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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has admitted he spread misinformation about the Southport stabbings and named influencer Andrew Tate as a source of fake news.
The right-wing MP for Clacton in Essex has previously expressed admiration for Tate, who is himself an avowed Farage supporter.
Farage has been accused of stirring trouble in the lead-up to anti-Muslim and racist riots across Britain following the murders of three children in Southport late last month.
As false claims spread rapidly online that the attacker was a Muslim and illegal immigrant, on Tuesday last week Farage posted a video suggesting the “truth is being withheld” from the public about the killings.
It was later revealed that the suspect was not Muslim but instead a British citizen of Rwandan Christian origin.
In an interview with LBC on Tuesday, Farage defended his actions, saying he was trying to find “the truth”.
He told presenter Tom Swarbrick: “There were stories online from some very prominent folks with big followings – Andrew Tate, etc – suggesting the man had crossed the English Channel in a boat in October 2023. Other suggestions that he was an active Muslim, and much of this led to the riots that we saw.
“I asked a very simple question – was this person known or not?”
Swarbrick challenged Farage, noting that he had said in the video that “some reports suggest he was known to the security services. Those reports were from a fake news website amplified by Russian state TV and, as you mentioned, Andrew Tate.”
Farage insisted that “what I asked for was clarity”. He proceeded to blame the riots on social media misinformation.
‘Still a fan of Nigel’
A British-American kickboxer-turned-influencer awaiting trial on human trafficking and rape charges that he denies, Tate repeatedly spread misinformation after the Southport murders in posts that received millions of views on X.
Even after it emerged that the suspect was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, Tate – who is a Muslim – doubled down on his false claim that the suspect was an illegal immigrant.
During the ensuing riots, the influencer claimed that the “British government hates white people so much they only punish rioters when they’re white” and appeared to compare far-right mobs to Palestinians in Gaza.
On Wednesday morning he hit back at Farage over the politician’s claims.
“I’m gravely concerned by Nigel Farage throwing me under the bus when he speaks to the legacy media,” Tate said in a video of himself in a car posted on X.
“It shows that Nigel will bend to pressure. And if he’s afraid to stand up to a propagandist, how can he be trusted to stand up to the World Bank, to the UN, to the WEF, to the military industrial complex?”
Tate then appeared to defend the ongoing anti-Muslim and racist riots.
“He [Nigel] threw me under the bus saying the riots are my fault, because I put out a video. He didn’t say the riots are the fault of politicians who are not representing their people.
“He didn’t say the people had a justified reason to feel like that they’re not being listened to when they’re instantly labelled as far right every time they have a legitimate concern.”
But Tate also clarified: “I’m still a fan of Nigel, I still believe he’s the best choice for the UK.” He added that he wants Farage to become prime minister.
In June, Farage praised Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist who said he has made millions of dollars from webcam services, for being an “important voice” and giving boys “perhaps a bit of confidence at school”.
Earlier this year, Farage said Tate was defending “male culture” but added that he had said some “pretty horrible” things.
Businesses in parts of Britain have boarded themselves up, as authorities brace for potential riots on Wednesday evening targeting immigration centres, refugee centres and lawyers’ homes.