“I find him very venal, quite honestly, as an individual.

“He’s selfish, and he’s on the whole, quite uninformed. I’m just dazzled at the way there’s a lot of people that have been seduced by him because he’s a bit of a bully.”

Cox said the way Farage had conducted himself during the interview with Kuenssberg had been “badgering”, saying: “I just don’t trust the man”.

He added: “There’s never been a more positive time that we need to be in Europe.

“We’ve got to be Europe again because of what’s happening in the Ukraine, and if we don’t recognize that now, we’re lost.”

During the interview, Farage said he was “not inclined at the moment to do that” when asked if he would publish his personal tax returns.

(Image: Stefan Rousseau / PA Wire) Put to him that he, like many other politicians, has affairs where “there’s a lot of money swilling around and that are not very like the financial arrangements of most people”, and asked if he thinks that he can relate to people watching,  Farage told Kuenssberg: “I have been for 30 years, in my own way, an entrepreneur. I’ve run companies for 30 years. I’ve employed lots of people directly. I’ve employed loads of people as contractors. As it happens, I still employ quite a few people as contractors.

“I have a company that does a variety of things, media income is just one of them. And you know what, do we want people in politics who have paid tax, lots of tax, who’ve created lots of jobs, or not?”

Asked if he would commit to publishing tax returns, he said: “All my company returns, of course, are filed every year at Companies House and there for all to see. 

He added: “I haven’t published my own personal tax returns. I personally think that’s an intrusion too far. I don’t believe it’s necessary.”

Put to him that it is not something he would do on his journey to what he hopes would take him to No 10, Farage added: “I’m not inclined at the moment to do that.”