Farage Slammed By PM For Not Firing Councillor Over Violent Post

Nigel Farage has been slammed by Keir Starmer for failing to sack a Reform UK councillor who shared a social media post saying a Labour MP “should be shot”.

Deputy leader of Lancashire council Simon Evans shared a Facebook post where Natalie Fleet said she had voted against the grooming gangs enquiry –along with the accompanying text from another user, which read: “Dozy cow, you should be shot.”

Evans later deleted the post and apologised, saying he had made a “genuine mistake” and had not noticed the additional message.

Reform said it considered it to be an “honest mistake” and that they would not be taking any action against Evans.

But Starmer asked Reform leader Farage during prime minister’s questions on Wednesday if would punish the councillor.

“When the death threats were made against the member for Clacton, I stood at this despatch box and condemned them outright,” the PM said.

“If he has any decency or backbone, he will stand up, apologise, condemn the comments and sack the individual question in his party. Will he do so?”

But Farage chose to criticise Starmer over his Chagos deal instead.

Farage said: “Can I ask the prime minister, for a government that is full of human rights lawyers, within and without, why do the opinions and human rights of the indigenous Chagossians not matter to him at all?”

Starmer immediately hit back: “So he has neither the decency not the backbone to condemn the death threat to a member of this House, whichever party they are in.”

He noted Farage has still not sacked the culprit, he said: “That just shows his party have got nothing to offer the country but grievance and division. Look at their candidate in Gorton and Denton.

“A man who says anyone who isn’t white cannot be English, endorsed by Tommy Robinson.”

Referring to GB News presenter Matt Goodwin who is standing for Reform in the south Manchester by-election tomorrow, Starmer said: “It doesn’t represent our country.”

Farage could be seen shaking his head at the prime minister from the opposition benches while Labour MPs shouted “shame” and urging him to apologise.

Starmer’s slapdown comes after Fleet, the MP for Bolsover, said on Tuesday that such offensive online posts are “so common I don’t bat an eyelid”.

However, she added: “They remind me why my husband and children begged me not to stand.

“My first thought is always for the loved ones who have to see it, and any women who may be putt off of getting into politics in the future.”

She said: “The last Labour government helped me so much. I got into politics because I wanted to pay that forward and help others in my community.

“Whatever party, we should be able to fight for our areas without death threats as standard.”