Health Secretary Wes Streeting has accused Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin of making racist remarks after she complained about the representation of black and Asian people in television adverts. Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Streeting said her comments were "a disgrace" and represented a return to "1970s, 1980s-style racism".
Mrs Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, made the comments during an appearance on TalkTV, responding to a viewer who had complained about the demographics of advertising. She said adverts did not reflect British society and that the average white family was "not represented any more", blaming the "woke liberati" in the "arty-farty world". She later apologised, saying her remarks had been "phrased poorly" and that she had not intended to cause offence.
Mr Streeting said Mrs Pochin was "only sorry she's been caught and called out" and had "said the quiet bit loud". He recounted spending time at a London secondary school where boys described experiencing racist abuse, adding that the only way to defeat such racism was to "call it out and confront it for what it is".
The Labour Party had earlier stopped short of explicitly describing the comments as racist, with chair Anna Turley condemning them and accusing Reform of dividing the country. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey was more direct, calling the remarks "racism, pure and simple". Reform's head of policy, Zia Yusuf, defended Mrs Pochin, saying she had been right to apologise and that people must be able to discuss representation in advertising.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp initially declined to classify the remarks as racist, but later clarified that they were "completely wrong" and "yes it was racist". Labour responded by criticising Mr Philp for failing to condemn the comments "six times in a row". Mrs Pochin appeared to double down on Sunday, responding to Mr Streeting on social media with a link to an unspecified clip.
