‘They've got everything they campaigned for’ Nigel Farage defends Reform axing of Pride events
Nigel Farage has said he has "no objection" to Reform-led councils scrapping Pride events and that gay and Trans voters have "got everything they campaigned for."
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32 days after romping to victory in the local elections, the new Reform Council in St Helens, Merseyside, has announced it is no longer going to support the annual Pride Festival and that it was pulling all funding for Refugee Week events in the area.
The Reform UK leader was quizzed by LBC reporter Liam Gotting about this at a press conference in Makerfield on Wednesday.
Mr Gotting asked him: “The leader of the Reform-led St Helens Borough council has said the council there, obviously not a million miles away from here, they won't be supporting or promoting Pride.
“He says that he has instructed officers to cease engagements with all aspects of the event. I just wanted to ask if that's something you support.”
Mr Farage responded: "I think it is. I think you'll find that Reform-led councils are not flying political symbols on their roofs, they're flying national flags on their roofs, not things to do with political campaigns.
He claimed that Reform is "comfortably at the top of the opinion polls” with male, gay and trans voters.
“Most of those that I've spoken to don't think there's any need for Pride Month whatsoever. They've got equal treatment, they've got equal rights, they've got everything they campaigned for for decades.”
He added that many of them "simply can't see the point” of the event.
"So I have no objection to what St Helens have done whatsoever."
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The council leader, Dr George Woodward, released a statement on the cancellation.
“St Helens Borough Council won't be supporting or promoting Pride. I have instructed officers to cease engagement with all aspects of the event.
“We don't consider celebrations of sexuality, especially those with left-wing political leanings such as Pride, to be appropriate for St Helens Borough Council to dedicate valuable officer resources.
“I am also deeply concerned that Pride has become affiliated with harmful transgender ideology. As a council, we have a duty of care towards young children in the borough. Being affiliated with a movement that often results in lifelong medical harm in young impressionable children is not the direction in which I want St Helens Council to travel.
“Individuals, the private sector, and charities are welcome to continue to support the event as they deem appropriate.”
In response, Co-organiser of St Helens Pride, Miguel Doforo, told LBC: “This feels personal.
“If you are a friend, family member, colleague, supporter, or someone who knows and cares about a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I would simply ask:
“What did we do to deserve this?
“For decades, LGBTQ+ people have fought to be visible, accepted, included and treated equally. Pride was never simply about celebration. It was about creating space for people who spent years feeling invisible, ashamed, frightened, isolated or unwelcome.
“As someone who grew up not seeing my own culture, history or achievements represented, and who also struggled to come to terms with my sexuality, I know what it feels like to believe that parts of who you are should remain hidden.
“Dance, community, culture and Pride helped me find my voice.
“They helped me understand that I belonged.
“That is why decisions like this do not feel political to me.
“They feel personal.
“I have always tried to listen to different viewpoints and remain respectful of people whose opinions differ from my own. I believe dialogue matters. I believe communities are strongest when people can disagree and still treat one another with dignity.
“But tonight I am finding that difficult.
“Because when public institutions withdraw support from Pride, many LGBTQ+ people hear something much deeper than a budget decision.
“They hear that their visibility matters less.
“They hear that their stories matter less.
“They hear that their place in the community is somehow up for debate.
“And that hurts.
“The question we should all ask ourselves is not simply who is affected today.
“The question is:
“Who is next?
“Because history repeatedly shows that when one group becomes an acceptable target for exclusion, it rarely stops there.
“I will continue to stand for inclusion. I will continue to stand for equality.
“I will continue to stand alongside every young person, adult, family member and friend who simply wants the freedom to live openly, safely and authentically.
“And I know I won’t be standing alone.”
At the same press conference, Mr Farage said Reform UK is “unapologetic” about its candidate in the Makerfield by-election Robert Kenyon, who made offensive remarks on social media in the past.
Mr Kenyon, who is standing against Labour’s Andy Burnham in the June 18 contest, used a now-deleted X account to support an offensive post about Welsh broadcaster Carol Vorderman.
Messages published by campaign group Hope Not Hate showed that Mr Kenyon responded on Christmas Eve 2021 to another person’s post including graphic sexual language about the presenter who made her name as the maths expert on Channel 4’s Countdown.
Alongside a thumbs up and a laughing emoji, the plumber wrote: “He’s only saying what we’re all thinking.”
Vorderman has demanded an apology from Mr Kenyon, who she branded “cowardly”.
When Mr Farage was asked about the comments during a press conference held in the Makerfield constituency, and dismissed them as “a few laddish things”.
He told reporters: “These comments were posted a decade ago. They’ve been taken wildly out of context, but they’re the sort of comments that you won’t necessarily get if you’re an Oxford-educated career politician living in a nice postcode in London.”
Mr Farage added: “But I tell you what, they are the kind of comments you’ll hear in every pub in the country every evening, and we should be unapologetic that Rob is an ordinary bloke who’s carved quite a career for himself, had the guts to set up a business, served as an army reservist, is a patriot, likes his rugby, likes the odd pint, and said a few laddish things on social media 10 years ago.
“Do you know what I’d say to that? I’d say, so what?”
Mr Farage dismissed a question of whether he was worried about losing female voters due to Mr Kenyon’s past comments, suggesting that concerns about children’s safety are “bigger female issues than they are male issues”.
“Whatever attempted smears they’re going to make against my friend Rob over here, the truth of it is that it’s women, and particularly mothers and grandmothers, that are the most concerned about the safety of their kids and grandkids on the streets of this country.
“And so no, I don’t think their attempts to paint us into this corner are going to work at all.
“Law and order, safety on the streets, feeling their kids can go to concerts on Saturday nights and get home safely. I think these are bigger female issues than they are male issues. I really do.”