Immigrants fly into the UK on paragliders, claims UKIP election candidate

A UKIP candidate has said he believes immigrants are using paragliders to fly into the UK.

David Moreland, who is standing for Norwich North, also claims immigrants are attempting to enter the UK by getting on boats in the Netherlands and using wind farms in the channel as a stopping-off point before entering the country at night.

According to the Eastern Daily Press, 64-year-old Mr Moreland said: “Halfway across the channel where we have two big wind farms they are getting dropped off at the wind farm and there are steps up and a platform where they can stand.

“Then they come over at night.

"They are also coming over on paragliders - I've seen it.”

But when pressed on the claim, the regional paper said he admitted the paragliders could instead be hobbyists.

An offshore wind industry spokesman rubbished his claims as “nonsense”.

Mr Moreland wants to set up an observation point “on a beach” to stop the boats he says are coming over.

The army veteran, who served in Northern Ireland and worked for the Metropolitan Police, also told the paper he believed cuts to the armed forces were to prepare them for integration in an EU force, rather than government cuts to save money.

He will be taking on Conservative Chloe Smith, who is defending the seat she has held since a by-election in 2009.

UKIP is only standing 45 candidates at the election, having been eclipsed by former leader Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party.

UKIP has had a turbulent time since the EU referendum in 2016, and its sixth leader since then, Richard Braine, quit in October.

He had led the party for just three months and left claiming his appointments had been blocked by UKIP’s chair.