Ukip leader Nigel Farage has hit back at Tory MP Sir Roger Gale who attacked him in an excoriating column in our sister paper the Thanet Extra.

Mr Farage who is standing in Thanet South branded the piece by the sitting Thanet North MP headlined Paris, Ukip And Gutter Politics deplorable.

In his In My View column, Sir Roger accused the Ukip leader of jumping on a bandwagon after the Paris terrorist attacks, blaming the massacre on thousands of years of multiculturalism and the 'dog-whistle responses of reactionary populism'.

It added: "We should have nothing to do with [Nigel Farage] and his fellow travellers and I hope people will at last wake up to what 'NF' actually stands for.

"I do not wish to be re-elected with the support of anyone who espouses the views expressed, in the minutes following the murder of those working for French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and of the police in Paris, by the current leader of Ukip.

"What we must not do is allow the dog-whistle responses of reactionary populism to drag us down a road that has some hideous similarities with the Europe of the late 1930s.

"We British are, by instinct and nature, a decent, generous, hospitable and courageous people."

Hitting back, Mr Farage said the article 'was beneath them'.

He added: "Sir Roger Gale made it clear in his deplorable article in last week’s Thanet Extra, that he doesn’t want anyone voting for him who agrees with me. His words, not mine.

"And yet it’s clear that most people saw my comments, especially about the Paris attacks, about mass migration, multiculturalism, and the solutions needed, as common sense.

"I said in the European Parliament, that simply saying ‘Je Suis Charlie’ is not enough, and that European leaders need to reflect on how we got to this situation.

"Whether it be our endless foreign wars, or our reluctance to address radicalisation and segregation, I said I think we in the West have been guilty of weakness.

"I said we must help the vast majority of Muslims in our country who are horrified about the civil war in Islam, and that we have to be a lot braver, and a lot more courageous about standing up for our Judeo-Christian heritage. So there you have it.

"If you agree with any of that, the Tories and Sir Roger don’t want your vote. Again, their words, not mine.

"Personally, I think the Westminster set who have attacked me over standing up for British values need to take a long hard look in the mirror, but really, truly, I don’t want to lower myself to making party political points on the back of terrorist attacks.

"I said what I have to say about what was obviously the first major political event of the year.

"For Sir Roger and the Tories to turn that into an attack on UKIP is, or at least was, beneath them."