A Ukip MEP of Romany Gypsy heritage has asked police to investigate racist abuse received on Twitter.
James Carver, who represents the West Midlands for Nigel Farage’s party, says he was referred to as a “Pikey bastard” after posting a blog urging the travelling community to register to vote before May’s general election. West Mercia police are investigating, a Ukip spokesman said.
Carver, whose paternal grandmother was a Romany Gypsy, received the messages after posting that he had met the pressure group The Traveller Movement last week to discuss a campaign called Operation Traveller Vote.
One reply from a Twitter user claiming to be from Bergerac, France, read: “What about the general public and our right to protect ourselves from these travelling vermin?”
The MEP attended Worcester police station last week. Carver, whose grandmother was born in a caravan in Dartford, Kent, said: “I will not tolerate such comments, least of all from so-called internet trolls.
“As well as questioning my parentage, the word ‘Pikey’ which is deeply offensive to members of Roma, Gypsy and Traveller (RGT) communities, was used against me.
“The public must comprehend that the everyday use of this word only serves to further stigmatise these forgotten communities. It is as offensive as racist expletives that are used against other minorities,” he said.
Some members of Ukip have previously questioned Gypsies’ right to roam. Paul Nuttall, a fellow MEP, wrote on his website in 2010: “I cannot conceive that the responsibility for any wandering gypsies should be with the indigenous, taxpaying, hardworking population of any country.”
