Farage: I chose my words on Henry Nowak very carefully

Nigel Farage has said he is fearful of more riots because concerns about two-tier policing are “stoking up division”.

Speaking to GB News, he said: “[The G7’s] been awkward, really, isn’t it? Because [Starmer’s] in the room, and the rest are thinking, well, ‘goodbye’, because you’re not going to be back. There won’t be another one, the end of this premiership is inevitable.

“So that must be quite awkward. I wonder whether really what he ought to be doing, because he can’t, given the domestic position, but I think the really urgent conversation is around defence.

“Putin is in some trouble domestically. Do you know the central bank governor’s not been seen for three weeks, and she was kind of saying, ‘Look, this war is costing us too much money.’

“So Putin in trouble is potentially quite dangerous and I just wonder whether a proper grown-up conversation needs to happen around that table about defence. If I was there, that’d be my subject.

“I think perhaps, maybe it would make sense for Western countries that are in relative decline compared to China, India to have a reappraisal of whether they actually think that building wind turbines is going to save us from global warming.

“I know the American President would agree with that side of the argument, but I doubt that will happen either.

“I think [Giorgia] Meloni will raise immigration. She’s cut the numbers going to Italy by 80% this year. Now she would argue it’s still too high, but look at what’s happening in France, look at what’s happening in the United Kingdom, and the situation is serious.

“I mean, we’re told that the American president will raise this issue. I expect he will.

“I don’t think 10,000 nearly all young men, about whom we know nothing, could be described as a victory. In fact, in previous times we’d have said it was an invasion and a disaster.

“And interestingly, the more money we give them, yeah, okay, you can block Dunkirk, and we’ve stopped the Belgium landings, but yesterday they were coming from as far away as Dieppe. Dieppe is in Normandy, so nothing’s going to stop this other than us simply saying if you come here illegally, you will be banged up, deported, and not allowed to stay. It’s the only solution to this.

“I also saw some footage yesterday of the trek beginning in the hills of Afghanistan, tracked it all the way through Turkey, and the traffickers blatantly, there’s the Afghanistan flag, there’s the British flag, everyone knows what’s happening. There are tens of thousands more on the way to this country. It’s a threat to national security, and this government is doing nothing.

“[I’m] obviously very concerned [about security of MPs] but I’ve been concerned about this for many, many years. I’ve probably physically been attacked more than any other politician in this country, let alone the verbal stuff that goes on every single day.

“It’s nasty out there, and you know, it is 10 years on since Jo Cox’s murder. I think politics feels more divisive now than it felt then, to be honest. So, we’re not in a good place, and I think the Speaker of the House of Commons is acutely aware of this.

“Unless MPs feel secure, you’re going to struggle to get talent to go into politics. It’s a real issue.

“Anything that goes wrong, the progressive left lay the blame on somebody else. I mean, you would have thought the Southport riots were my fault. You’d have thought the Southampton riots were my fault.

“They blame us for everything without ever addressing the issues that have led to that unrest, and there is a complete failure to do this. I would actually say on all of these subjects that I thought the last couple of weeks Westminster, much of mainstream media [are] more out of touch with the British public than I’ve seen in my whole life.

“Take, for example, two-tier policing. We have two-tier policing. It’s written on pieces of paper, guidance coming from upon high. And yet the Prime Minister is in denial. Most of the newspapers are in denial. You use the word two tier, you’re accused of stoking up tensions. Actually, all you’re doing is telling the truth.

“I tell you what, rather than divide, any human being who watched that video of the circumstances in which Henry Nowak died, any human being who’s not angry about that isn’t a human being. So I expressed that by saying ‘pure, cold rage.’

“It’s cold rage you feel inside. Hot rage would exhibit itself in violence. So I chose the words very carefully.

“I’m very fearful [of more riots] because if you get large numbers of a community who feel they’re being policed, they’re being treated by the criminal justice system differently to other groups in the country, and factually, that is what’s happening right now, you are stoking up division.

“I’m arguing people should be policed exactly the same, regardless of their ethnic group. And if we carry on down this two-tier route, we are stoking up massive problems.

“I want to go about 40 years to look at police reports [of grooming gangs]; notes of meetings. I would like every piece of written information about this over 40 years to be published in a file, redact the names to protect the people if necessary.

“I just think there’s been institutional failure from social services, from elected politicians, from police, and it’s gone on for decade after decade. I’m pleased something is happening, but it’s nowhere near enough.

“It has to go to local police force commanders. It has to go to council leaders. Rotherham – everyone knew. Everyone knew. I remember being there in 2014. This had been talked about for years and years and years, and yet deliberately and willfully it wasn’t discussed, wasn’t dealt with, for fear of stoking tensions.

“You see, two-tier isn’t new. It’s been going on for far too long.

“This appalling scandal shames us as a country in the eyes of the rest of the world. People can’t believe that this not only happened here but was allowed to perpetuate here.

“And still London, more and more evidence coming out. This was happening in London, and it was absolute denial from the Mayor and everybody else. No: people have to be held to account, and too few have.

“British jobs for British workers. Do you remember Gordon Brown saying that a few years ago, but never actually meaning it? Every government says our priority are hardworking British people, but they never ever are.

“And there has been a reliance on way too much cheap foreign labour over the course of the last few years. It’s led to a massive population explosion. It’s led, overall, to the economy becoming less productive and not working.

“So, what we’re saying here is that if your employer, it’ll be cheaper to employ a Brit than a foreign national. I think it actually makes common sense.

“We’re going to get rid of the Equality Act. I mean, the Equality Act should be renamed the Inequality Act. It does not work. It’s actually led to what’s called positive action, and positive action means in the police force, the Royal Air Force, wherever you go, you actually employ people because their ethnic group suits.

“They call it the tie breaker: two candidates exactly the same, one white British, especially if they’re middle class, that’s even worse. White British, and the other from an ethnic minority, and in a tie breaker, the ethnic minority wins every time.

“That is a direct consequence of the so-called Equalities Act, and DEI is lowering professional standards in public sector, parts of the private sector, and dividing our country. I want it to go. I want us to be a meritocracy.”

Discussing if he had a message for the England football team he said: “Oh, go for it. Go for gold. Go for it. Absolutely, go for it. I have to say, I’m not old enough to remember the ’66 win. I did interview Geoff Hurst, though, for GB News on Talking Pints, which was a great pleasure to do.

“I suppose I go into this with a degree of realistic pessimism. Is it coming home? I’d love to think so, but do I really think that? Not really.”