THE BBC has apologised to Nigel Farage after he was branded “inflammatory” by a presenter.
The owner of Reform UK , which is structured like a private company rather than a political party, was speaking in Dover on Tuesday morning and described immigration as an “invasion”.
He also claimed UK politics was becoming “sectarian politics with women completely excluded”.
The former Ukip leader – who has ruled out running in the General Election – quoted Polish prime minister Donald Tusk (below), who described migrants as “aggressive young men”.
In a clip posted to Twitter/X, the camera cut away from Farage’s speech shortly after the comment and BBC newsreader Geeta Guru-Murthy said: “Nigel Farage with his customary inflammatory language there at a Reform UK press conference.”
Farage shared the clip and wrote: “What happened to impartiality [Guru-Murthy] and [BBC press office]?
“BBC News presenter, Geeta, just accused me of ‘customary inflammatory language’ when I was quoting Polish PM Donald Tusk at a press conference.”
A spokesperson for the BBC referred The National to an on-air apology made by Guru-Murthy later on the programme when approached for comment.
She said: "Now an apology. Earlier today we heard live from Nigel Farage, speaking at that election event we just saw.
"When we came away from his live speech, I used language to describe it which didn’t meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality. I’d like to apologise to Mr Farage and viewers for this."
The apology comes after the BBC also apologised for describing Farage's Reform party as "far-right" in a news story in March.
What happened to impartiality @Geetagurumurthy and @bbcpress? BBC News presenter, Geeta, just accused me of ‘customary inflammatory language’ when I was quoting Polish PM Donald Tusk at a press conference. pic.twitter.com/INV4ucPYQO
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) May 28, 2024
At the press conference, Farage described immigration as a “national security emergency”.
He said: “I talked over the course of the weekend to Trevor Phillips, about the small but worryingly growing number of young men, predominantly young men in this country, adopting radical views, views that aren’t just un-British, but views that frankly are extremely anti-British.”
He added: “You might have noticed that Angela Rayner yesterday was campaigning in her constituency, begging, begging a group of Muslim leaders to please vote Labour, you will have noticed not a single woman in the room.
“So we’re moving into an age in our inner cities and towns, I’m afraid, I’m worried to say, of sectarian politics with women completely excluded.”
Defending his language, Farage said: “I said that I thought unless something dramatic was done, that there would be an invasion. Now, of course, for using that word, I was called all the names under the sun.
“But 3800 boats later, 125,000 people later, you can use whatever word you want. I happen to think that invasion, frankly, was pretty appropriate.
“So I’ve campaigned hard on this issue throughout this four-year period. And I’m gonna say to you, frankly, I was ahead of the curve on this. I was right.”
Guru-Murthy's brother Krishnan, a presenter on Channel 4 News, was in 2022 taken off air for a week after describing Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker as a "c*nt" on live TV.
