The United Kingdom Independence Party Whip was fired on Friday, after he called a group of female activists "sluts."
Member of European Parliament Godfrey Bloom cracked the joke during a "women in politics" UKIP event, making reference to comments he'd previously made concerning women not cleaning behind refrigerators. When the women at the event said they hadn't ever cleaned behind their fridges, he said, "This place is full of sluts."
Once his comments were challenged after the event, he said he was joking, and cited that some people at the ceremony laughed.
"It was fun," he said after the meeting. "It was a joke and most people in Britain have a sense of humor."
But leader of the British Libertarian party Nigel Farage was not amused, and said that he thought disciplinary action was appropriate, due to the fact that the argument dimmed the importance of his speech.
Farage told the BBC that he didn't have the jurisdiction to remove Bloom from his seat in the party without the okay from the party chairman and governing executive, but did mention that he'd recommend sanctions against the MEP. Chairman Steve Crowther confirmed later that Bloom would no longer be party whip, suspending his involvement in UKIP official business.
Bloom's position in Parliament sitting on the women's rights and gender equality committee will remain the same.
Farage said he'd "gone beyond the pale," with his unsavory commentary, and that his remarks were "wholly and highly inappropriate. There comes a point where people cross too far over a line."
But Bloom defended what he'd said. He stated that he was using the word in the context of being messy.
"It means you're untidy, you leave your kit lying around," he told BBC's Newsnight.
The word slut is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "a women of dirty, slovenly, or untidy habits or appearance" or "a woman of low or loose character."
One woman who was present at the event, Janice Atkinson - a potential candidate for the UKIP party in next year's elections - said she wasn't offended by Bloom's statement. She calimed that there were some people who were potentially "out to get" Bloom after some recent controversial comments.
In a past conversation, Bloom called British foreign aid going to third world countries as a trip into "bongo-bongo land."
Listen to Bloom's comments here.
