More black people will be allowed to come to Britain if we leave the EU, Ukip leader Nigel Farage said this morning.

He said Brexit will also help immigration become a 'non-issue' in the UK because the Government could cut net migration to under 50,000 - more than a sixth of the current level.

Mr Farage, speaking the morning after his TV showdown with David Cameron last night, said Britain has 'been stupid to turn our backs' on the Commonwealth in favour of EU membership.

He said the EU's freedom of movement rules, which leaves the UK powerless over the number of European citizens entering Britain, had made if 'very difficult' for even qualified and skilled migrants from India and Africa to come to the country.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage (pictured on ITV's GMB this morning) said Brexit will help immigration become a 'non-issue' in the UK because it would allow us to cut net migration to under 50,000

After a Brexit vote Mr Farage favours implementing an Australian points-based immigration policy - backed by Tory Brexit campaigners Boris Johnson and Michael Gove - which would lead to 'more black people' qualifying to enter the UK.

Last night Mr Farage was berated by voters for 'scaremongering against non-white people' and dire predictions of a Cologne-style sex attacks in the UK unless we leave the EU.

This morning he insisted he had 'deliberately played down' the comments, which he claimed were misinterpreted.

In an interview at the weekend the Ukip chief warned that staying in the EU will make women vulnerable to sex attacks carried out by gangs of migrant men and caused outrage by describing this warning as the 'nuclear bomb' of the EU referendum campaign.

Nigel Farage, speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain presenters Piers Morgan (left) and Susanna Reid (middle), said Britain has 'been stupid to turn our backs' on the Commonwealth in favour of EU membership

Seeking to gain the initiative after last night's TV debate, Mr Farage told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I believe in the Commonwealth, I believe our relationship with the Commonwealth is vital, I think we've been stupid to turn our backs on it in favour of EU membership.

PM IN 'URGENT' TALKS OVER EXTENDING VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE AFTER SITE CRASHES The Government voter registration website crashed last night just two hours before the deadline David Cameron has urged people to keep trying to register to vote in the EU referendum amid fury over the official website crashing hours before the deadline. The Prime Minister said 'urgent' discussions were going on over extending the timings to prevent tens of thousands being barred from taking part in the crucial decision. The Electoral Commission said this morning that it supports changing the law to push the deadline back. Anyone who wants to vote on June 23 had to have completed an application before midnight to be allowed to take part. But around 10pm the system on Gov.UK appeared to go down for around an hour. Despite the system failures, yesterday was a record for the number of people registering to vote in a single day, with 525,000 signing up to have their say on Brexit. After politicians branded the situation 'shambolic', Mr Cameron told the House of Commons this afternoon that he was working with the Electoral Commission to find a solution. 'We are working urgently with them to make sure those who register today and last night will be able to vote in the EU referendum,' he said. Mr Cameron said 'record numbers' accessing the site last night had caused the outage, and it was 'extremely welcome' that so many people wanted to sign up to vote last night. He also urged people to continue trying to register today. Brexit campaigner and Justice Secretary Michael Gove signalled that he would not try to block an extension of registration. But he also warned that changing the deadline would take the issue into 'complex legal waters'. Advertisement

'What has happened, because of the huge numbers of people coming from the EU, is it's now very difficult for somebody who's qualified from India or from Africa to get into this country because we have an unlimited open door to unskilled labour from southern and eastern Europe.

'And the effect of what I'm proposing – a points system, call it the Australian one or whatever you like – actually more black people would qualify to come in under that.'

Asked what he saw as the ideal level of annual net migration to the UK, Mr Farage told presenter Piers Morgan: 'I'm prepared to put a figure on net migration may be but it will be up to the British Parliament and British Government to enact it.

'At the moment we don't decide in any way the numbers that come and that's why the Prime Minister is in trouble because people know his tens of thousands pledge wasn't pledge.

'[What I would like to see] is us to return to post-war normality. For about 60 years we had net migration into Britain between 30,000 and 50,000 people a year. If we return to that it will become a non-issue.'

Official figures revealed last month that net migration is running at 330,000 a year - with 184,000 of that coming from the EU.

In a bruising encounter live on ITV last night, Mr Cameron came under fire from members of the audience for failing to fulfill his pledge to cut net migration to the 'tens of thousands'.

The Prime Minister insisted that cutting ties with Brussels was a 'bad way' to cut numbers entering the UK and pleaded with people not to vote for the 'Little England of Nigel Farage'.

But he was battered by father-of-three Harry Boparai, who told the Prime Minister he had allowed 'uncontrolled immigration' which had caused his family's quality of life to plummet.

This morning Mr Farage also said he was open to the official voter registration website being reopened for up to a day after it crashed just two hours before the deadline last night.

The Government is facing calls to allow those who missed out to sign up last night after 'unprecedented demand' meant the website couldn't cope and was down for around an hour.

Despite the system failures, yesterday was a record for the number of people registering to vote in a single day, with 525,000 signing up to have their say on Brexit.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had appealed for unregistered voters to sign up at the last minute, called for the deadline to be extended after the outage.

'I'm told the site has crashed so people can't register to vote for the EU referendum,' he said. 'If so, the deadline has to be extended.'

Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, suggested that if young people were denied the chance to register it could boost the chances of Brexit prevailing in the referendum.

He said: 'This is a shambles the Government has presided over and people must be given an extra day to exercise their democratic right. It is also a major blow to the In campaign and our prospects of staying in Europe.'

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said this morning: 'We became aware of technical issues on gov.uk/register-to-vote late on Tuesday night due to unprecedented demand.

'Some people did manage to get through and their applications were processed. We tried to resolve the situation as quickly as was possible and to resolve cases where people tried to register but were not able to.'

David Cameron taken to task for his immigration record by '40-year-old Brit who has been working full time since 16'

David Cameron was mauled last night over immigration by a Tory voter who accused him of betraying supporters by allowing parts of the country to descend into 'no go areas'.

The Prime Minister was repeatedly battered on the issue by a live studio audience as he insisted that cutting ties with Brussels was a 'bad way' to cut numbers entering the UK.

In a bruising ITV referendum debate where Mr Cameron was told his Brussels renegotiation had been a 'humiliation', he pleaded with voters not to be the 'Little England of Nigel Farage' and leave the EU.

But father-of-three Harry Boparai told the Prime Minister he had allowed 'uncontrolled immigration', which had caused his family's quality of life to plummet.

He said: ‘I have no GP as they are all full in my area, I can’t get on the housing ladder and have three kids in one room.

'The place where I grew up was once a lovely area but it is now a no-go zone. How is the EU and uncontrolled immigration working for me, a 40-year-old Brit who has been working full time since the age of 16?’

Let down: Airport worker Harry Boparai said he could not get a GP, could not buy a house and had three children in one room because of 'uncontrolled' immigration

Bruising: Mr Cameron was battered over his immigration while Nigel Farage, who also appeared on the show, was accused of legitimising racism

Mr Cameron responded: 'I would say really frankly that if we want to build houses, if we want to invest in our health service, if we want good schools for our children, we have got to strengthen and safeguard our economy.

'Coming out of the single market, which is what the Leave campaign want to do, that would damage our economy'.

But Mr Boparai, an airport worker, hit back and said: ‘Sorry Mr Cameron. I voted for you in the last election because one of the things on your manifesto was to get immigration down. You haven’t been able to do that because you’re not allowed to do that. That’s the bottom line.

'I’ve seen my standard of living and my family’s standard of living go down because of this influx that we cannot control. I’m sorry to say but your closing statement last week was "if we leave the EU, we’re rolling a dice with our children’s future". I think quite the opposite. By you telling us to stay in, you’ve rolled that dice already.’

Ukip leader Nigel Farage was slammed by the group of voters for 'scaremongering against non-white people' and dire predictions about Cologne-style sex attacks in this country unless we leave the EU.

But taking to the stage afterwards, Mr Cameron was given an even rougher ride.