Ukip sex education U-turn by Nigel Farage during Bite the Ballot debate

Ukip leader Nigel Farage appeared confused about his own party's stance on sex education, unexpectedly announcing a u-turn on official policy during a debate.

During a live debate Farage said he did not back calls to scrap sex education.

"I've never advocated that policy. If somebody in Ukip in the past did, well, so be it, but I think that people need to have a rounded education and sex education is part of that," he said.

The unexpected volte-face occurred during a "Leaders Live" debate with young voters which was live-streamed online by campaign group, Bite the Ballot. The event was a chance for Ukip to connect with young voters - a group the party has found hard to reach.

Ukip's own website states its policy of abolishing sex education for the under-11s - a fact which was pointed out by a member of the audience.

Farage replied: "I know there was a debate about sex education for four-year-olds, and whether that was appropriate but I don't think the age 11 was ever mentioned."

Earlier this year, Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall announced the party's policy to scrap sex education in classrooms for under 11-year-olds.

"Ukip is committed to the scrapping of sex and relationship education for children under the age of 11," Nuttall told the party's conference.

The mix-up will fuel claims Ukip is incoherent about policy matters, only five months from the general election.

Farage has something of a history of diverging from Ukip policies, disowning the party's entire manifesto from the last election.