The brass neck on display here must be seen to be believed. Nigel Farage made the most of a softball interview with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, blaming the challenges facing the UK economy solely on the pressures of immigration.
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Nigel Farage not challenged on why the UK may now be worse off…
The BBC host largely nodded through his explanation, pausing only to ask him what his plans were to tackle the situation. She failed, however, to challenge the Reform leader on Brexit – and the economic harms linked to the referendum result.
The Independent’s front-page splash lists 12 brutal statistics that expose the damage caused by Brexit. Kuenssberg did not capitalise on this, and instead, asked the firebrand politician more about Elon Musk and a possible donation from the billionaire.
Nigel Farage gets grilled on social media
The frustration regarding his response has stretched far and wide. The former leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, branded Nigel Farage as ‘shameless’. Former Labour MEP Richard Corbett was also quick to point-out the irony…
“What chutzpah! Farage has the gall to complain ‘We are getting poorer’ without a scintilla of shame that Brexit has played a key role in our impoverishment.” | Caroline Lucas
“It’s all a bit rich to hear Nigel Farage moan about Britain getting poorer when it’s the main policy he championed – Brexit – that is a main cause of this.” | Richard Corbett
‘Everything they blamed on the EU, they now blame on migrants’
Serving MPs have also stuck the boot in. Pete Wishart, of the SNP, has branded Brexit as ‘the worst example of self-inflicted economic and cultural self-harm’. Labour’s Neil Coyle, meanwhile, baulked at the idea of Nigel Farage being some sort of ‘patriot’.
“And the likes of Labour, Tories, and Reform promise even more of this. Brexit is the worst ever example of economic, social and cultural self harm a nation has ever inflicted upon itself. And Scotland wanted none of it!” | Pete Wishart MP
“The people who inflicted this damage still claim to be patriots. They’re treated with kid gloves despite harming the UK. Everything they blamed on the EU they now blame on migrants – whilst sucking up to their foreign friends Putin and Musk” | Neil Coyle MP