Farage feels the heat as Ukip face more party woes

Ukip said it had suspended Mr Bashir shortly before news of his decision to join the Tories emerged, and Mr Farage said the party had become “increasingly alarmed” about allegations of impropriety.

Mr Bashir dismissed his former party’s move as a “desperate attempt” to smear him to distract from the news of his decision to join the Conservatives and insisted there was “not a shred of truth” to the claims.

But Mr Farage told Channel 4 News: “Mr Bashir’s has been the subject of increasing alarm within Ukip over the last few months.”

“He knew we reached the end of the road with us. The only surprise to me is that the Conservatives have accepted him given there are so many open questions.”

He claimed the MEP “didn’t tell us the truth” about the alleged employment of illegal immigrants in his restaurant business.

‘Vanity project’

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Bashir said Ukip’s reaction when the party found out he intended to defect “sums up what is wrong with them”.

It has become a vanity project for Nigel Farage. Amjad Bashir

“They made a crude attempt to smear me with false allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of Asian members in Bradford,” he said.

“There is not a shred of truth in any of the claims but it has made me more convinced than ever that I made the right decision.”

NHS comments

The Ukip leader also brushed off comments made by party secretary Matthew Richardson saying that Ukip should represent “bigots” and labelling the NHS a “waste of money”.

Mr Farage said the “bigots” comments were a “idol pub gossip” and the remarks about the NHS were made in 2010 when Mr Richardson was a Conservative.