Farage defends Reform MP against racism accusations over TV advert remarks

Nigel Farage has defended remarks made by a Reform MP who said seeing adverts full of black and Asian people "drives her mad", arguing that the intention behind her comments was not racist.

- Aletha Adu Political correspondent

The Reform leader said if he felt Sarah Pochin's words were "deliberately and genuinely racist", he would have "taken action" against her.

Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, said on Saturday that "it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people", during an appearance on TalkTV as she responded to a viewer who complained about the demographics of advertising.

She said the viewer was "absolutely right", and added "it doesn't reflect our society" and "your average white person, average white family is ... not represented any more".

Her comments have drawn strong criticism from Keir Starmer and the health secretary, Wes Streeting, as well as Liberal Democrat MPs and Conservative MPs who have deemed her remarks racist.

The prime minister said Farage had "questions to answer" over the remarks, which he also described as an example of "shocking racism", while Streeting warned of a return to "1970s-, 1980s-style racism".

However, Farage said he understood "the basic point" of what she was saying but "the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong".