The widower of MP Jo Cox blasted Farage’s response as "vile”
The MP for Clacton has been condemned for posting a “vile” politicised response to the devastating knife attack that took place in Southport, that has led to the deaths of three young girls.
In a response posted online, Reform leader Nigel Farage chose to politicise events around the attack and has been accused of spreading “baseless far-right rumours” while stoking division.
His message was sent hours before a far-right mob rioted on the streets of Southport, incited by the spread of misinformation and Islamophobia online. Rioters attacked a mosque and pelted police officers with glass bottles and bricks.
In a video posted online on Tuesday afternoon, Farage started by saying he “joins everyone in my horror at what has happened”, before referred to Keir Starmer being heckled as he went to lay flowers for the attack victims, claiming it “shows you how unhappy the public are with the state of law and order in this country.”
Farage then went on to question whether the attacker was being monitored by the security services, it comes after Russia Today cited false claims that the suspect was an asylum seeker and on an M16 watch list, claims which the Russian controlled news channel later retracted.
Farage further stoked up misinformation as he questioned, “police say it was a non–terror incident … I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us?” He said what he does know is, “something is going horribly wrong in our once beautiful country”.
Jess Phillips said Farage had chosen to use the aftermath of the attacks to “grift” the public, while the widower of MP Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right extremist, blasted Farage’s response as “vile”.
Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said: “Nigel Farage could yesterday have had the questions, he claims are unanswered, answered if he had bothered to turn up to parliament and ask them during the statement on the incidents in Southport. He didn’t turn up, he grifted instead.”
Brendan Cox wrote on X: “Imagine your response to the death of three children being to peddle conspiracy theories that incite a riot.
“This is why Farage deserves the label far-right. Everyone who is associated with him, has normalised him or promoted him should be ashamed.
“This is vile.”
Political correspondent Peter Walker said: “Nigel Farage – and there’s no other way to phrase this – leaning very heavily into far right conspiracy theories over the Southport attack’.”
Commentator Owen Jones responded to Farage’s message: “Nigel Farage here spreading baseless far-right rumours, which we’ve established are discredited, in the slimiest possible way, by stating groundless claims and then saying “I don’t know” if they’re true.”
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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