World Aids Day 2014: HIV positive activists dump manure outside Ukip office in protest against ‘bull****’
Nigel Farage defended suggestions people with HIV should be barred from UK.
By Lizzie Dearden, The Independent
HIV-positive activists have dumped half a ton of manure outside a Ukip office on World Aids Day, saying “what goes around comes around.”
Members of the London-based Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (Act Up) said they wanted to show Nigel Farage what they thought of his recent statements suggesting people with Aids should be barred from entering the UK.
The Ukip leader later defended his assertion in a News-week interview that “quality” immigrants include “people who do not have HIV…that’s a good start.”
Mr. Farage told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the UK’s public services could not cope with extra demand created by people with severe medical conditions, claiming that the US and Australia had similar policies.
“We want people to come who have got trades and skills, but we don’t want people who have got criminal records – and we can’t afford people with life-threatening diseases,” he said.
“I do not think people with life-threatening diseases should be treated by our National Health Service and that is an absolute essential condition for working out a proper immigration policy.”
Act Up dumped the manure outside Ukip offices in south London After dumping the manure outside the party’s Croydon branch, Act Up activist Gary Hunter called Mr. Farage’s comments “bull****”.
“The vile crap that Ukip keeps spreading stigmatises and ostracises people living with HIV, gay people and immigrants.
“We thought this steaming pile of muck was a great representation of what we, as HIV-positive people, think of Ukip’s agenda.”
The manure was decorated with a red Aids ribbon and a banner reading “what goes a-round comes around. Solidarity on World Aids Day. #UkipStinks”
Another Act Up activist, Dan Glass, said the US repealed its blanket ban on people with HIV entering the country, dating back to the panic in 1987, five years ago.
“The UK has never seriously considered it –we should be proud of that,” he added.
“Ukip think they can spout filth without any consequences to them, but their lies directly impact millions by promoting stigma… if anything is making us miserable it’s their fear-mongering and demonisation, which makes people afraid to get tested or discuss their status.”
Nigel Farage said there was no place for homophobia in his party About 40 per cent of new HIV diagnoses in 2013 were of people born outside the UK, ac-cording to statistics by Public Health England.
