Nigel Farage has defended the racist remarks of the former Ukip candidate, Kerry Smith, forced to pull out of the race for Basildon.

Among other offensive comments, Smith referred to a woman with a Chinese name as a “chinky”, and has since had to apologise and withdraw his candidacy.

However, his party leader defended his use of the word on LBC this morning:

Kerry Smith is a rough diamond. He’s a council house boy from the east end of London, left school early, and talks and speaks in a way that a lot of people from that background do. We can pretend if you like . . . If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you’re going for?

Although he isn't known for his political correctness, Farage's controversial comments today are particularly significant. Firstly because any other of our party leaders saying such a thing would probably have to resign for doing so. This shows how untouchable Farage has become as a political figure. As his party's gained more power and prominence, and come under more scrutiny subsequently, his leadership remains largely unquestioned.

Secondly, if any other Ukip candidate or party official had made the comments Farage did today, they would probably have had to resign. The way the party leadership has reacted to ex-MEP and Ukipper Godfrey Bloom's gaffes, the Roger Bird scandal and the original remarks of Smith himself show a party attempting to clean up its image. It seems the same approach doesn't apply to its leader.

See the full interview here. Farage defends the racist comment from 21.50: