Attack on Ukip voters being 'unable to communicate' shows Labour's 'disdain' for public #TheElitePartyInJuly #Entertain9jar via @myentertain9jar

UKIP’s deputy leader believes Labour’s claims that supporters of the eurosceptic party are unable to send emails shows Ed Miliband and his colleagues hold voters in “disdain”.

 

Ed Miliband and his Labour colleagues hold Ukip voters in 'disdain' say Ukip[GETTY]

Paul Nuttall MEP attacked the comments made by senior Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who claimed Ukip supporters feel “disconnected from our global economy” as they are not internet savvy.

Speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr show yesterday, the Shadow Business Secretary said: “The BBC has carried out some very interesting research on this - 1 in 5 people in our economy cannot do the full basics online of sending and receiving an email, browsing the internet, filling in an online form.

“There has been a lot of talk of communities that have been disconnected from our global economy, and those of course were a lot of those voting for Ukip in the local and European elections, and of that mass of people who can’t do the things that all of us take for granted, a very large number of them are from those communities.”

Mr Nuttall said the comments shows “an absolute disconnect between senior figures of the Labour Party and the British electorate”.

He added: “It is no wonder that Labour is haemorrhaging so much blue-collar support to UKIP when they regard voters with such disdain.

“Sadly it is becoming all too common in the Labour Party, which is far from being the party of the working classes and is increasingly becoming the club for the snobby elite."

Ukip's Paul Nuttall (right) hit out at Chuka Umunna's remarks [GETTY]

It is no wonder that Labour is haemorrhaging so much blue-collar support to UKIP when they regard voters with such disdain.

Paul Nuttall MEP

Ukip has an active social media presence, with more than 61,000 followers of its official Twitter feed and 223,000 ‘likes’ of its official Facebook page.

Political academic Dr Matthew Goodwin, who co-authored a study of the rise of Ukip, felt Mr Umunna’s comments were misplaced.

He said: “Sure, most Ukippers are over the age of 65, and tend to have no formal qualifications.

“But at the same time, anyone who has undertaken research on the party is well aware that its supporters are highly active on social media.”

Following Mr Umunna's remarks, Ukip supporters have since launched an '#emailchuka' campaign on Twitter, urging voters to bombard the Labour politician with emails.