order, given a number of incidents over the last few weeks. Ukip has been invited to send another candidate from its list of six candidates standing for election in the South West region.”

Ukip’s Devon chair, Margaret Dennis, said the move was “outrageous” and “an affront to democracy”.

She told DevonLive: “The hustings are either open for the public to discuss and debate or it is an attempt to censor and restrict an opportunity to hear a range of views at this election.”

She said Benjamin was “an articulate and intelligent advocate not only for our party but for free speech”.

But Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter, supported the cathedral’s decision, saying Benjamin had “unsavoury views” and “unsavoury followers”.

Related: EU elections: Labour voters in Cambridge ponder their loyalties

Police are investigating comments Benjamin made in a video suggesting he might rape Phillips “with enough pressure”. In 2016, he tweeted a message to Phillips saying: “I wouldn’t even rape you.”

Last week, he told a crowd in Plymouth told that people should be able to make jokes about rape.

There have been several incidents in which activists have targeted rightwing candidates in the EU elections with milkshakes. This weekend, police asked a McDonald’s restaurant near an Edinburgh venue where Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit party, was speaking not to sell milkshakes because of concerns protesters might throw them at him.

Exeter Cathedral is to release a list of candidates speaking at this week’s hustings on Monday. In announcing the event, the cathedral’s dean, Jonathan Greener, said: “Encouraging community and civic life is at the heart of our ministry. So it is right and proper that we hold a hustings on the eve of the European parliamentary election to allow those who may represent us to describe how they will serve the city of Exeter and the wider region.”