ANTI-RACISM group Hope Not Hate needs to raise £50,000 by Friday to fund its legal case against former Ukip leader Nigel Farage.

A hearing is due at the High Court on November 16 and 17 after Mr Farage made hate-filled smears which labelled the group “violent and undemocratic.”

His comments came in an LBC radio interview last December during which he also tried to link Brendan Cox, husband of the murdered MP Jo Cox and a supporter of the group, with extremists.

When asked by Hope Not Hate to apologise and retract his words, Mr Farage did not respond — despite warnings that he would face libel action.

Ukip later passed a motion banning its members from supporting the group.

A Hope Not Hate spokesman said: “Farage’s lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out by saying that the claim that we are violent isn’t seriously harmful.

“We are insisting that being being labelled violent goes against the very ethos of Hope Not Hate  and, uncontested, could severely hamper our work.”