Read this: racist joke has Tories squirming

London: The Conservative party has suspended two of its councilors in Ribble Valley, Lancashire, for circulating a racist joke about immigrants, sparking criticism of the party before the May 6 polls.

Simon Farnsworth, a Ribble Valley councillor, sent the e-mail joke to Ken Hind, his fellow councillor and a former Conservative parliamentary candidate.

Hind then sent it on to a long list of Conservative members. When The Guardian newspaper drew the Conservative party's attention to the e-mail, the two men were suspended. Immigration has been a major issue in the elections, reflecting public concern over the numbers of immigrants entering the country in recent years, and the financial and other benefits they receive.

The joke runs as follows: A Somalian arrives in the UK as a new immigrant. He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says, "Thank you Mr UK man for letting me into this country, giving me housing, money for food, free medical care, free education and no taxes!"

The passerby says, "You are mistaken, I am an Afghani [sic]!"

The man meets another passer by and says: "Thank you for having such a beautiful country here in the UK!"

The person says, "I not from the UK, I am Iraqi!"

The new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes his hand and says, 'Thank you for the wonderful UK!'

That person puts up his hand and says, "I am from Pakistan; I am not from the UK!"

He finally sees a woman and asks, "Are you British?"

She says, "No, I am from India!"

Puzzled, he asks her, "Where are all the British?"

The Indian lady checks her watch and says: "Probably all at work."

The email ended with another joke: "If you don't pass this on to all your friends you will receive three illegal immigrants absolutely free."

A Tory spokesman said: "Simon Farnsworth and Ken Hind have been suspended from the Party. The contents of this email have no place in the Conservative party."

Hind said he apologised to "all those people from the nations mentioned in the joke. It was not my intention to insult their racial origins, and I deeply regret passing on this item as I recognise now that it could cause offence."