Black journalist removed from Reform UK rally by security

Black journalist removed from Reform rally

A black journalist was removed from a Reform UK rally by security guards saying they “didn’t know” why he was not allowed to attend the event.

Femi Oluwole, 34, was turned away from Nigel Farage’s “biggest campaign rally” in Birmingham on Sunday despite showing security his press card.

In footage, a security guard can be heard saying: “Unfortunately sir, you’ve been told you cannot come into the venue today.”

When Mr Oluwole asked why, he said: “I don’t know. They’ve just told us you’re not allowed into the venue. I’ve been told you can’t come in.” Two security guards then physically escorted Mr Oluwole from the building.

Mr Oluwole is a freelance journalist and regular columnist for The Independent. He is also a prominent anti-Brexit campaigner who co-founded the pro-European Union advocacy group Our Future Our Choice.

He told The Independent that being removed made him angry and showed Mr Farage’s party had “complete intolerance” for opposing views despite claiming to champion free speech.

Mr Oluwole said: “They have complete intolerance for opposing views. They claim to care about free speech but have banned a journalist from a major political event during an election.

“As a black person, to be removed from a rally for a party set up by Catherine Blaiklock, who said black people are inherently violent, made me feel on edge. I was in full flight or fight mode.”

In 2019, deleted posts from Ms Blaiklock’s personal blog emerged in which she argued that crime and fatherlessness among black men were due to high testosterone levels. She has since resigned from the party.

Reform UK has faced repeated criticism over recent days for the racist views of some of its supporters, including footage of one activist describing Rishi Sunak as a “f***ing p***”. The prime minister responded saying he was “hurt and angry” by the comments.

It is unclear why Mr Oluwole was barred from attending the Reform event. The party has been approached for comment.

Mr Farage told the crowd at the Reform UK rally, who were charged £5 a ticket, that Britain was in societal and cultural “decline”.

He said people “are getting poorer”, that there are “people fearful of going out at night, people scared to even go out to their local pub, knives being carried wholesale by young people in this country - so I am in no doubt we are societal decline.”

“A country that’s forgotten where we come from, a country that doesn’t seem to value our culture, our inheritance of what we wish to pass on for our children - so I felt I couldn’t stand aside with all these things going on,” he said.