Nigel Farage refuses to apologise for 'Breaking Point' poster in final pitch to voters

'I apologised for the timing… but I can’t apologise for the truth'

Nigel Farage has refused to apologise for a widely condemned “Breaking Point” poster showing a vast queue of refugees stretching into the distance.

It comes after the Ukip leader was accused of adopting Nazi style propaganda tactics to help win the EU referendum. The poster Mr Farage unveiled showed refugees on the Slovenian border - part of Europe's passport-free Schengen area.

Next to the billboard was the headline “Breaking Point” and underneath it “the EU has failed us all”.

When asked if he had apologised for the controversial billboard – as one Ukip MEP claimed during the television BBC debate on Tuesday – Mr Farage responded after his speech: “I apologised for the timing… but I can’t apologise for the truth.”

The SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon described the poster as “disgusting” while one of her MPs, Pete Wishard, also weighed in saying that a “vote for leave is pretty much become a vote for petty xenophobia and anti-immigrant rhetoric”. American playwright Bonnie Greer, who has famously clashed with Mr Farage in the past, compared him to Nazi military leader Herman Goering.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, described it “disgusting and vile” and said it had “echoes of literature used in the 1930s”.

Mr Farage also used his last major speech before voters head to the polls to cast their vote in the EU referendum to urge British people to vote with the “heart” and “soul”. He added that voters could make Friday the UK’s "Independence Day”.

“Let’s stop pretending what this European project is,” the Ukip leader said in his speech. “They have an anthem, they are building an army, they’ve already got their own police force and of course they’ve got a flag.

“At the end of the day tomorrow when people vote they must make a decision: which flag is theirs? I want, I want us to live under British passports and under the British flag.”

“Vote with your heart, vote with your soul, vote with pride in this country and its people and together we can make tomorrow our Independence Day – a big day in our national history.

Speaking to press from all over the world and Vote Leave supporters in Westminster, Mr Farage branded the EU "a big business cartel".

He said: "We find ourselves, for the benefit of tariff-free trade, having to accept unlimited free movement of people. We find ourselves prohibited from making our own deals with the rest of the world."

Mr Farage accused Brussels of usurping control and sovereignty from the UK, and imposing EU law which "is supreme". His voice rising with passion and pulling out his passport from his jacket and waving it in front of the microphone - a signature move by the Ukip leader - he declared: "We don't even have a British passport anymore" - raising a clap from his supporters in the audience.

He said: "Let's stop pretending what this European project is - they have an anthem, they are building an army, they have already got their own police force, and of course they have got a flag. "At the end of the day tomorrow when people vote they have to make a decision - which flag is theirs? "I want us to live under British passports and under the British flag."

The EU referendum debate has so far been characterised by bias, distortion and exaggeration. So until 23 June we we’re running a series of question and answer features that explain the most important issues in a detailed, dispassionate way to help inform your decision.

What is Brexit and why are we having an EU referendum?

Does the UK need to take more control of its sovereignty?

Could the UK media swing the EU referendum one way or another?

Will the UK benefit from being released from EU laws?

Will we gain or lose rights by leaving the European Union?

Will Brexit mean that Europeans have to leave the UK?

Will leaving the EU lead to the break-up of the UK?

What will happen to immigration if there's Brexit?

Will Brexit make the UK more or less safe?

Will the UK benefit from being released from EU laws?

Will leaving the EU save taxpayers money and mean more money for the NHS?

What will Brexit mean for British tourists booking holidays in the EU?

Will Brexit help or damage the environment?

Will Brexit mean that Europeans have to leave the UK?

What will Brexit mean for British expats in Europe?