A Ukip MEP believes that British Muslims should sign a special code of conduct and warns that it was a big mistake for Europe to allow "an explosion of mosques across their land".
Gerard Batten, who represents London and is member of the party's executive, told the Guardian on Tuesday that he stood by a "charter of Muslim understanding", which he commissioned in 2006.
The document asks Muslims to sign a declaration rejecting violence and says that certain parts of the Qu'ran that promote "violent physical Jihad" should be regarded as "inapplicable, invalid and non-Islamic".
Critics said his comments represent the "ugliest side of Ukip" and "overlap with the far-right", in spite of the efforts of party leader Nigel Farage to create a disciplined election machine ahead of the European elections.
Asked on Tuesday about the charter, Batten told the Guardian he had written it with a friend, who is an Islamic scholar, and could not see why "any reasonable, normal person" would object to signing it.
Batten also repeated his view that some Muslim texts need updating, claiming some say "kill Jews wherever you find them and various things like that".
"If that represents the thinking of modern people, there's something wrong, in which case maybe they need to revise their thinking. If they say they cannot revise their thinking on those issues, then who's got the problem –us or them?" he added.
Asked why Muslims have been singled out, rather than followers of other faiths like Christians or Jews, Batten said: "Christians aren't blowing people up at the moment, are they? Are there any bombs going off round the world which are claimed by Christian organisations? I don't think so."
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