Nigel Farage’s ‘vicious racist’ attack on British Muslims condemned

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Nigel Farage signalled a return to right-wing shock tactics for his Reform UK party when he used his first election interview to attack Muslims in the UK for “not sharing British values”.

Speaking to Sir Trevor Phillips on Sky News this morning, Mr Farage accused Rishi Sunak of being “not a leader” but instead a “focus group follower” who is “unwilling to tackle the real problems of this country”.

He dismissed Conservative plans to reinstate conscription for school leavers, calling the measure “a joke”, but then stunned Sir Trevor with an attack on millions of voters.

The former Brexit leader is hoping to capitalise on the Tories’ poor poll results. His Reform Party is currently at 14 per cent, just five percentage points behind the Conservatives.

In a delicate exchange, Mr Farage said: “We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not commit to British values ​​and, in fact, detest much of what we stand for.”

Sir Trevor interjected: “Then who are we talking about?”

Farage replied: “Oh! I think we see them on the streets of London every Saturday.”

An uncomfortable Sir Trevor, former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, interrupted again: “What do they look like? Are we talking about Muslims here?”

Mr Farage agreed. The former Ukip leader said: “We do. I’m afraid I found in some of the recent polls that 46 per cent of British Muslims support Hamas, a terrorist organisation that is banned in this country. What’s interesting is that this Prime Minister has far more support from that demographic than anyone else in history.”

Sir Trevor replied: “We don’t have that poll in front of us, but are you sure you made the blanket accusation that Muslims are somehow less patriotic, as you just did? Would you like to reconsider that statement?”

However, Mr Farage remained unrepentant and asked whether Sir Trevor had followed the recent local elections in the UK.

He further clarified that immigration numbers will be the top priority of the reform, which is currently led by Richard Tice, of which he is honorary president.

Farage also admitted that Mr Sunak had thwarted his own plans to stand as an MP in Clacton by calling a general election.

“I had a six-month plan. I admit I was caught off guard.”

He said it was impossible for him to travel around the country in just six weeks, promoting reforms and simultaneously campaigning for a seat.

His comments on Muslims and immigration shocked studio guests, including Labour MP Baroness Hazarika, who pointed out that as a British-Indian Muslim she had “just sworn an oath to king and country”.

She said: “This reveals his true face as a vicious, racist character.”

She pointed out that in previous elections he had also stated that he did not want to live next to Romanians and even blamed immigrants for the traffic jams on the M4.

Commentator Lord Finkelstein said the comments had made him pleased that Mr Farage was not standing for Parliament.

He asked why Mr Farage claimed he spoke “for real people, as if those who disagree with him are somehow not real”.

But Rachel Johnson warned: “He is speaking to an electorate in this country.”