Nigel Farage disagrees with Kanye West being banned from the UK ahead of Wireless Festival
Nigel Farage supported Kanye West‘s right to enter the UK before the rapper was eventually banned from entering the country ahead of his planned three-day headline set at Wireless Festival.
On April 7th, the UK government officially decided to ban West from entering the country; before this ruling was made public, the leader of the right-wing Reform party, Nigel Farage, stated that he believed the government should allow the controversial artist on British soil.
Pertinently, the ‘Runaway’ musician has an extensive history of antisemitic behaviours, not limited to claiming himself to be a Nazi, selling T-shirts with Swastikas, and releasing a song called ‘Heil Hitler’ last year.
“I think that, for myself, I wouldn’t buy a ticket. I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy a ticket. I think his comments are vile, really vile, the rabbit hole of antisemitism and straight Nazi-sm is vile,” Farage began at a press conference when asked for his opinion on the divisive matter.
However, the politician added, “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.”
Linking his point of view to the current UK Prime Minister, Farage added, “If Kier Starmer were to ban people coming into Britain with whose views he doesn’t like, almost nobody would be allowed in.”
Farage concluded, “The answer to this is the free market will sort this out: if sponsors are withdrawing already, the festival itself is threatened, and I suspect very few people will buy tickets.”
The government has now denied West’s application, filed on April 6th, to travel to the country via an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), as it was considered that his presence would not be “conducive to the public good”.
This news follows an open letter West shared, in which he posited, “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
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