Nigel Farage accused of peddling ‘National Front-style’ discrimination
The Reform UK leader sparked outrage when he doubled down on his desire to tear up decades-old protections, claiming it was ‘ludicrous’ employers could not prioritise British nationals
Nigel Farage was accused of showing his “true colours”(Image: )
Nigel Farage has been accused of peddling National Front-style discrimination after saying it should be easier for bosses to reject workers because of their nationality.
The Reform UK leader sparked outrage when he doubled down on his desire to tear up decades-old protections. Mr Farage this week said he would not row back after saying it was “ludicrous” that employers could not prioritise British nationals.
Labour backbencher Imran Hussain told The Mirror: “Once again, Nigel Farage has shown his true colours. It is an absolute disgrace that he has doubled down on a defence of discrimination.
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“Saying employers should be allowed to pick and choose based on who is ‘British-born’ sounds like a political slogan from the National Front in the 1970s. This kind of thinking has no place in modern Britain, and we should call it out for exactly what it is.”
Writing for The Mirror, Labour MP Clive Lewis, who chairs the all-party Parliamentary group for race and communities, said: “Letting employers discriminate doesn’t make Britain fairer of better.
“It makes working life colder and more insecure. It gives bosses more power, workers fewer protections, and leaves more people afraid to speak up. Rights don’t disappear neatly for one group of people. Once you weaken them, everyone feels it.”
He said Labour must challenge the Reform leader, stating: “Farage isn’t thriving because Britain has suddenly become more racist. He’s thriving because too many people feel the system is stacked against them, and no one in power is telling a convincing story about how that will change.”
On Monday Mr Farage said he would not row backs on comments he made in 2015 when he said the UK has too much discrimination legislation. Asked what he would get rid of, he told a Channel 4 documentary at the time: “Much of it.” And he went on: “I think you should be able to choose on the basis of nationality, I do.”
Mr Farage told host Trevor Phillips: “I think that the situation that we now have, where an employer is not allowed to choose between a British-born person, and somebody from Poland, is a ludicrous state of affairs.
“I would argue that the law does need changing, and that if an employer wishes to choose, or you can use the word ‘discriminate’ if you want to, but wishes to choose to employ a British-born person, they should be allowed to do so.”
This week he said he still believes this is the case. Responding to a question from The Mirror he said: “2015 was a general election campaign, all sorts of things get said and done in the heat of battle in general election campaigns. But I don’t in any way row back from the comments I made then. I do think we should actually put British workers first. I genuinely do.”
In 2015 he said under UKIP – the party he led at the time – there would be no laws against discrimination on the grounds of race or colour, claiming: “We are colour-blind”.
Sarah Olney, the Lib Dem business spokeswoman, said: “If Nigel Farage thinks that what employers care about is having the ability to discriminate against their staff, he doesn’t know a thing about British business.
“Our brilliant British businesses and workers who are struggling under mounting taxes and cost pressures are crying out for solutions to their actual problems and couldn’t care less for Farage’s desperate attempts to sow division.”
And Labour MP Alex Sobel said: “It’s outrageous that Nigel Farage wants to scrap legislation that protects workers from race discrimination.
“It’s clear from this shameful intervention that Farage’s party is a threat to the rights of working people and is unfit to hold power at any level.”
When The Mirror reported it, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Defending bare faced discrimination is a desperate move – even for Farage.” And UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea told The Mirror: “This backwards step would do nothing to grow the economy or help the majority of people in this country.”
