BY Peter Walker Political correspondent

Ukip has been accused of “grubbing around in the gutter” for votes after the party selected a parliamentary candidate who has described Islam as evil.

Anne Marie Waters, an activist from the anti-Islam Pegida movement, has also praised the far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders.

It follows Ukip’s decision to campaign on banning the full-face veil and sharia courts. The move by Ukip’s leader, Paul Nuttall, to focus his party on an “integration agenda” – which also calls for mandatory medical checks on schoolgirls at risk of female genital mutilation – has prompted some disquiet among senior figures.

One Ukip MEP said the adoption of Waters, who this month appeared on the far-right Swedish web platform Red Ice TV, was “a massive worry”. He said he hoped to challenge it with colleagues.