Nigel Farage has faced criticism for his response to racist and sexist remarks made by Reform politicians, with some accusing him of suggesting working class people are racist. The comments were caught on camera in an investigation by ITV News.
The investigation included a councillor describing Asian homeowners as "parasites" and another claiming King Charles should be beheaded for secretly being Muslim. In a statement, Farage appeared to dismiss the language as "pub" banter.
Farage's response under fire
Farage's statement that "not everyone's been to Oxford University or Eton" has been slammed. The remarks were discussed on the Mirror's Sense Check YouTube show, where host Nicola Thorp and PoliticsJOE's Ava Santina debated whether Farage had branded the working class as racist.
In his statement following the documentary, Farage said: "You'll find worse. You'll find it everywhere. You'll find it in the pub tonight." He added: "Not everyone's been to Oxford University. Not everyone's been to Eton. Not everyone expresses themselves in very carefully formulated language."
Critics call response 'outrageous'
On the Sense Check episode, Thorp called the response "outrageous", saying: "It's just outrageous to suggest that anybody not using racial slurs must have been privately educated and is part of the media really. It just beggars belief."
Santina argued that pub banter "didn't have to be racist", adding: "I think going back to the sort of the brash tone, what Nigel Farage is attempting to do is he's sort of trying to engage in this idea that you can't say anything anymore." She noted she comes from a working class background and said: "You can be rude and you can be brash. Have a laugh. It doesn't necessarily have to be racist."
Reform UK's response and documentary impact
Reform UK, in a statement to the Mirror, said it has "improved and prioritised its vetting procedures, but from time to time, a handful of individuals who do not share our values will initially make it through vetting".
Thorp added it didn't seem "like a party can respond in both of those ways", saying: "So on one hand they say, 'we're very sorry, these are not views that are reflected by the party leadership'. And also, 'it's banter. You hear it down the pub. It's working class'. And that has p***ed me off, no end. To suggest that racism, misogyny, homophobia are inherently working class attributes is appalling."
Santina suggested the undercover documentary has put the party in a "tricky position" as Farage is "no longer being able to avoid speaking to ordinary people". She said: "What this documentary has done is actually it's broken the façade, it's broken his cover, so he's been revealed. Speaking in a way that he wouldn't usually like to be portrayed to a certain sub-sect of people."
The episode with Thorp and Santina will be out on YouTube at 5pm on October 23. The first episode of the series featured Angela Rayner, who discussed the infamous vaping photos and the traumatic premature birth of her son.
