Ukip leader criticises broadcaster after Today programme interview for failing to ask other party leaders about ‘bad eggs in their ranks’

Nigel Farage has accused the BBC of “clear and evident bias” after he came under pressure over the quality of Ukip’s general election candidates.

A number of Ukip candidates have been accused of making inappropriate comments and one was caught up in an expenses scandal, but Farage blamed Tory defectors to the party for causing the problems.

He criticised the BBC for asking him about them, saying other party leaders were not grilled about their rogue candidates.

Later he tweeted: “So the BBC admits it doesn’t think that other parties have bad eggs in their ranks. Clear and evident bias #r4today.”

Farage has previously claimed the party has become better at weeding out unsuitable candidates after it suffered similar problems during the last two years of council elections.

In recent weeks, Janice Atkinson in Folkestone was suspended over an expenses sting, Jeremy Zeid in Hendon quit after suggesting Israel should kidnap Barack Obama, and the party’s Scottish MEP, David Coburn, was widely criticised for comparing SNP politician Humza Yousaf to terrorist Abu Hamza.

Christopher Gillibrand in Dwyfor Meirionnydd has only recently resigned as an official of the extreme-right Traditional Britain Group.

Asked about some of these incidents, Farage rejected any suggestion that Ukip had a disproportionate number of unsuitable candidates, arguing that the media did not properly interrogate those of the other parties.

He claimed the party had a particular problem with former Tories and then hit out on Twitter at “BBC bias” in its line of questioning.

“We have had a problem with some Conservative defectors, nearly every one of these cases is when people have come from the Conservative party,” he said. “I mean, it’s interesting; last year I was here there was a Ukip town councillor who said derogatory things about gay marriage, it was a national news story, it led on some of the BBC bulletins. He had been a Conservative councillor for 22 years saying the same things.”

Farage then told the BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Mishal Husain: “I’m perfectly happy for you to ask me this, provided you ask the other party leaders the same things, which I know you won’t do.”

There have also been prominently reported scandals in recent weeks about a Tory candidate allegedly trying to plot with the EDL, a Lib Dem who stood down over a sting about donations, and another Lib Dem who withdrew after his arrest on suspicion of child sex abuse.

In a long interview ahead of Thursday night’s leaders’ debate, Farage was also questioned about whether he this week suggested immigration meant children were less likely to play in the streets.

“I want us to live in a society that is integrated,” he said. “We have segregated communities. Not just in our cities, but in many of our market towns. Just travel up the eastern spine of England; go to Peterborough, go to Boston. You’ll see the fact that we don’t have integration. You get quarters and districts of towns and cities that get taken over by one particular group.”

The Ukip leader then repeated his belief that it would be better for Britain to stem the flow of immigration even if that meant the country was a little worse off.

Farage has put immigration at the centre of his campaign after David Cameron had to acknowledge failing in his pledge to bring net migration down to tens of thousands. It is currently around 300,000.

However, Ukip has also been accused of a confused policy after Farage abandoned the idea of capping numbers at 50,000, before later saying he thought about 30,000 was more appropriate.

Having previously rejected setting a target, he told the Today programme the 30,000 figure was indeed a target. The party is not, however, likely to put an exact number in its manifesto.