The official Vote Leave campaign has been accused of trying to "hit the racist issues" with a negative campaign focusing on immigration.

Khalid Mahmood - one of a small number of Labour MPs backing Out - said the tactics were driving ethnic minority voters to support Remain.

He also strongly criticised Boris Johnson's "totally racist" comments about President Barack Obama's "part-Kenyan" heritage and called on him to apologise.

Vote Leave said it had always made clear that it wanted a "fairer" immigration system and would continue to make the "positive case" for Brexit.

Mr Mahmood, Birmingham Perry Barr MP, quit Vote Leave some months ago, and said he had left because of its tactics on immigration.

Khalid Mahmood: Labour MP

"Everybody on the Leave campaign was trying to hit the racist issues," he told BBC2's Newsnight.

"Vote Leave decided they were going to concentrate on immigration on a very, very negative basis and try and frighten people away on the issue of migration.

"That's why I think most of the BME community in the UK is now pushing very much towards In Europe."

He said ethnic minority voters had been "totally horrified and appalled" by a Vote Leave poster showing Turkish migrants queuing to get into Britain if it remained a part of the EU.

"This is again what makes people really frightened about their own status in this country," he said.

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit Show all 7 1 /7 The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 22 May 2015 In his regular column in The Express Nigel Farage utilised the concerns over Putin and the EU to deliver a tongue in cheek conclusion. “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” PA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 13 November 2015 UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Mike Hookem, was one of several political figures who took no time to harness the toxic atmosphere just moments after Paris attacks to push an agenda. “Cameron says we’re safer in the EU. Well I’m in the centre of the EU and it doesn’t feel very safe.” Getty Images The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 19 April 2016 In an article written for The Guardian, Michael Gove attempts to bolster his argument with a highly charged metaphor in which he likens UK remaining in the EU to a hostage situation. “We’re voting to be hostages locked in the back of the car and driven headlong towards deeper EU integration.” Rex The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 26 April 2016 In a move that is hard to decipher, let alone understand, Mike Hookem stuck it to Obama re-tweeting a UKIP advertisement that utilises a quote from the film: ‘Love Actually’ to dishonour the US stance on the EU. “A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend” The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 10 May 2016 During a speech in London former work and pensions secretary Ian Duncan Smith said that EU migration would cause an increasing divide between people who benefit from immigration and people who couldn’t not find work because of uncontrolled migration. “The European Union is a ‘force for social injustice’ which backs the ‘haves rather than the have-nots.” EPA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 15 May 2016 Cartoon character Boris Johnson made the news again over controversial comments that the EU had the same goal as Hitler in trying to create a political super state. “Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically.” “The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods.” PA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 16 May 2016 During a tour of the women’s clothing manufacturer David Nieper, Boris had ample time to cook up a new metaphor, arguably eclipsing Gove’s in which he compares the EU to ‘badly designed undergarments.’ “So I just say to all those who prophecy doom and gloom for the British Business, I say their pants are on fire. Let’s say knickers to the pessimists, knickers to all those who talk Britain down.” Getty Images

"That was really negative, that was just absolutely abysmal in terms of a national campaign going forward. These people are isolating them."

He said that Mr Johnson had "a lot to apologise for" over his remarks suggesting President Obama was hostile towards the UK due to his "part-Kenyan" heritage.

"I think Boris's exploration of Obama's heritage and pointing out where he came from is totally racist," he said.

"Boris has a lot to apologise for in relation to those sort of remarks and dividing our community."

Vote Leave said: "We have always said that we want a fairer immigration system which allows us to prioritise the brightest and best around the world, not just people who happen to be born in other EU countries.

"We will continue to make the positive case for voting to leave the EU."