Did Farage incite violence with his call for 'pure cold rage'?
6/3/202649 min
Nigel Farage was accused by many in the Commons today of inciting violence with his call for people to respond to a young man’s murder with "pure cold rage". The Reform UK leader explicitly ignored the wishes of Henry Nowak's family - who had urged politicians not to use Henry's death to ramp up tensions - to suggest that the anger seen in Southampton last night could even get worse. As he spoke, he was jeered and accused of hijacking a personal tragedy for political gain. The question perhaps is whether Farage's rhetoric on race has hardened - and if so why? Is it the spectre of the Makerfield by-election where Reform has another hard right party snapping at their heels?
Later, Jeremy Hunt is with us to discuss why those in power know what to do - but not how to get reelected afterwards. Is this a fatal flaw with our system?
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[digital swooshing] This is a Global Player original podcast.
Emily Maitlis· Host0:05
It took them less than 24 hours to turn this into an absolute shit show.
Jon Sopel· Host0:10
But it is what Nigel Farage does. I mean, yesterday it was Southampton, but not that long ago it was Southport.
Speaker 3· Soundbite0:18
But I suggest the rest of us respond to this with pure, cold rage.
Emily Maitlis· Host0:24
This is a verbal tick that Farage has perfected where he can always deny what happens next.
Keir Starmer· Soundbite0:34
Grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded. They've asked us not to. They have lost their son in the most appalling circumstance. They make a simple plea of us as human beings to please not exploit that. That is their plea to us. And we all need to reflect on those words of Henry's father. My response, and the response of others to be fair, has been focused on the lessons to be learned so we can deliver justice. His response has been to appeal for rage. Rage. That's his response to a father who's lost his son and asked for that not to happen. Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying,