Why are broadcasters still legitimising Farage as a voice on immigrants?

In recent days, Nigel Farage has used national platforms to target Glasgow’s multilingual children and to stoke fears about immigrant communities.

Scotland’s First Minister has already described Farage’s remarks about Glasgow’s children as “quite simply racist”. The Prime Minister has called him “a toxic, divisive disgrace” who is trying to tear communities apart.

At the same time, a growing number of former pupils and a teacher from his old school have come forward with detailed accounts of racist and antisemitic behaviour. They describe a pattern of harassment of Black and Jewish children. They include Yinka Bankole who says he felt compelled to speak out after Reform leader’s attempts to ‘dismiss’ hurt of alleged targets.

These are not anonymous social media rumours, they are named testimonies, published after careful investigation by national media, and they are deeply concerning.

Recent national polling shows that almost half of respondents believe Nigel Farage is racist, and that a similar proportion view his party as generally racist. The concern is no longer confined to anti racism campaigners. Taken together, these deeply concerning investigations and polls form a serious public record about Mr Farage’s conduct and views on race.

Given this, a simple question now faces mainstream broadcasters. Why is a figure with this publicly reported, deeply concerning track record on race and antisemitism still being presented as a neutral voice on immigration and on the children of migrant and refugee families?

When radio and television stations invite him to discuss “culture”, “integration” or “English as a second language”, they are not hosting a balanced debate. They are offering a powerful platform to a man who is under serious, detailed and deeply concerning allegations of racism and antisemitism, whose political project depends on inflaming fear of immigrants.

Schools, minority communities, and the children of refugees and asylum seekers are left to absorb the consequences. They are the ones who deal with the racist bullying, the playground taunts, the graffiti and the harassment that follow when attacks like these are normalised as just another opinion.

Broadcasters and regulators cannot treat this as a private matter between Mr Farage and his accusers. They have duties of care. They have obligations not to promote hatred. They need to explain, publicly, why a figure with this track record is still treated as a go to pundit on immigrants, rather than as a political actor whose record on race is in serious question.

Positive Action in Housing is an independent anti racist homelessness and human rights charity based in Glasgow. Each year we support over 4,300 refugee, migrant and minority ethnic families facing destitution, homelessness and racist harassment. 

We see directly how hostile rhetoric against immigrants and their children turns into bullying, fear and exclusion in classrooms, workplaces and neighbourhoods. 

As a charity, we have a legitimate role in speaking out when public discourse harms, or risks harming, the people we exist to support.

We will be writing to senior editors and to Ofcom to ask how these decisions are being made, and what safeguards are in place for the communities and children who have to live with the fallout.

We urge our supporters to raise these concerns too.

Robina Qureshi