Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna has accused Nigel Farage of “maliciously” distorting the immigration debate — but warned that public concerns on the issue cannot be ignored.

He told Blairite faction Progress’s annual conference on Saturday that voters would be “watching carefully” to see how Labour responds to Ukip’s surge in the recent European Parliament election.

He said: “With a deliberate and maliciously distorted analysis of immigrants and our sovereignty, they have made Europe and immigration the problem.

“But the issues people are worried about are real. Their causes are complex and are far more fundamental than Europe.

“Now you can pose with a pint, drink loads of beer and smoke loads of cigarettes, till you keel over for the benefit of the cameras, but that does not mean you have the solutions to these problems.”