NIGEL Farage clashed with an audience member on Question Time over migration on Thursday night’s programme.
Broadcast from Lincoln, it came after a new Westminster poll showed Reform with a lead over Labour for the first time.
During a debate on border control, one member said: “I just recently went to the Holocaust Centre just outside of Newark.
“It was a real wake-up call because Germany in the 1930s, they were suffering economic difficulties because of the reparations of the First World War.
“And those people were desperate. And somebody was saying look the problem with our society is the Jews, that’s what’s causing the problems.
“We will blame the Jews because they are ruining our country. Go forward now to this country. We’re now blaming migrants, we’re blaming immigrants.
"Migrants, illegal or legal, weren't responsible for austerity. That was the Conservative government. Migrants were not responsible for Brexit. Migrants were not responsible for Liz Truss' failure of leadership." Brilliant audience contribution 👏#bbcqt pic.twitter.com/gOrjHnH7IR
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) December 5, 2024
“Migrants, illegal or legal, weren’t responsible for austerity. That was the Conservative government. Migrants and illegals were not responsible for Brexit.
“Migrants were not responsible for Liz Truss’s failure of leadership and don’t forget, because of those populist policies in the 30s, a certain Adolf Hitler was elected.
“And if we follow the same rhetoric, the same blaming of migrants, we will go in the same way and the future of that path is very, very bleak.”
The response was met with applause from the audience and from former Downing Street press secretary Alastair Campbell, who was also appearing on the programme.
Farage proceeded to hit back at the audience member, saying the last Labour government “deported people who came here illegally in their tens of thousands”.
“The point is if people come legally and they work, that’s fine. If people come because they’re genuinely, genuinely refugees, we’ve always opened our doors as a country.
“More than anybody in the world historically to that. Tens of thousands of undocumented young males crossing the English Channel are not refugees in any sense of the word.”
He added that the UK should deport people who are not refugees and who are not in the country legally.
The conversation eventually turned back to the same audience member, with Campbell saying the man had been talking about the “demonisation” of migrants.
The audience member told Farage (above): “What I said was you were using the language of demonising. I wasn’t talking about Jews, I was talking about migrants.
“You made the point about illegal migrants coming in their tens of thousands. This year, it’s 40,000.
“That’s a minute proportion of the one million immigrants you’re talking about and consequently, if that’s your biggest beef of 40,000 people coming to this country, your policies fall on the wayside because you’re talking nonsense.”
Farage interrupted to say, “let them all in” before the audience member said they were “coming for a life”.
In a post on Twitter/X, Campbell labelled the audience member "man of the match".
The Reform UK leader told the man he was “wrong” before host Fiona Bruce interjected to move onto another question.
Brexit clash
Campbell and Farage also clashed on Brexit, as the former told the MP he had “never taken responsibility for what you’ve won”.
Campbell said: “I’ll tell you what you are. You’re somebody – and we’ve seen it already tonight – who will exploit any problem going for your own political ends.
Alastair Campbell to Nigel Farage: “I’ll tell you what you are, you’re somebody who will exploit any problem going for your own political ends. Brexit was a fundamentally damaging thing for this country. It’s made us poorer, weaker & it’s hit our standing in the world”#bbcqt pic.twitter.com/F0CoTsnME3
— David (@Zero_4) December 5, 2024
“Brexit was a fundamentally damaging thing to this country. That is your one legacy. And you now don’t even want to talk about it because even you know it’s damaged this country.
“It’s made us poorer, it’s made us weaker and it’s hit our standing in the world.”
Farage had labelled Campbell the “worst loser in the world” and to “get over Brexit” as it happened eight years ago.
