What Labour's Jimmy Savile attack on Nigel Farage reveals

Spectator

a day ago

Nigel Farage is on the side of sex offenders like Jimmy Savile. That's the verdict of Labour Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, after the Reform leader criticised the government's Online Safety Act.
Kyle, is of course, speaking nonsense: opposing a law that fails to protect children and cracks down on free speech doesn't put you in the same group as Savile. But Kyle's comments do make one thing clear: Labour is seriously rattled about the rise of Reform.
Farage has demanded an apology from Kyle, who has so far refused to back down. Instead, having told Sky News 'make no mistake if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today he would be perpetrating his crimes online – and Nigel Farage is on their side', Kyle has doubled down. The Labour minister took to X after that interview to say: 'If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.'
Farage has made it clear that he is in favour of protecting children from dangerous content online but doesn't think the Online Safety Act – which his party would repeal – is the way to do so. Zia Yusuf, Reform's Doge chief, was even more outspoken than Farage. He told a press conference in Westminster yesterday that: 'So much of the Act is massive overreach and plunges this country into a borderline dystopian state.'
But it was Farage who was Kyle's target on this morning's media round. The reason why is simple: Labour is scrambling to know how to respond to Reform, which has a seven-point lead, according to The Spectator's poll tracker.
Labour is facing a sustained assault from Farage, and are finding it hard to get a grip. Previously, Keir Starmer's party simply dismissed Farage as a populist. As Reform's rise continued, they tried to question his patriotic credentials, with the Prime Minister levelling accusations earlier this year that the Reform leader was 'fawning over Putin'.
Another Labour tactic has been to attempt to forge a sense of patriotism to challenge Reform's. Backbench MP for Dover and Deal Mike Tapp has been leading the charge. 'I'll never insult or belittle someone who votes Reform,' he told The Spectator in a recent interview. But still, Labour has failed to dent Farage.
So Kyle has, instead, turned to insulting Farage. It's a tactic that will backfire. Voters can see the flaws in the Online Safety Act – and they are unlikely to take kindly to Farage coming under attack for pointing these out.
Dressed up as a measure to protect children, in practice this Act will achieve little. There are already worrying reports of the impact this legislation, which came into effect last week, appears to be having. Footage of people being arrested in Leeds while protesting against asylum seekers' hotels was censored on X for users who had not verified their age. Meanwhile, videos of a speech made in Parliament by Katie Lam MP detailing the horrors of the rape gangs have also been blocked for some users. One X user reported that paintings by Titian and the 19th century painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau were censored.
Were the effect on free speech not so chilling, it would be laughable. Farage is right to speak out against this ludicrous crackdown. Kyle should see sense and apologise.