����ý

An Ulster Unionist Party's (UUP) election candidate who received racist abuse on social media has described it as "dehumanising".

Jay Basra, who describes himself as Punjabi-British, was announced as the Mid-Ulster candidate in early May.

He has since received racist abuse from a number of social media accounts.

He told ����ý News NI's Talkback programme: "It's abhorrent abuse. It reduces me down to my skin colour rather than myself as a person.

"It's dehumanising."

However Mr Basra said it has motivated him to carry on.

"It doesn't shake me at all," he said. "It's not even juvenile behaviour - you wouldn't expect this from a child.

"They have no way to formulate an argument so they choose to pick the easiest thing to bully about."

Mr Basra said those behind the abuse "don't know me at all".

His father is from the Punjabi region of India but the UUP candidate was born in Cookstown and has lived there all his life.

"People think I'm some sort of foreign transplant to that area when I'm not really," he said, "I'm a local."

'A toxic minority'

Mr Basra said that while he has experienced racism in the past, it has worsened since he entered politics.

"Before politics, I was fairly okay," he said.

"I grew up in a community and they grew up with me. They had nothing against me and didn't really see me as any different.

"But when you take that step into politics, you attract some detractors who are out to get you whatever way they can and obviously my background and race is one thing they like to pull down on."

However he said he has had "no difficulties" when out canvassing in his local area, where the conversations centre on policy.

"It's a very small toxic minority of people who have such [racist] opinions," he said.