Reform MP's comments 'ugly' but intention was not racist, Farage says

Sarah Pochin, who won a by-election in May, is the Reform MP for Runcorn and Helsby

Nigel Farage has said Reform MP Sarah Pochin did not intend to be racist when she complained about adverts being "full" of black and Asian people.

The Reform UK leader said the way she worded her comments was "wrong and ugly" but they were made "in a broader context of DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] madness in the advertising industry".

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

It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer branded the comments racist, with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats calling for Farage to suspend her from the parliamentary party.

Asked during a press conference on grooming gangs if he accepted Pochin's comments were racist, Farage said: "I am unhappy with what she has done...

"I understand the basic point but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and was ugly.

"And if I thought that the intention behind it was racist then I would have taken a lot more action than I have to date."

Earlier Sir Keir said Pochin's comments were "shocking racism" and "the sort of thing that'll tear our country apart".

"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," he told BBC North West Tonight.

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.

With Labour trailing Reform UK in the polls, Sir Keir has stepped up his attacks on the party in recent weeks.

This is the second time he has accused the party of racism, after using the label to describe Reform's immigration policy last month.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was in attendance when Pochin was sworn in as a Reform MP at Parliament in May

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.

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."

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