Nigel Farage has been condemned for saying a Brexit could help prevent mass sex attacks by gangs of migrants on women.
The Ukip leader said voting to leave the EU could help protect British women from a mass sexual attacks of the sort seen in Cologne on New Year's Eve.
He has previously made this claim but this time it gained more attention as he said the issue was the "nuclear bomb" in the EU referendum.
He told The Sunday Telegraph: "The nuclear bomb this time would be about Cologne ... There are some very big cultural issues".
When asked whether our EU membership boosted the risk of Cologne-style attacks, Farage told the paper: "It depends if they get EU passports. It depends if we vote for Brexit or not. It is an issue."
Fellow Out campaigner Michael Gove refused to endorse Farage's comments when he appeared on Peston On Sunday.
Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson said Farage was "genuinely trying to frighten people".
"I'd rather not add to controversial comments. I think the British public deserve a higher level of debate," he told Sky News.
Farage's comments drew condemnation on Twitter, especially in light of the fact that the Brexit campaign has accused its opponents of "Project Fear" over its warnings about the economy and security if we leave the EU.
In the Sunday Telegraph interview, Farage also cited statistic that 41% of crime committed in London is committed by people who do not hold British passports.
It is not the first time Farage has alluded to the Cologne attacks during the referendum campaign.
In March, he told a rally in Newport: "But to me, if you allow the unlimited access of huge numbers of young males into the European continent who come from countries where women are at best are second-class citizens, don't be surprised if scenes that we saw in Cologne don't happen more often."
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Chancellor George Osborne today said Farage had a "mean" vision of Britain.
He told the paper: "This is a battle between Farage’s mean vision of Britain and the outward-facing, generous Britain that the mainstream of this country celebrates. I say: we don’t want Farage’s Britain.
"That means voting to remain."