Farage draws criticism after falsely claiming that the Fairford five were Iranian nationals
The Reform leader tried to link the incident to Iranians crossing the channel in small boats, but five British nationals were arrested
Nigel Farage has drawn sharp criticism for wrongly suggesting that five men arrested on suspicion of terror offences near RAF Fairford on Sunday were Iranian nationals.
In a post on X on Sunday, Farage suggested that the suspected bomb plot at an RAF base in Gloucestershire was linked to small boat crossings.
The base is being used by the US Air Force as part of Donald Trump’s war on Iran.
Farage said he had been “warning both in and out of Parliament for many months about Iranian agents coming into the UK via small boats across the Channel”.
In a video that Farage posted to his over 2 million followers on X yesterday, he claimed he had received “intelligence” that the Iranian regime was using small boats crossing the channel to get their operatives into the UK.
Farage said the incident may have come as a surprise to many people “but not to the US President” and “certainly not to me”.
He went as far as to claim that “I know that over the course of the last few months counterterrorism have launched a massive investigation into Iranian nationals living in this country, worried that something like the Fairford plot would come along.”
Less than an hour after Farage posted the video, Counter Terrorism Policing confirmed that all five arrestees were UK nationals from London.
Speaking to The Guardian at Labour conference yesterday, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said Farage was a “master of the conspiracy theory” when asked about his comments.
She said of Farage: “I think that he’s good at using the very real sentiment that a lot of people feel, of anxiety and distrust.”
“Particularly in this era of mis- and disinformation, I think he’s very agile at exploiting that for political gain.”
Farage made the comments despite Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) asking for people to refrain from speculating while they conduct their inquiries.
CTP senior national coordinator, deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans, said in an update: “I am very aware of the levels of speculation about the motivation behind this incident, and the geopolitical questions that are being raised. However, I ask that at this time, Counter Terrorism Policing are given the space to work carefully and clearly.”
Green Party peer Jenny Jones also accused Farage of “irresponsible nonsense”, stating: “Once again Farage’s attempts to whip up division by scapegoating some of the world’s most vulnerable people has left him with egg on his face.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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