Conservative candidate stands down amid scandal after 'far-right sting operation'

A Muslim candidate for Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives withdrew from the May 7 national election on Monday, a party spokeswoman said, after he was suspended over allegations he plotted to stir up racial tension to win votes.

Afzal Amin, a former parliamentary candidate in the key seat of Dudley North in central England, was shown in video footage and telephone recordings trying to persuade the far-right English Defence League (EDL) to announce a march against a new mosque in the area.

Amin then allegedly planned to take the credit for brokering the suspension of the protest.

The scandal was damaging to Cameron's party, who need to win seats such as Dudley North, currently held by opposition Labour, to have a chance of obtaining a majority on May 7.

Amin, who faces a Conservative Party disciplinary hearing today at which he faces being expelled, said he had only been trying to help improve ties between the area's Muslims and disgruntled white working class voters.

He said he had done nothing wrong and had been set up by the far-right EDL, which organises protests against what it says is growing Muslim influence in British society.