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Ukip's Deputy Leader, Paul Nuttall, faced boos and jeers from the public when he admitted he'd like to see parts of the NHS privatised - before blaming the health service crisis on immigrants.

The MEP faced a furious backlash over claims the funding crisis in the NHS was due to the UK allowing "over 300,000 people into this country every single year."

He made the comments on the BBC's Question Time programme, broadcast last night from Stoke-On-Trent.

In the face of anger from the studio audience, he added: "You can't plan for the NHS when you've got too many people in the country."

He was taken to task by journalist Paris Lees, who said: "Shame on you. We would not have an NHS were it not for those doctors coming in from different countries."

Nuttall replied: "Isn't that shame on us, because we should be training them up on our own?

Lees also challenged Nuttall to clarify his position on NHS privatisation - something he's previously said he would welcome.

In a 2013 letter published on - and later deleted from - his website, Nuttall said the very existence of the health service "stifled competition."

He also congratulated the coalition government for "bringing a whiff of privatisation to the beleaguered National Health Service",

But he tried to wriggle out of his support for selling off the health service, claiming he was talking about procurement.

He said: "You've got the NHS in some cases paying over 30 times the cost for drugs. I thought maybe it might be a good idea to bring a private company in to try and get bang for our buck."

Ukip leader Nigel Farage was forced to furiously backtrack last year, after a speech in which he called for the NHS to move to an American-style insurance based system were made pubic.

Research from the General Medical Council suggests a third of doctors working in the NHS gained their medical qualifications outside the UK.

And a study by University College London found that immigrants - particularly from the European Union - are a net benefit to the economy, paying about 34% more in taxes than they cost in benefits.

There's also evidence immigrants are less likely to use the NHS at all, because they tend to be younger and healthier on average than British-born citizens.