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3 months ago
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Nigel Farage refused to back down yesterday after he was accused of 'whipping up' rioters with comments on the Southport stabbings.
The Reform leader was branded 'Tommy Robinson in a suit' after he questioned 'whether the truth is being withheld from us' about the attack in a social media video and amplified false information swirling online.
The backlash came after a protest outside a Southport mosque turned violent following fake reports, pushed by Russian-linked websites and known agigators, that the triple murder suspect is an asylum seeker on the radar of the security services.
Police said far-right English Defence League (EDL) supporters travelled to the area to take part in the demonstration.
Nigel Farage refused to back down yesterday after he was accused of 'whipping up' rioters with comments on the Southport stabbings
The Reform leader was branded ' Tommy Robinson in a suit' after he questioned 'whether the truth is being withheld from us' about the attack in a social media video and amplified false information swirling online (pictured: Tommy Robinson)
In a show of defiance yesterday, the new Clacton MP stood by his remarks despite a furious backlash, including from murdered MP Jo Cox's husband Brendan (pictured)
In a show of defiance yesterday, new Clacton MP stood by his remarks despite a furious backlash, including from murdered MP Jo Cox's husband Brendan.
Mr Cox told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Mr Farage's remarks were 'right out of the Trump playbook' and branded him 'nothing better than a Tommy Robinson in a suit'.
'It is beyond the pale to use a moment like this to spread your narrative and to spread your hatred, and we saw the results on Southport's streets last night,' he added.
His criticism came after Mr Farage tweeted a video in which he 'joined everybody in my horror at what has happened,' but added that he has 'one or two questions. Was this guy being monitored by the security services? Some reports say he was, others less sure.'
No reputable UK media outlet has made such a claim.
Riot police hold back protesters near a burning police vehicle after disorder broke out in Southport on Tuesday
Smoke is seen billowing from a police van which was set ablaze during riots in Southport on Tuesday
Tensions have flared in Southport last night, with police saying members of the EDL were targeting a mosque
He added: 'I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us. I don't know the answer to that, but I think it is a fair and legitimate question.'
Asked about his comments yesterday, he later said he had 'merely expressed a sense of sadness and concern that is being felt by absolutely everybody I know - 'what the hell is going on?' He added that it was 'perfectly reasonable to ask what is happening to law and order in our country. And who are the perpetrators? Why?
'Very legitimate questions I was asking, and to conflate that with EDL or anybody else, frankly, it's desperate stuff.'
Asked about Mr Cox's comparisons of him to far-right campaigner Robinson, Mr Farage added: 'The comment is beneath contempt.'
Robinson, who founded the EDL, had posted a video online on Tuesday with the comment: 'None of us are feeling safe in our own country, in our own towns.'
In the three-minute clip, he accused the Government and police of 'endangering our country' as he said they care more about people coming to the UK from other countries 'than British children'.
Imam of the Southport Islamic Centre Mosque Imam Sheik Ibrahim Hussein (pictured looking at damage in the mosque) said the experience, in which he and around eight other people were trapped inside the mosque, had been 'terrifying'
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said Mr Farage, as an elected politician, had 'a level of responsibility' not to stoke 'conspiracy theories or what you think might have happened'
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said Mr Farage, as an elected politician, had 'a level of responsibility' not to stoke 'conspiracy theories or what you think might have happened'.
She accused him of spreading 'fake news', adding: 'We have a responsibility to hold the community together and say let's get the facts, and then let's look at what the actual solutions are and what we can do about the horrific situation that we find ourselves in, not to stir up fake news online.'
She suggested Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will be 'looking at' whether the EDL should be banned under terror laws in the wake of Tuesday night's riots.
She told LBC: 'We have laws and we have proscribed groups and we do look at that and it is reviewed regularly. So I'm sure that that will be something that the Home Secretary will be looking at as part of the normal course of what we do and the intelligence that we have.'
Former MP Tobias Ellwood tweeted in response to Mr Farage's comments: 'I lost my brother to terrorism [in the 2002 Bali bombing]. To ramp up hatred online by claiming the Southport attack was terrorist related (culminating in riots, a mosque damaged and 27 police injured) is not just reprehensible but needs addressing. Otherwise it will happen again.
'Disgusted how a sitting MP deliberately enflames tensions without any justification. Farage should delete this tweet.'
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