UKIP has been accused of going to "war" with Muslims by one of its most prominent supporters.
Leader Paul Nuttall has unveiled plans to force girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) to undergo regular medical checks, as well as a ban on burkas in public and outlawing sharia law.
The Muslim Council of Britain has said the policy - part of UKIP's "Integration Agenda" - was "deeply regrettable" and hit out at stereotyping around "bombs, beards and burkas".
And Arron Banks, a former donor to UKIP, has been critical, saying the party was going in "entirely the wrong direction".
Mr Banks, who on Monday announced he would not stand to become an MP in Clacton, wrote on Twitter: "I don't approve of the war on Muslim religion."
The party's foreign affairs spokesman has also quit his post in protest at Mr Nuttall's plans to ban the burka.
West Midlands MEP James Carver described the policy as "incompatible" with his desire to represent all of his constituents and to seek a global perspective for the UK.
Defending the measures, deputy leader Peter Whittle said: "The burka is not something in the Koran, it's not specified by the Koran, it's a cultural practice, FGM is a cultural practice."
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We have talked about these issues in UKIP for many years - 2010 we actually had this in our manifesto, that we should ban face coverings - not, for example the headscarf, not those sorts of things at all, just purely the face covering, because we believe that is a literal barrier to integration in our society.
"We are actually in this country rather behind the curve on this, because even the biggest party in the EU has called for an EU-wide ban on this."
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