Nigel Farage to draw attention to Ukip's black and ethnic minority candidates to prove the party isn't racist

Ukip leader pledges to tackle accusations of racism - and insists "we should have weeded out" some members of the party

UK Independence Party is on course to win the largest share of the vote in elections for the European Parliament

Nigel Farage will highlight Ukip’s black and ethnic minority candidates in a bid to prove the party is not racist.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show this morning, Mr Farage admitted that Ukip has “unpleasantness and stupidity” within its ranks, and conceded he had “made mistakes” in the party’s vetting procedures.

"Some people have got through. We should have weeded more of them out," he said. “Not only am I adamant that we are a non-racist party, this week I am going to fight back against it.”

Mr Farage added that voters can expect to see “a lot of black, ethnic minority candidates who are proudly standing for Ukip” in its local elections.

He went on to deny claims the party was racist, and insisted “we will deal with that head on this week”.

Today it was revealed that Ukip has a three-point lead in the upcoming European elections, despite most people thinking the party contains racists, according to a YouGov poll.

It follows a week of fresh controversies for the embattled party, which suspended would-be Ukip councillor Harry Perry for describing Prime Minister David Cameron as a "gay-loving nutcase", calling Muslims "devil's kids" and homosexuality "an abomination before God" on Twitter.

Yesterday, Mr Farage accepted that there were "some idiots" in the party and insisted Mr Perry’s views were “entirely inconsistent” with the Ukip’s.