Nigel Farage called out for ‘blanket accusation’ as he says ‘growing number’ of Muslims ‘loathe’ British values
Nigel Farage has argued on Sky News that a “growing number” of young Muslims in the UK do not subscribe to British values.
The Reform UK honorary president told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values.
“In fact, loathe much of what we stand for. I think we see them on the streets of London every Saturday.”
Follow general election live:
Reaction to Farage comments as campaigning continues
Asked if “we are talking about Muslims here”, Mr Farage said: “We are. And I’m afraid I found some of the recent surveys saying that 46% of British Muslims support Hamas – support a terrorist organisation that is proscribed in this country.”
The former UKIP and Brexit Party leader was quoting a poll commissioned by the Henry Jackson Society in April that found one in four British Muslims believe Hamas committed murder and rape in Israel on 7 October last year.
Hamas killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in the raid on southern Israel. Since then, Israel’s response in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry – and the war has become a divisive issue in British politics.
Mr Farage said people protesting in London over the war in Gaza showed they did not believe in British values
‘Can you imagine how offensive that is?’
Mr Farage also claimed: “Nobody in history has allowed more people in who are potentially really going to fight against British values than Mr Sunak.”
The Reform president said there was a contrast between Muslims and those who came from the West Indies, who he said had a shared heritage with the UK.
But Sir Trevor, whose parents were part of the Windrush generation, challenged him and said British culture was forced on them by their British slave owners.
“You’re trying to say to me, ‘you guys are not really like these other guys’,” Sir Trevor said.
“Can you imagine how offensive that is to British Muslims?”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Mr Farage replied by asking how many people “in your community failed to speak English?” – to which Sir Trevor said: “We all speak English,” – before adding that many British Muslims did, too.
The Reform UK director said he was “not here to attack the religion of Islam” and insisted he had not been doing so.
“I’m blaming elements of that community. I’m not blaming them. I’m stating a fact,” Mr Farage said.
“All I’m doing is stating in fact, no one else dares tell the truth about this.
“On the broader question, the biggest single problem this country faces is the population explosion. And it will not be debated in this election.
“Why? Because Labour started it and the Tories accelerated it. That has led to a problem on a scale unimaginable”
Mr Farage blamed Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson for increased immigration
Farage defends consequences of Brexit
Mr Farage also denied being responsible for immigration increases following Brexit – a lifelong campaign of his.
“Biggest load of cobblers I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said.
“What we did by leaving the European Union was to change a policy which meant we discriminated against the rest of the world, often against talent, in favour of an open door with the EU.
“What Brexit did was give us back control of our own.”
He accused Boris Johnson of “setting the bars and the levels at the lowest possible level” and allowing students to bring their dependents in when “we haven’t got room”.
“If you want mass immigration, vote Conservative, if you want mass immigration, vote Labour,” he added.
Mr Farage earlier this week announced he would not be standing in the general election.
He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he chose not to because he would have “to start from scratch” and six weeks was not long enough for him to campaign.
Institutional investors are maintaining confidence in digital assets despite a sharp market correction in October, with most planning to expand their exposure in the months ahead, according to new research.
Over 61% of institutions plan to increase their cryptocurrency investments, while 55% hold a bullish short-term outlook, Swiss crypto banking group Sygnum said in a report released on Tuesday. The survey covered 1,000 institutional investors globally.
Roughly 73% of surveyed institutions are investing in crypto due to expectations of higher future returns, despite the industry still recovering from the record $20 billion market crash at the beginning of October.
However, investor sentiment continues facing uncertainty due to delays in key market catalysts, including the Market Structure bill and the approval of more altcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Related: Crypto investors flee visibility for anonymity as privacy coins surge 80%
While this uncertainty may carry over into 2026, Sygnum’s lead crypto asset ecosystem researcher, Lucas Schweiger, predicts a maturing digital asset market, where institutions seek diversified exposure with long-term growth expectations.
“The story of 2025 is one of measured risk, pending regulatory decisions and powerful demand catalysts against a backdrop of fiscal and geopolitical pressures,” he said, adding:
“But investors are now better informed. Discipline has tempered exuberance, but not conviction, in the market’s long-term growth trajectory.”
Despite October’s correction, “powerful demand catalysts” and institutional participation remained at an all-time high, with the growing ETF applications signaling more institutional demand, added Schweiger.
At least 16 crypto ETF applications are currently awaiting approval, which were delayed by the ongoing US government shutdown, now in its 40th day.
Related: China’s budget AI bots smash ChatGPT in crypto trading face-off
Crypto staking ETFs may be the next institutional catalyst
Crypto staking ETFs may present the next fundamental catalyst for institutional cryptocurrency demand.
Over 80% of the surveyed institutions expressed interest in crypto ETFs beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), while 70% stated that they would start investing or increase their investments if these ETFs offered staking rewards.
Staking means locking your tokens into a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network for a predetermined period to secure the network and earn passive income in exchange.
Meanwhile, investors are now anticipating the end of the government shutdown, which could bring “bulk approvals” for altcoin ETFs from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, catalyzing the “next wave of institutional flows,” according to Sygnum.
Magazine: Bitcoin to see ‘one more big thrust’ to $150K, ETH pressure builds
Politics
Rachel Reeves signals she will break tax pledges – and gives strongest indication she will lift two-child cap
Rachel Reeves has signalled she is going to break her manifesto tax pledges at the budget – and has given her strongest indication yet she will lift the two-child benefit cap.
The chancellor said the world has changed in the year since the last budget, when she reiterated Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise national insurance, VAT or income tax on “working people”.
“It would, of course, be possible to stick with the manifesto commitments, but that would require things like deep cuts in capital spending,” she told BBC 5Live.
“I have been very clear that we are looking at both taxes and spending,” she added.
Politics latest: Second deported migrant returns
The chancellor also gave her strongest indication yet she will lift the two-child benefit cap at the budget on 26 November, saying it is not right a child is “penalised because they are in a bigger family”.
Ms Reeves blamed poor productivity and growth over the last few years on the previous government “always taking the easy option to cut investment in rail and road projects, in energy projects and digital infrastructure”.
She said she promised during the election campaign to “bring stability back to our economy”.
Ms Reeves, here with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in London in September, blamed tariffs for poor growth. Pic: PA
‘I’ll always do what’s right for UK’
“What I can promise now is I will always do what I think is right for our country, not the easy choice, but the thing that I think is necessary,” she added.
The chancellor blamed the UK’s lack of growth under her tenure on global conflicts, trade and tariffs over the past year.
In a dig at Donald Trump, who has imposed wide-ranging tariffs on countries around the world, she said: “The tariffs. I don’t think anyone could have foreseen when this government was elected last year that we were going to see these big increases in global tariffs and barriers to trade.
“And I have to be chancellor in the world as it is not necessarily the world as I would like it to be. But I have to respond to those challenges, and that’s the responsible thing to do.”
Read more:
What tax rises and spending cuts will Reeves announce at budget?
Gordon Brown ‘confident’ of two-child benefit cap change
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Shameful’ that 4.5m children in poverty
‘Children should not be penalised’
The government has, so far, resisted lifting the two-child benefit cap, which means a family can only claim child benefits for the first two children.
But, it is a contentious subject within Labour, with seven of its MPs suspended two weeks after the election for voting to scrap it, while others are aware it will cost £2.8bn to do so.
Former Labour prime minister and chancellor Gordon Brown has been pushing for Ms Reeves, who says he is her hero, to lift it.
She said she saw Mr Brown at Remembrance Sunday, where they “had a good chat and we’ve emailed each other just today”, as she revealed they speak regularly.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Labour’s child benefit cap dilemma
Ms Reeves added Mr Brown and Sir Tony Blair were big heroes of hers because they did so much to lift children out of poverty – the reason she went into politics.
Pushed on whether she would lift the cap, she said: “I don’t think that it’s right that a child is penalised because they are in a bigger family, through no fault of their own. So we will take action on child poverty.”
Mr Brown earlier told Sky News’ Mornings with Ridge and Frost he was “confident” of a two-child benefit cap change at the budget.
The latest YouGov polling found 59% of the public are in favour of keeping the cap in place, and only 26% thought it should be abolished.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Rachel Reeves has borrowed, spent and taxed like there’s no tomorrow – and she’s coming back for more because she doesn’t have a plan or the strength to stand up to Labour’s backbenchers, who are now calling the shots.
“My message is clear: if Rachel Reeves reduces government spending – including the welfare bill, she doesn’t need to raise taxes again. “
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024