A Ukip candidate who posted a string of racist and homophobic messages on Twitter has been suspended, as Nigel Farage admitted his party counts "some idiots" among its members.
Harry Perry, a candidate in Stockport, reportedly tweeted a series of offensive remarks, including calling for Pakistan to be "nuked" and branding Muslims "devil's kids".
He also branded Prime Minister David Cameron a "gay-loving nutcase" and said homosexuality is an "abomination before God".
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the comments were "entirely inconsistent" with being a member of his party.
But at the launch of his party's latest poster campaign, Mr Farage insisted the scrutiny Ukip has been subjected to has been "disproportionate."
Mr Farage responded: "Every party has these kinds of problems but there is a completely disproportionate media spotlight on what goes wrong in Ukip compared to the others.
"I've never heard of the bloke until last night. I've no idea who he is. Clearly his attitude and views are entirely inconsistent with being a member of Ukip. Simple."
Asked about Mr Cameron's claim that Conservatives do not need to discredit Ukip as they were doing a "good enough job themselves", Mr Farage added: "It was good clever politics. I'll give him that. Yeah, we've got some idiots."
The Ukip leader also waded into the Jeremy Clarkson racism row by claiming the latest controversy was "typical" of the Top Gear host.
"I would think it's just typical Clarkson, getting very, very close to the line of being offensive but perhaps not quite going over it," he said.
Mr Farage was speaking against the backdrop of the cliffs of Dover at the launch of Ukip's billboard campaign for May's Euro-elections.
The campaign poster features a picture of the famous landmark with an escalator running up the middle and the slogan: "No border. No control. The EU has opened our borders to 4,000 people every week."
The poster adds: "Take back control of our country."
Mr Farage said: "On Monday this billboard will be going up on hundreds of sites right across the United Kingdom, and even if the politicians don't want to discuss this issue, I think this very simple, straightforward message is going to get the public talking about it."
