Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had a barbed dig at Nigel Farage’s trusted lieutenant Sarah Pochin after 35 MPs demanded a standards probe accusing her of racism
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has had a brutal dig at racism storm Reform MP Sarah Pochin.
Ms Pochin, a key lieutenant of Nigel Farage, sparked fury when she said it made her “mad” to see so many Black and Asian people on screen. Referencing the controversy, Ms Mahmood told a gathering of politicians and journalists in Westminster: “I must say it is hard balancing being Home Secretary with starring in all those adverts that Sarah Pochin has been watching.
“Sarah, if you are here tonight, I am sorry you have to watch another brown face up on stage… I will try to keep it brief.”
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Thirty five MPs have called on Parliament’s standards chief to investigate whether she had broken the Code of Conduct. Mr Farage has branded Ms Pochin’s remarks “ugly”, but has resisted calls to kick her out of his party.
During a TalkTV phone-in, the Runcorn and Helsby MP said: “It drives me mad when I see adverts full of Black people, full of Asian people.” Labour MP Dawn Butler has led calls for standards tsar Daniel Greenberg to investigate. In her letter, she wrote: “We believe these remarks are racist.
“They single out Black and Asian people and frame their visibility as a problem. Members of Parliament are required to uphold the highest standards of integrity, accountability and respect as set out in the Nolan Principles of Public Life.”
And the letter continues: “Statements that single out or diminish entire groups of people based on rase have no place in public life. We therefore urge you to take this matter seriously and ensure that the standards of this House reflect an inclusive, respectful, and diverse Britain.”
Reform UK leader Mr Farage said he was “unhappy” with the “ugly” comments made by Ms Pochin but insisted her intention was not to be racist. In a press conference in London earlier this week, he repeatedly resisted calls to discipline the Runcorn and Helsby MP, who has faced condemnation from across the political spectrum.
“I am unhappy with what she has done,” he said. “I understand the basic point, but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and was ugly, and if I thought that the intention behind it was racist, I would have taken a lot more action than I have to date.”