‘Teething problems’ with Ukip candidates

Mr Farage acknowledged that reports that a Ukip candidate was removed after being pictured on the front page of the Daily Mirror making the Nazi salute “does not look very pretty” but blamed a rapid growth in his party for allowing some inappropriate people to slip through the net.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, he said the party had vetted candidates – but not had the resources to look at all their social media publications.

He said: “We have had, out of our 1,700 candidates, a handful who have embarrassed us, mostly because they simply haven’t told us the truth, but we are the only party in British politics who actually forbid former members of the BNP or extreme organisations from even becoming members of Ukip, let alone candidates and, in one or two cases, people haven’t told us the truth.”

Ukip has faced a range of criticism including Tory grandee Ken Clarke branding the party a “collection of clowns”, while one of the party’s MEPs, Godfrey Bloom, suggested buying policy “off the shelf” to fill a manifesto vacuum.

But Mr Farage said his party was making a genuine, different offer to the public, defending policy spats as internal discussions.

Asked whether the party had dropped its proposal for a flat tax, Mr Farage said this was not the case, but added it was considering whether to back a two-tier flat tax at the next General Election.

On the party’s wider platform, he said: “We’re for an independent, self-confident, self-governing United Kingdom that believes in itself and changes its entire future course away from being obsessed with being part of Europe to linking out, forming new trade relationships and cultural relationships with the rest of the world.