Police officers were reportedly lectured about Nigel Farage during a publicly funded talk on Islamophobia, where a speaker drew comparisons between the Reform UK leader's beliefs and a racially aggravated offence.
Talk at Hate Crime Conference
The talk was delivered at a "hate crime conference" attended by North Yorkshire Police officers, where they were asked to consider the "harm" done by Farage. The event was led by Abbas Najib, a former police officer and chief executive of the charity Better Communities Bradford.
Attendees watched a 2024 interview in which Farage said "growing numbers of people do not subscribe to British values," citing Muslims and pro-Palestine marchers in London. The talk also used footage from GB News, where presenter Matt Goodwin showed a YouGov poll indicating that over half of Britons considered Islam incompatible with British values.
Comparisons to Hate Crime
Officers were asked to think about the relationship between Farage's words and a 2024 hate crime in which a Muslim bus driver was racially abused. Najib allegedly told the audience: "Ask yourself, who is going to get into trouble between those two gentlemen? And who did the most harm?"
He added: "Sitting in a national news studio and saying 'Jews hate Britain'. He'd be locked up before he left the studio, and too right too."
Wider Programme
The conference was part of Hate Crime Awareness Week and was delivered through the Inclusive Communities Joint Coordination Group. The lecture has reportedly been shown to students, council staff and civil servants working on the Prevent counter-extremism programme, as part of a wider initiative called Project Unity.
Earlier this month, Reform UK was accused of racism by the Green Party after Farage announced he would ban the burka if he became Prime Minister. Newly elected MP Hannah Spencer made the accusation in response to the party's proposal to prohibit all face coverings.
