A DARTFORD council candidate who made a joke about a Pakistani and a suicide victim has stood by his comments.

Steven Uncles, who also started a rumour that UKIP leader Nigel Farage had died in a plane crash, is running as the English Democrat’s candidate for West Hill ward.

In February 2009, Mr Uncles, 47, posted a joke entitled ‘English Drinking Rule’ to the British Democracy Forum, in which a Pakistani and Pole get shot by an Englishman.

But director of the Kent Equality Cohesion Council, Gurvinder Sandher says the joke is inappropriate.

Mr Sandher, who oversees race relations across Dartford and Gravesham, said: “Negative comments made by candidates standing in the local elections against minority communities are unhelpful and do not reflect the view of the majority."

Mr Uncles admitted posting the joke, but says it was an experiment to test people’s reaction.

He said: “The joke is part of English culture.

“If people are told to stop telling jokes like these it turns into something like out of George Orwell’s 1984.

“It was an experiment to see what reaction I would get.”

A few months later on the same forum, Mr Uncles responded to criticism from a blogger by telling him to “go the same way as Chris Lightfoot.”

Mr Lightfoot was an online campaigner who had previously slammed English Democrat policies.

He committed suicide in 2007 aged 28. Mr Uncles admitted writing the post, but said Mr Lightfoot had attacked his party first by calling his party “fascist”.

He said: "Our leaflet went through his letterbox and he made the assumption we were a fascist party, nasty people who didn't believe in nationalism.

“He attacked the English Democrats first.”

But Chair of Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, Angela Samata said: “It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are - the effects of someone taking their own life is felt throughout the community.

“We have a support group in Dartford and it’s slightly worrying that someone who could be a policy maker in the town in the future is making comments like this.”

But in what has been described as “inappropriate”, Mr Uncles sent out a text message on April Fool’s day saying Mr Farage had been killed in a plane crash.

Mr Uncles says the text was sent in retaliation to Mr Farage, who he says had linked the BNP with the English Democrats.

He said: “Nigel sent out an email to the whole of UKIP saying the BNP’s Richard Barnbrook had joined the English Democrats which simply wasn’t true.

“If he wants to tell lies about us, then we’ll tell lies about him.

“And I sent it out on April 1 so it gives you slight licence.”

News Shopper spoke to Mr Farage, who said the joke was “inappropriate and awful.”

But chairman of Dartford English Democrats, Mike Tibby says he has no problems with what Mr Uncles writes.

He said: “There is no malice in it, no seriousness.

“He sent out the joke about Nigel Farage on April Fool’s day.

“If you are in politics, you will be controversial at times.

“The problem is, other parties are terrified we will take seats from them in the upcoming election, so they will do anything to show us in a bad light.”

Mr Uncles, who lived in West Hill ward for 10 years before moving to Wilmington, says he wants to bring a positive change to Dartford.

He said: "If we are successful to take control of the council, which we can as we have enough candidates, the main thing is to change Dartford high street to make it covered.

"We would put up a canvas cover, similar to the O2 zone, translucent for light to make it through and pleasant to shop there.

"We need to do something to revitalise the town that has been so neglected."

The joke

A Polish guy drinks his beer then suddenly throws his glass in the air, pulls out a pistol and shoots the glass to pieces.

He says: “In Poland our glasses are so cheap that we don't need to drink from the same glass twice.”

A Pakistani, obviously impressed by this, drinks his beer, throws the glass into the air, pulls out his AK-47 and shoots the glass to pieces.

He says: “In Pakistan we have so much sand to make glasses that we don't need to drink out of the same glass twice either.”

An English chap, cool as a cucumber, picks up his beer and drinks it, throws the glass into the air, pulls out his gun and shoots the Pole and the Pakistani and catches his glass.

He says: “In England we now have that many Pakistanis and Poles that we don't have to drink with the same ones twice.

“God Bless England!”