Controversy over Mark Reckless' 'Polish plumber' comments

On the eve of the Rochester and Strood by-election, UKIP candidate Mark Reckless has come under fire for suggesting that migrants settled in Britain could be asked to leave.

In an ITV Meridian hustings debate he was asked what should happen - if Britain left the EU - to a Polish plumber settled in Rochester with his children in local schools. His answer has been described as "the language of repatriation" by political opponents.

Our political reporter Phil Hornby - who presented the debate - reports from Westminster with the latest on the row dominating the final hours of campaigning. Interviewees: Andrzej Charczuk, Polish plumber and Chris Bryant MP, Labour campaign co-ordinator.

Ukip's Mark Reckless is under fire today after suggesting EU migrants who'd lived in UK for a long time would be considered sympathetically. Others might only be allowed to stay for a "transitional period". He appeared on Meridian's hustings programme.

Ukip's Mark Reckless is under fire today after suggesting that EU migrants who had lived in the UK for a long time would be considered sympathetically. Others, he said, might only be allowed to stay for a "transitional period".

Meridian had invited four of the candidates to a special hustings at the University of Kent in Medway.

It was one of the last opportunities for the residents of Rochester and Strood to quiz them before polling day.