Nigel Farage said he is ‘unhappy’ at comments about Black and Asian people made by his party’s sole Liverpool City Region MP but said he understood ‘the basic point’ she was making. Sarah Pochin said she was driven mad by adverts ‘full’ of Black and Asian people when speaking on a TV phone-in last weekend.
Criticism for the North West’s first Reform MP
Ms Pochin became the region’s first Reform UK MP in May when she beat Labour to the Runcorn and Helsby seat by just six votes. She was roundly criticised for her remarks which were branded as ‘unacceptable’ by the Labour Party.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hit out what he said was ‘shocking racism’ in the comments made by Ms Pochin when she was speaking on TalkTV on Saturday. Reform leader Mr Farage addressed Ms Pochin’s comments at a press conference in Westminster on Monday.
Ms Pochin said the TalkTV viewer was ‘absolutely right’ when complaining about advertising. She blamed the situation on the ‘woke liberat’” in the ‘arty-farty world’.
She said:
It might be fine inside the M25, but it’s definitely not representative of the rest of the country. It doesn’t reflect our society and I feel that your average white person, average white family, is… not represented anymore.
Sir Keir: ‘shocking racism’
Speaking to the BBC earlier today, Sir Keir responded to the outburst. He said:
It’s shocking racism and it’s the sort of thing that’ll tear our country apart.
And tells you everything about Reform. And Nigel Farage has some questions to ask.
Either he doesn’t consider it racist which I think is shocking in itself or he does think it is and shows absolutely no leadership.
Farage: ugly but not intended to be racist
Speaking at a press conference in the capital on Monday, Mr Farage said he was not pleased by the remarks but did not think Ms Pochin was intending to be racist. He said:
The words that Sarah Pochin used in response to a caller into TalkRADIO on Saturday morning were ugly, and taken on their own, could be read to be very, very unpleasant indeed.
I am unhappy with what she has done, I can’t underestimate that and she fully knows how I feel. However it was in the broader context of DEI madness in the advertising industry, something which anybody with half a brain can recognise has been going on since about 2021.
So 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 the intention behind it was racist I’d have taken more action than I have today, but that is because I don’t.
She ‘didn’t mean to cause offence’
Ms Pochin issued an apology on social media on Sunday. She said:
My comments were phrased poorly and I apologise for any offence caused, which was not my intention.
The point I was trying to make is that the British advertising agency world has gone DEI mad and many adverts are now unrepresentative of British society as a whole. I will endeavour to ensure my language is more accurate going forward.
An article by Local Democracy reporter David Humphreys
