“Nigel Farage is deeply unpleasant. He’s an elitist who rails against the elites, a career politician who rails against career politicians, a wealthy former stockbroker who presents himself as a man of the people. He’ll try and present himself as a respectable Brexiteer but no-one should forget that he campaigned for the likes of Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and the right-wing populist AfD party in Germany.

“This morning, Nigel Farage said that UKIP has chosen “to allow the far right to join it and effectively take it over” but also said that “there is no difference” between the policies of UKIP and of the Brexit Party.

“HOPE not hate’s campaign focus in this election will be on Stephen Lennon ['Tommy Robinson'], and on stopping UKIP – a party that is now unambiguously on the far right – from winning seats. But given Farage’s track record of inflammatory and divisive comments, we’ll be watching him very, very closely.

“If racist comments from leading members of the Brexit Party are uncovered and they’re not sacked, we will act. If the Brexit Party adopts an agenda of Islamophobia, we will act. If Farage or other candidates engage in the sort of racist dog whistle politics we’ve seen in the past, we will act."