Ukip gets the apology wrong over barmy idea to ban those on benefits from driving

Ukip has now added its Charnwood Parliamentary candidate, Lynton Yates, to the long list of Ukip resignations, suspensions, disavowals and expulsions. This one is for the leaflet calling for people on benefits to be banned from driving.

But the apology issued is a classic mis-directed apology with the Press Association quoting a Ukip spokesperson as saying of Lynton Yates:

He has apologised for any offence caused and was today suspended as a candidate.

Sometimes apologising for causing an offence is the right thing to do as what you’ve done would have been reasonable, save for a poor choice of words that made it offensive. In which case, fair enough – apologise for any offence caused but not the substance.

But however the Ukip leaflet had been worded, and regardless of the amount of soft soap applied to the words to avoid offence, it would have still be an appalling policy.

Not because it causes offence but because it is discriminatory, stigmatising, illiberal and flawed. Apologising for any offence without apologising for the rest barely begins to touch what is wrong with the idea that any pensioner or parent (because remember the state pension and child benefit are both benefits) should be banned from driving.