Ukip disowns remark by former Tory, saying it is not party’s policy to round up migrants and put them on a boat at Dover

Ukip has overruled Mark Reckless, its candidate in the Rochester & Strood byelection, after he suggested Polish plumbers and other EU migrants could be asked to leave Britain if his party were in government.

Reckless, the former Tory MP whose defection triggered the byelection, had indicated EU migrants who had lived in the UK for a long time would be looked at sympathetically but others might only be allowed to stay for a transitional period.

His remarks were challenged by the Labour candidate, Naushabah Khan, who is the daughter of immigrants.

“Where would you stop Mark? My family are migrants, are we going to say they need to go back as well?” she said, during the ITV hustings aired on local news on Tuesday night.

His remarks were disowned by Ukip, with a spokesman saying: “It is absolutely not our policy to round up EU migrants and put them on a boat at Dover and send them back to wherever they came from.”

Party sources said Reckless had been wrongfooted in the debate and misunderstood the premise of the question, as Ukip would not ask any EU migrants who are in the country legally to leave.

“Ukip’s position on migration is entirely clear,” a Ukip spokesman said. “We need to sort out our borders, and we cannot do so whilst we remain in the European Union. Those who are in this country lawfully, such as those from EU nations, would have the right to remain. Those who are here illegally would have to apply for work permits.”

Reckless made the comments when he was challenged to spell out what would happen to a Polish plumber if Ukip had its way on Britain leaving the EU.

“I think in the near term we’d have to have a transitional period, and I think we should probably allow people who are currently here to have a work permit at least for a fixed period,” he said.

Asked again whether this would mean a Polish plumber could be deported, Reckless said: “People who have been here a long time and integrated in that way I think we’d want to look sympathetically at.”

He went on to stress that Ukip’s focus was on how to control numbers of new migrants and creating a system that did not discriminate in favour of EU migrants against non-EU migrants.

The issue of immigration continues to dominate the campaign in Rochester & Strood, along with the NHS and local primary schools.

It emerged on Wednesday that David Cameron has been berated by his own candidate, Kelly Tolhurst, over the “hurt” caused by immigration to her area and the need for “action, not just talk” on controlling the number of new arrivals.

In a leaflet distributed to voters, the 36-year-old businesswoman standing for the Tories, wrote how she would go straight to the prime minister and “demand something is done” if she won the byelection.

According to polls, Tolhurst is lagging behind Reckless.

The officially-approved flyer, headlined Kelly Talks, appears to be an attempt by the Conservatives to portray their candidate as someone with Ukip-style views on immigration that take a tougher line than her party and Cameron himself.

“I wanted to bring the prime minister to this constituency to show him that uncontrolled immigration has hurt this area. I told him we need action, not just talk.”

Another Conservative leaflet appears to link immigration and fear of crime.

It says: “Most people I know here have worked hard their lives, played by the rules and paid their fair share, but we sometimes struggle to access the services we need because of uncontrolled immigration. Others don’t feel safe walking down the high street of our town.”

The polls and bookmakers suggest Reckless is the clear favourite to win on Thursday, despite Cameron promising to throw the kitchen sink at the seat. Conservative MPs have been told to make at least three visits, although some have made only fleeting appearances.

The prime minister made his fifth visit to the north Kent constituency on Tuesday, stressing four times that Tolhurst was a strong local candidate and warning that a vote for Ukip would take the country a step closer to the “instability, insecurity and the danger of Ed Miliband” in Downing Street.

The Tories are braced for the possibility of more defections if Reckless wins, especially given that any switchers would probably not have to fight a byelection this close to next May’s general election.

Asked what he would say to any Conservative MP planning to defect to Ukip, Cameron said this would be “entirely counter-productive” as only he could deliver an EU referendum.