Tory ministers in disarray over response to Ukip 'clowns' The minister without portfolio, Kenneth Clarke, described Ukip candidates as 'waifs and strays' and some of the party's supporters as 'fruitcakes'. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA Conservatives appeared to be in disarray on Sunday over the best response to the growing threat of a Ukip breakthrough in this week's local elections, with one cabinet minister denouncing them as bunch of clowns, fruitcakes and closet racists, while another said he was not concerned by the anti-immigration party. It also emerged that Labour has privately concluded, like the Conservatives, that Ukip must be kept out of the 2015 general election TV leaders' debates. Some Labour strategists had argued that a strong Ukip showing in the debates would damage the Conservatives, but it now appears there are greater fears that Ukip's brand of anti-politics could damage all three main parties in unpredictable ways. Cameron has already ruled out Ukip appearing in the debates, saying they are a contest between parties that could form a government. The fiercest denunciation came from the minister without portfolio, Kenneth Clarke, who characterised Ukip candidates as waifs and strays, feeding on prejudice about immigration. He claimed some of its supporters were fruitcakes and nutters, the phrase Cameron first used in 2006, but has subsequently not repeated for fear of being seen to be insulting potential Tory supporters. Clarke said: "It is very tempting to vote for a collection of clowns or indignant, angry people, who promise that somehow they will allow us to take your revenge on people who caused it." Ukip, he continued is "against the political class, it is against foreigners, it is against immigrants. But it does not have any very positive policies. They do not know what they are for. Until now the Conservative response to Ukip has been to brief behind the scenes on the extremist views of some of its 1,700 candidates in the county council elections, but not to give it the oxygen of direct publicity or insult those supporting Nigel Farage's party. Clarke launched his assault an hour after the transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said he was not "worried by Ukip at all." Speaking on Sky's Murnaghan programme, Clarke said: "They of course have not been able to vet their candidates. Fringe right parties do tend to collect a number of waifs and strays. Some of them are saying quite different things now they are in politics than their actual views. Asked whether he agreed with David Cameron's 2006 assessment that Ukip was packed with "fruitcakes and closet racists," Clarke replied: "I have met people who satisfy both those descriptions in Ukip. Indeed, some of the people who have assured me they are going to vote Ukip I would put in that category. Clarke insisted it was perfectly acceptable for candidates in this week's local elections to be picked up on comments they had made on Twitter and Facebook. The swipe came after Ukip accused the Conservatives of running a "morally reprehensible" smear campaign against its would-be councillors. The party - which is investigating a handful of its candidates over links to groups such as the BNP and alleged racist and homophobic comments - has said it does not condone "unpalatable views." But a spokesman complained that dredging up old activities on social media amounted to a "political lynch mob." One of its candidates, Bradley Monk, who is standing in Winchester, disclosed on Twitter that he was in favour of abolishing the NHS, but added that it would be political suicide to say so. Farage, rounded on Clarke, calling him a member of an "ossified elite." He added: "It is obvious that Mr Clarke holds millions of people in this country in utter contempt. Ukip are attracting supporters from all three main parties and significantly those who have either not voted for over 10 years or have never voted before in their lives. Instead of slagging them off maybe he should try to wrap his head around the idea that Ukip are appealing to people due to the failure of the bloated, self-satisfied political machine of which he is such a typical member. But Ukip came under pressure when emails were leaked showing senior MEP Godfrey Bloom urging Farage to outsource policy-making to thinktanks, saying the current policy process was like "herding cats." Bloom caused further controversy on Sunday evening when he told BBC Radio 5 that firms should not employ women of child-bearing age due to what he called "draconian" employment laws, adding: "If that is barmy I am a Dutchman." Miliband acknowledged Ukip could rival his claim to be the standard bearer for change: "To some extent Ukip's argument is that all the established parties cannot make a difference to the country. The question people ask is, can anyone turn the country round? That is our opportunity and our challenge. It is about convincing people that things can be different from what they are in a way that is credible and is going to work. Miliband will on Monday answer critics who claim he has no policies by publishing an alternative Queen's Speech containing six key economic bills. He said the priority for the TV debates in 2015 would be to make sure Cameron participates. He said: "Let us get David Cameron to the TV debates - that is not a dead cert. I am pro-debates. Everyone banged on about how important the debates were last time and that they were a great thing for democracy. Obviously Cameron did not like the way they went and now he has invented some bogus argument that with fixed-term parliaments you don't need them, and they should take place six months earlier or something. "His position seems to change according to which side of the bed Lynton Crosby got out of," said Miliband.