Ukip leader Nigel Farage and comedian Russell Brand clashed over immigration on BBC Question Time on Thursday night.

Farage claimed that Britain was overcrowded, and while green spaces are still abundant, immigration has caused a squeeze on public services such as primary schools and GP services.

Brand did not make the point that immigrants have consistently been found to be net contributors to the British economy and instead focused on the fear of immigration instilled by groups such as Ukip and blamed greed and tax avoidance by the banking and political class for Britain’s problems.

Brand went on to comment on Farage’s popular “everyman” quality, warning:

“As much as any of us, I enjoy seeing Nigel Farage in a boozer with a pint and a fag laughing off his latest scandals about breast-feeding or whatever – I enjoy it. But this man is not a cartoon character. He ain’t Del Boy, he ain’t Arthur Daily – he’s a Poundshop Enoch Powell and we gotta watch him.”