Nigel Farage has described comments made by one of his MPs as “ugly” after she complained that adverts were “full” of Black and Asian people.
The Reform UK leader said he was “unhappy” with what Sarah Pochin had said, but insisted her remarks were not racist and said he would not take further action against her.
He told a press conference in London on Monday: “I understand the basic point, but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and was ugly, and if I thought that the intention behind it was racist, I would have taken a lot more action than I have.”
During an appearance on TalkTV over the weekend, Ms Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, responded to a viewer who complained about the demographics of advertising, saying she thought the viewer was “absolutely right”.
She then added: “It drives me mad when I see adverts full of Black people, full of Asian people.”
Mr Farage said he was “unhappy” with what his MP had said, but that her remarks had been made in the context of “DEI madness” – a reference to measures taken by governments to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion.
It came as Sir Keir Starmer described Ms Pochin’s comments as amounting to “shocking racism”.
Asked whether the comments made by the MP were racist, the prime minister said: “It’s shocking racism, and it’s the sort of thing that will tear our country apart – and it tells you everything about Reform.”
He said that Mr Farage has to face questions about it “because either he doesn’t consider it racist, which in my view is shocking in itself, or he does think it’s racist and he’s shown absolutely no leadership”.
Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the way Ms Pochin had expressed herself was “racist”.
Speaking to LBC, he said: “She should absolutely not have said that. It was completely wrong. She has apologised. I think the way she put it was racist, she shouldn’t have said it, and it’s right she’s apologised.”
Earlier on Monday, Labour wrote to Mr Farage asking him to “urgently clarify” whether he endorsed her comments and whether they were welcome in Reform, while the Liberal Democrats have sought a censure motion in parliament to formally condemn Ms Pochin’s words.
Speaking to TalkTV on Saturday, Ms Pochin explained her objection to “Black and brown” people appearing in adverts, saying: “It doesn’t reflect our society and I feel that your average white person, average white family is ... not represented anymore.”
Mr Farage made his comments at a press conference in central London, where he said that parliament must “step up” and launch its own investigation into the grooming gangs scandal.
He was sitting alongside Ellie-Ann Reynolds, a victim of the grooming gangs scandal, who resigned last week from the government’s inquiry. She spoke about the “gaslighting” she had encountered while she was a member of the panel.
Mr Farage suggested that a joint initiative by the Commons and the Lords could lead to the launch of a special commission into the decades-long scandal. He told reporters that he planned to talk to Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle about the matter, and said he would also ask the home affairs select committee about the idea of a subcommittee that could investigate.
Ms Reynolds was among five women who stepped down from the victims’ liaison panel established to inform the new national inquiry into grooming gangs. Their departure, along with the loss of two of the candidates shortlisted to chair the inquiry, threw the process into disarray last week.
She told the press conference she had encountered a “very controlling atmosphere” on the panel.
Ms Reynolds added: “It was very gaslighting and very manipulative. We all went on [it] to do the right thing, and that was to seek justice, that was to find the truth, to not be silenced any more, and to be able to help our future.”
