Nigel Farage has called out Sir Keir Starmer over claims that the former UKIP leader “bemoaned the influence of the Jewish lobby”.
The Labour leader made the comments during a fierce exchange in the Commons with Rishi Sunak.
Sir Keir claimed the “Tory Party just welcomed Nigel Farage”, after ex-PM Liz Truss said that Mr Farage was “the man to restore” the Conservatives.
Attacking the governing party and the GB News presenter in one fell swoop, the former chief of the Crown Prosecution Service told the House: “This is the same Nigel Farage who said he agreed with the basic premise of Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech and bemoaned the influence of the Jewish lobby.
“So is the Prime Minister simply too scared to stand up to the gaggle of Tory MPs who moonlight as GB [News] presenters or does he genuinely think Nigel Farage serves the ideals and values of the Tory Party?”
The 59-year-old Mr Farage took on Sir Keir during his GB News show on Wednesday night.
The honorary president of Reform UK said he would be willing to “fight” the Labour leader on the issue of antisemitism “any day of the week”.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear – I think somebody might be slightly worried”, he said.
“When he says I agree with the basic premise of Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, well the basic premise was that uncontrolled mass immigration would lead to divided societies in our cities that became unrecognisable and that that could lead to conflict.
“Well have a look at what happened with the intimidation of members of parliament last week. And have a look at the fact, Sir Keir, that there are major parts of our major cities in England that are now frankly unrecognisable and millions of your voters know that.”
Addressing the suggestion that he had previously made antisemitic comments, Mr Farage added: “And to say that I bemoaned the influence of the Jewish lobby – no, quite the reverse.
“I said the Jewish community in North America had been massively successful in law, in business and yes, they did campaign for what they wanted, they did it within the law, they did it quite successfully. But I was never a subscriber to the mad-cap conspiracy theory that the Jews run the world.
“But I tell you who was, yes, Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader that you supported.”
He added: “I tell you what, if you want to have a fight with me over antisemitism [you can] any day of the week.”
Sir Keir has made a concerted effort to restore Labour’s image following the tenure of the party’s previous leader Mr Corbyn.
During the left-wing MP’s period as Leader of the Opposition, some senior Jewish members of the party left amid concerns about antisemitism.
Sir Keir was in Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet but did not vote for him during his leadership bid.
