Starmer slams Farage for showing 'absolutely no leadership' over Sarah Pochin 'racist' comments row

Labour has written to Nigel Farage demanding he "urgently clarify" whether he endorses remarks made by Reform UK's Sarah Pochin and calling on him to remove the party whip from the MP.

Ms Pochin had said "it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people" before apologising and saying her comments were "phrased poorly".

The Runcorn and Helsby MP later apologised for any offence caused and said her comments were "phrased poorly".

Jumoing to her defence, Nigel Farage said the remarks were "ugly" and wrong" but resisted calls for her suspension from the party on Monday.

Mr Farage insisted he did not believe the "intention" behind her comments was "racist" and suggested they should be read in the context of "DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) madness".

Labour chairwoman Anna Turley wrote: "At the time of writing you have made no public comment about Sarah Pochin's remarks, which is uncharacteristically reticent of you.

"I am writing to you to urgently clarity Reform's official position."

She asked: "Do you endorse Sarah Pochin's comments? And can you confirm if her views on race are welcome in Reform UK?

"Will you withdraw the Reform UK whip from Sarah Pochin?

"Sarah Pochin's comments were a disgrace. And your silence is deafening."

'Shocking racism'

When whether the Reform UK MP was "racist" for "basically saying that too many black people, too many Asian people, were on our adverts", the Prime Minister told broadcasters: "Yes, she was.

"It's shocking racism and it's the sort of thing that will tear our country apart, and it tells you everything about Reform.

"Nigel Farage has got some questions to answer, because either he doesn't consider it racist, which in my view is shocking in itself, or he does think it's racist and he's shown absolutely no leadership.

"I'm the Prime Minister of the whole of our country, our reasonable, tolerant, diverse country, and I want to serve the whole country.

"He can't even call out racism."

Asked whether she should have the whip removed, he said: "He needs to take action, it's not a question of just the whip, this is shocking racism, it has to be dealt with and it should be rooted out of his party.

"And the question for Nigel Farage is, why has he shown absolutely no leadership on this?"

'Phrased poorly'

In a statement following her initial remarks, Ms Pochin claimed she had been trying to say the advertising industry had gone "DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) mad".

"My comments were phrased poorly and I apologise for any offence caused, which was not my intention," she said.

"The point I was trying to make is that the British advertising agency world have gone DEI mad and many adverts are now unrepresentative of British society as a whole.

"I will endeavour to ensure my language is more accurate going forward."