Farage has questions to answer over MP's 'racist' remarks, PM says

The prime minister has said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has "questions to answer", after one of his MPs complained about adverts being "full" of black and Asian people.

Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC the comments were "shocking racism" and "the sort of thing that'll tear our country apart".

"It tells you everything about Reform," he said, adding that Farage "can't even call out racism".

Sarah Pochin has apologised for her remarks, saying they were "phrased poorly" but maintained that many adverts were "unrepresentative of British society".

Labour chairwoman Anna Turley has written to Farage to ask if he endorses Pochin's comments and whether he will withdraw the Reform UK whip from her - meaning she would sit as an independent MP.

Asked if Pochin was racist to say what she did, Sir Keir told BBC North West Tonight: "Yes, she was. It's shocking racism and it's the sort of thing that'll tear our country apart. And it tells you everything about Reform.

"Nigel Farage has some questions to answer. Because either he doesn't consider it racist, which in my view is shocking in itself, or he does think it's racist and he's shown absolutely no leadership."

On Sunday cabinet ministers Wes Streeting and David Lammy also branded Pochin's comments racist in interviews.

Farage has not yet responded to the row but is due to give a press conference later on the national grooming gangs inquiry, where he is expected to be asked about Pochin.

Pochin was speaking during a TalkTV phone-in on Saturday, when she said she agreed with a caller who complained about the "demographics" of advertising.

The Runcorn and Helsby MP said the viewer was "absolutely right" and "it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people".

She said that it did not reflect society and "your average white person" is "not represented anymore".

In a social media post later on Saturday, Pochin said her comments "were phrased poorly and I unreservedly apologise for any offence caused, which was not my intention".

"The point I was making is that many British TV adverts have gone DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] mad and are now unrepresentative of British society as a whole," she said.

She cited a Channel 4 study which found that the proportion of adverts featuring black people jumped after the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, from 37% in 2020 to 51% in 2022.

"Representation should reflect the diversity of modern Britain, but it should also be proportionate and inclusive of everyone," she added.

Pochin was backed by Reform UK's head of policy, Zia Yusuf, who told Sky News on Sunday that she was "right to apologise" but was raising "a very valid point we must be able to talk about".

The Liberal Democrats have also called on Farage to suspend Pochin from the party, while urging the government and the Conservatives to back a parliamentary motion rebuking the MP for her "racist and inexcusable remarks".

The party's home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said: "Sarah Pochin's remarks were blatantly racist.

"Decent MPs from across party lines should now come together to condemn this disgraceful behaviour and show the public that this will never be tolerated by Parliament."

He also accused Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp of being "spineless" for "failing to immediately call out Pochin's racist remarks for what they were".

Asked about her comments on Sunday, Philp told the BBC: "It's certainly not language that I would use and I don't think politicians should speak in those terms."

He later told LBC the way Ms Pochin made her comments was "racist", adding: "She should absolutely not have said that. It was completely wrong."