Nigel Farage has been condemned for peddling false information and “wild conspiracy theories” after he falsely accused Romanians in Britain of eating swans in parks in his latest attack on migrants living in the UK.
The Reform UK leader claimed “swans are being eaten in royal parks” and said carp were being taken out of ponds “by people who come from different cultures”.
Asked who he believes are eating Britain’s swans, which are a protected species in the UK, Mr Farage said: “People who come from countries where that’s quite acceptable.”
Pressed by LBC’s Nick Ferrari whether eastern Europeans, Romanians and “people like that” were responsible, Mr Farage said: “So I believe.”
The Royal Parks charity quickly rejected Mr Farage’s claim, saying: “We’ve not had any incidents reported to us of people killing or eating swans in London’s eight Royal Parks.
“Our wildlife officers work closely with the Swan Sanctuary to ensure the welfare of the swans across the parks.”
Mr Farage’s comments echo US President Donald Trump’s earlier unfounded claim that Haitian migrants are eating Americans’ pets, with Labour MPs saying the Reform leader’s latest remarks are another example of why he shouldn’t be trusted.
Labour MP Clive Lewis told The Independent: “When a public figure begins to peddle wild conspiracy and grotesque exaggeration, from migrants eating swans to hinting at unknown harms from paracetamol, it reveals a troubling approach: deliberately feeding fear, confusion, and distrust.
“Some will fall for those lies, but others will see through the smokescreen. If this man cannot be trusted on the simplest matters of health or truth, then how can he be trusted to run a country? We must ask: if he’ll lie today, what will he lie about tomorrow?”
Meanwhile, Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, said his comments are a “direct lift from the Trump song book and a deliberate attempt to inflame tensions in our communities”.
“He offers absolutely nothing about how to truly transform our economy for the benefit of the working class, but just scapegoats immigrants, votes down improved rights and protections of workers and the thousands of net zero jobs providing good secure employment, but vigorously defends extreme wealth and treats voters like idiots hoping he’ll get away with it once again”, he added.
Fizza Qureshi, chief executive of the Migrants’ Rights Network, hit out at Mr Farage for “regurgitating debunked stories” and said his comments were “not only absurd but is utterly dangerous”.
She said: “He is regurgitating debunked stories that have resurfaced again and again, including way back in 2007, where migrants were accused of stealing swans.
“What Nigel Farage’s comments do show is his willingness to peddle disinformation from unverified social media and far-right organisations to deliberately whip up more hatred against migrants.”
In a presidential debate last year, Mr Trump said: “In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there.”
City authorities stressed that there was no evidence for the claim, with the US National Security Council spokesperson at the time dubbing it a “dangerous conspiracy theory”.
Mr Farage launched into his own allegation about swans being eaten in royal parks after being challenged over whether any evidence had been forthcoming for Mr Trump’s claims.
After the exchange, interviewer Mr Ferrari said: “So it’s a similar story? They’re eating our carp, they’re eating our swans?”
Mr Farage said: “I’m not saying that, I’m just putting it back as an argument.”
His comments came as the Reform leader also opened the door to a Donald Trump-style re-evaluation of the safety of paracetamol in the UK.
Asked about the US president linking the drug to autism – claims UK experts have refuted and condemned as “fear mongering” – Mr Farage said “that is an opinion he has… it’s not one that I necessarily share”.
But Mr Farage added that “the science is never settled”. He said: “When it comes to science, I don’t side with anybody, because the science is never settled and we should remember that.”
Critics seized on Mr Farage’s answers during the interview on drug safety, with Wes Streeting saying he has “no idea and no backbone”.
The health secretary said: “This is a man whose health adviser claimed at Reform’s conference that the Covid vaccine gave the royal family cancer.
“Anti-science, anti-reason, anti-NHS. Farage is the snake oil salesman of British politics and it’s time to stop buying his rubbish.”
And Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan said: “Nigel Farage wants to impose Trump’s dangerous anti-science agenda here in the UK. Peddling this kind of nonsense is irresponsible and wrong.”
The latest row comes just days after Mr Farage was accused of using “dodgy maths” to back up his plan to scrap the main route towards British citizenship and deport tens of thousands of people who have legally settled in Britain.
The Reform leadersaid the current option of indefinite leave to remain – open to those who have lived and worked in Britain for five years – has “betrayed democracy” and vowed to abolish it.
But doubt was soon cast over Mr Farage’s claim that savings from the policy would be “considerably larger” than the £230bn once suggested by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), despite the think tank having since said its figure should no longer be used.
Meanwhile, Ben Brindle, a researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, questioned Mr Farage’s statement that half of those who have migrated to the UK are not working.
The Reform leader also claimed those from Hong Kong and Ukraine would not be exempt from the measures – before rowing back on that statement on Wednesday, telling LBC a special exemption would be made for people who come from those countries.
And last month Mr Farage said children would be deported as part of Reform UK’s strategy to tackle illegal migration, only to insist the next day that he had been “very, very clear” that the party was focused on “illegal males” and “not even discussing women and children at this stage”.
