EU referendum: Farage migrant warning after German bomb plot

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Europe and Britain "need to be sensible and careful" about individual migrants.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said Europe and Britain "need to be careful" about who to allow in, following a bomb plot in Germany.

He said three of four people implicated, posed as refugees and migrants.

Mr Farage made the comments during a heated BBC South East debate in Dover about the EU referendum.

Former minister and Remain campaigner, Damien Green MP said "no-one should use immigration to stir up discontent."

Earlier this month German police arrested three Syrian men on suspicion of plotting a suicide attack on behalf of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Dusseldorf.

German news agency DPA reported that officials confirmed three suspected militants had been posing as refugees and living in asylum seekers' homes.

German police reportedly foiled the bomb plot after a tip-off from French intelligence

One questioner challenged Mr Farage over his comments about the possibility of sex attacks by migrants.

The UKIP leader replied: "There is far more to be worried about than that. We found out overnight the Germans managed to stop a serious bomb plot in Dusseldorf and well done them for doing it. Three of the four people implicated in that came into Germany last year posing as refugees and migrants.

"We need to be sensible and careful about who we allow into Europe, and ultimately, who we let into Britain."

Mr Green said: "No-one under any circumstances has permission to try and use immigration to stir up discontent and hatred in this country because it is a dangerous thing to do.

"We place restrictions on migration and we have brought it down. We closed 800 bogus colleges which was an effective way of stopping people coming here to try to exploit the system."

Immigration controls and the economy dominated the debate in Dover

Mr Green, Conservative MP for Ashford, appeared for the Remain campaign with Labour Hove MP Peter Kyle and Brighton businesswoman Eleanor Harris, taking questions from an invited audience at Dover Town Hall.

Mr Farage was speaking with fellow Leave supporters former Conservative Party leader Lord Howard and Maria Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes.

Lord Howard said the UK could not control its borders because of its membership of the European Union.

He said the European Court of Justice forced the government in 2005 to let in someone known to be involved in terrorism because he was a French citizen.

But Remain campaigner Mr Kyle said the UK "needs to take control of its own borders and we can" and blamed Home Secretary Teresa May for a reduction in Border Force vessel patrols.

• Better In or Out? will be shown at 22.35 on BBC One in the South East.