Farage warns against Kanye West ban despite calling rapper’s antisemitism ‘Nazism”
Reform UK 'I suspect the free market will sort this out'
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has warned against banning Kanye West from coming into the UK to headline the Wireless Festival, saying, “If we start banning people from entering the country because we don’t like what they say, I worry where that ends up.”
But Farage also said he recognised that previous antisemitic comments from the rapper were “Nazism”.
Speaking at an event in Warwickshire, he responded to a question over whether West, known as Ye, should be allowed to enter the country.
Mr Farage said: “I wouldn’t buy a ticket, I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy a ticket. I think his comments are vile, really vile. The sort of rabbit hole antisemitism, stroke Nazism, that he’s gone down is vile. But I think if we start banning people from entering the country because we don’t like what they say, I worry where that ends up.
“I worry where that ends up, if Keir Starmer was to ban people coming into Britain, with whose views he doesn’t like, almost everybody wouldn’t be allowed in. I think it’s a dangerous path to go down.
“I suspect the free market will sort this out, in that sponsors are withdrawing already, the festival itself is threatened, and I suspect very few people will buy a ticket.
“I suspect the free market, choice, will sort this out. But I’m not going to go down the route of banning people, even if I think what they say is thoroughly objectionable, unless, of course, the line’s crossed and you see direct incitement of violence. That’s where we draw the line.”
Meanwhile, Scotland’s First Minister urged the organisers of Wireless Festival to “reflect” on the decision to book West – after previously refusing to wade into the situation.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Edinburgh, John Swinney said, “I don’t think people need advice from John Swinney” on their music taste.
But in a later statement, a spokesman for the SNP said the First Minister “was not aware” of calls to ban the rapper from entering the UK following past antisemitic comments.
The spokesman said, “John Swinney was asked a question by journalists about Kanye West at an event this morning. At the time, he was not aware of the discussion around whether the artist should appear at Wireless Festival.
“Having been made aware of Kanye West’s abhorrent racist comments, the First Minister utterly condemns them and stands against antisemitism in all its forms.
“While it is not for the First Minister of Scotland to determine who performs at a music festival in London, Mr Swinney is clear that the organisers should reflect on their decision and he would support any appropriate action taken by the UK Government.”
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