Farage on side of ‘extreme pornographers' over online safety, claims MP
The accusation arose from Reform UK's pledge to scrap the Online Safety Act, which they describe as "dystopian" and an infringement on free speech.
Mr Kyle defended the Act, stating it protects children from online harm and that overturning it would put Mr Farage "on the side of predators".
Mr Farage vehemently denied the claims, calling Mr Kyle's comments "disgusting" and "below the belt", and demanded an apology, which Mr Kyle refused.
The Online Safety Act, which came into effect on 25 July, mandates online platforms to prevent children's access to harmful content, with significant fines for non-compliance.
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Nigel Farage blasts 'disastrous' immigration levels as soaring UK population sees second biggest rise since 1949
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Some 1,142,303 people were estimated to have come to England and Wales as immigrants in the 12 months to June 2024 while 452,156 were likely to have emigrated, the figures showed. Politicians warned the huge population growth fuelled by migration was unsustainable and would place unsustainable pressure on housing and public services. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: 'These figures are disastrous for the quality of life for everyone in the country. It puts impossible pressures on public services and further divides our communities.' Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice described the figures as 'deeply concerning' as they 'have serious implications for the housing crisis, crime rates, and quality of life across Britain'. 'The UK cannot benefit from, or cope with such high levels of unvetted, low skilled immigration,' he said. 'We need economic policies that support British families, encourage higher birth rates, and ensure that the interests of the British public come first.' The ONS stats also showed there was a decrease in the number of births and deaths in the year to mid-2024, compared with the previous year. There were slightly more births (596,012) than deaths (566,030) in the year to mid-2024, which added just 29,982 to the population. The highest rates of population growth were in the City of London (11.1 per cent), Oadby and Wigston (3.1 per cent), and Preston (2.9 per cent). And the greatest rates of population decrease were Isles of Scilly (-2.8 per cent), Kensington and Chelsea (-1.4 per cent) and Lambeth (-0.6 per cent). Nigel Henretty of the ONS said: 'The population of England and Wales has increased each year since mid-1982. 'The rate of population increase has been higher in recent years and the rise seen in the year to mid-2024 represents the second largest annual increase in numerical terms in over 75 years. 'Net international migration continues to be the main driver of this growth, continuing the long-term trend seen since the turn of the century.' Net international migration was positive in every local authority in England and Wales except South Holland, Lincolnshire. Without net migration, the population of a third of all local authorities would have fallen, the figures show. Birmingham the largest net international migration. It added 24,235 to its population with a total of 39,000 coming to the city from overseas between mid-2023 and mid-2024 while 14,000 left. Newham, London, saw the largest amount of international migration as a percentage of its existing population, at 4.7 per cent. Earlier this year, the total UK population exceeded that of France for the first time on record after it rose to 68.3 million in mid-2023. The ONS has predicted the UK population will grow to 73.7 million by mid-2036 and hit the 70 million mark a decade earlier than previously thought. Those projections assume that net migration will fall over the next few years from a peak of about 670,000 in the 12 months to June 2023, before settling at 315,000 a year from 2028 onwards. Tory shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said the ONS data showed the population is rising at 'an unsustainable pace', which is 'almost entirely driven by record levels of immigration'. 'This isn't about numbers on a spreadsheet, it's about pressure on housing, NHS waiting lists, school places, wages and it's about community and our culture,' she said. 'Britain simply cannot plan or build fast enough to keep up.' She added: 'We must secure our borders and deliver a fair and sustainable immigration system that works for the British people.' However Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the figures 'confirm the truth of the Tory legacy on immigration'. She added: 'Their failed open borders experiment resulted in net migration quadrupling to a peak of almost a million per year in 2023 even as they promised it would fall. 'Since the election, net migration has come steeply down, and as part of the Government's Plan for Change we have set out new measures in the Immigration White Paper and have already changed immigration rules to bring net migration down further. 'To be successful, effective and fair, our immigration system must be properly controlled and managed. Out of the chaos and failure of the Tory past, that is what this Government will deliver.'
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Another former Tory MP defects to Reform UK as he claims only Nigel Farage and his party 'grasp the scale of our national peril'
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Adam Holloway, who represented Gravesham in Kent between 2005 and 2024, said on Wednesday he had become the latest ex-MP to join Nigel Farage's party. The 59-year-old former Army officer said: 'There comes a moment for many soldiers – and most politicians – when you realise the battle you think you're fighting isn't the one your leaders are waging. 'That moment came for me watching Kemi Badenoch tell Trevor Phillips there are real differences between Reform UK and the Conservatives. She was right. 'The difference is the Reform leadership and voters grasp the scale of our national peril and back a party serious about addressing it.' Mr Holloway is at least the eighth former Tory MP to have joined Reform since the last election, following former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, former Wales secretary David Jones and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty for the party in May. Having served in the Grenadier Guards for five years, including during the Gulf War, Mr Holloway worked as a journalist for ITV and ITN before his election to Parliament in 2005. A strong supporter of Brexit, he was briefly a whip under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss and was one of six Tory MPs to vote against censuring Mr Johnson after he was found to have misled the Commons over the Partygate scandal. He was himself reprimanded by Parliament's standards watchdog after improperly attempting to prevent the release of a character reference he had provided for former Tory colleague Charlie Elphicke, who was jailed for two years in 2020 for sexual assault. He lost his seat in last year's general election, falling 2,712 votes behind Labour's Lauren Sullivan. During the campaign, he told voters that backing Reform was 'effectively taking a vote from me' and 'helping Labour'. Mr Farage said he was 'delighted' to welcome Mr Holloway to the party, saying his parliamentary and military experience would be 'vital' ahead of the next election. He added: 'His bold move shows that we are the only serious option in Kent and is testament to the fantastic work our councillors are delivering across the region.'
