Nigel Farage confronted over Southport assault feedback on go to to the city

Nigel Farage said he has no regrets over his social media posts in the aftermath of the Southport attack in his first visit to the town since before the tragedy

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Nigel Farage said he has no regrets over his social media posts in the aftermath of the Southport attack in his first visit to the town since before the tragedy.

The Reform UK leader appeared in the town today as part of a campaign event held at Adventure Coast, formerly known as Southport Pleasureland. The ECHO was not invited to the event but having got wind of the controversial politician’s arrival in our region, we tracked him down and asked him some pertinent questions.

One of these questions concerned Mr Farage’s actions after three young girls were murdered in horrific scenes at the Hart Space studio in July 2024.

The appalling attack, in which Axel Rudakubana murdered Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, sparked violent riots which started in Southport and spread around the country.

Mr Farage was accused of stoking tensions at the time, sharing posts that asked if “the truth was being withheld from us” regarding the killer’s identity. He also shared posts that suggested there were reports the suspect was being monitored by security services.

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Rudakubana’s identity was revealed just days after the attack, following a challenge in court by the media to lift reporting restrictions after he was charged. He would have been named in any case the following week when he turned 18.

When asked by the ECHO whether he regretted sharing misinformation online regarding the attack, he said: “No, I didn’t do that. What I said was ‘can the police please name the identity of the attacker?’. The reason we had the riots is there was a vacuum. Nothing was being said, and I said ‘just tell the public the truth’, and the government hid. The government hid behind this.

He added: “It was very interesting. Two weeks later Jonathan Hall KC, who is the terrorism czar nationally, said ‘the government must stop hiding and must give the people as much truth as they can’. I stand by all of that and I do think riots in Hull that were happening because of what happened here happened because there had been an attempt to clamp down on any information getting out.

“The identity of the attacker, or origin of the attacker, would not prejudice any legal case whatsoever. So, on the day that it happened, I chose not to say anything, but I could see 24 hours on that all sorts of lunacy was being spread on the internet, and I think the government, I think Starmer, got it very, very wrong – I don’t believe I did anything wrong at all.”

The Reform UK leader was in Southport today as part of a whistle-stop north west tour that also saw him travel to Formby. He is campaigning for his party ahead of next month’s local elections. In Sefton, the council will see every seat up for grabs for the first time.

Sitting on a leather couch in the entrance of Adventure Coast, Mr Farage said: “I’ve been to Formby earlier, I’m here now, I’m going to be later on tonight in Bolton and Wigan. It’s a bit of a north west day.

“What’s really interesting is most of these elections in the north west weren’t going to happen. They were all going to be postponed and because I took legal action against the government, people then got the chance to vote. Even if you don’t like me, you should say ‘thank you’ as a council taxpayer for at least having a vote.”

In February this year, plans to postpone elections for 30 councils across the UK were abandoned following the legal challenge from Reform UK. Of those 30 councils, Sefton was not one of them.

Mr Farage described Sefton as a “strange one”, citing the length of the borough from Bootle to Southport, and referencing Labour’s historical dominance.

He said: “We fancy our chances of doing very well and I think there’s a big change. Do you know what the big change is? Starmer. Traditional Labour voters don’t like him. Don’t see him as perhaps representing their interests, perhaps looks too much like a north London lawyer that he is.”

While seaside towns continue to struggle up and down the country, Sefton Council has this year put forward a slate of events in a bid to draw visitors to the town and see money spent on the streets of Southport.

When asked what exactly Reform UK would do for seaside towns like Southport, Mr Farage stated he would be against the reorganisation of local government, despite Southport not being effected by the planned changes.

He said: “Well I’ll tell you the first thing. This local government reorganisation planned for Lancashire, for the whole country, will leave seaside towns and rural communities even further in the mire than they are now because if we get a series of unities it will be the big cities that dominate all the big decision making.

“So, that’s one thing I’m going to say very clearly today, to you, to everybody else, we’re going to fight against local government reorganisation. Otherwise the little guys will be left out even more than they are now.”

Last year Reform saw its first female MP elected in Runcorn in the shape of Sarah Pochin who called for the banning of the burqa just one month into her term. The MP faced backlash across the country for her comments, and when Mr Farage was asked whether it was the most pressing issue she faced as MP for Runcorn and Helsby, he laughed and said: “No, no, it’s not the most pressing issue for that region. I would agree with you.

“It’s a personal view that she had but I think we have to look at it more broadly. I mean, should far left or far right protesters be allowed to be masked up and shout obscenities in the street?

“So, I think it’s a much bigger debate. I know it’s not a priority and, by the way, she’s the MP of Runcorn, she won the by-election. I agree with a heck of a lot of what she says. I’m not saying she’s wrong but it’s not a number one priority.”

Internationally, Mr Farage has often boasted of his long-term friendship with Donald Trump, but this week he hit out at the US President’s comments on Truth Social where Trump threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” promising further attacks on Iran.

Having previously indicated support for Trump’s war on Iran, he has recently been more critical of the US leader. On the latest outburst from the Oval office, Mr Farage told the ECHO: “I didn’t back the war, because it isn’t our war. What I backed was the Americans being able to use Diego Garcia and our bases.”

He added: “[Trump’s] someone I’ve known for years. He’s a friend of mine. I know what he does, he over pitches every comment to try and get a deal. This particular comment about civilisation ending was way, way overpitched. I disagree with that.

He added: “You know what? If you and I were friends, we could disagree on things.”