Nigel Farage is quitting his LBC show ‘with immediate effect’ following talks with station executives, the broadcaster announced this afternoon.
The arch-Brexiteer leaves the evening radio slot dogged by accusations of racism after he likened Black Lives Matter protesters to the Taliban.
The controversial remarks, made on Tuesday during a fiery television debate, sparked outrage and heaped pressure on LBC’s owner Global Media to drop him from their presenting cast.
Company bosses met with Mr Farage to inform him his contract would not be renewed – but ‘the conversation was a quicker one they had expected’.
Upon hearing his show was being wound down, Mr Farage refused to see out the rest of his contract and left LBC scrambling to find a replacement for tonight’s 6pm-7pm slot.
Iain Dale has been forced to come on air early and thrash together a four-hour programme to plug the unexpected schedule gap.
LBC downplayed the departure and insisted Mr Farage’s current contract was ending, but his own producer Christian Mitchell suggested he had been blindsided, tweeting: ‘Hearing this on social media…’
The station this afternoon tweeted: ‘Nigel Farage’s contract with LBC is up very shortly and, following discussions with him, Nigel is stepping down from LBC with immediate effect.
‘We thank Nigel for the enormous contribution he has made to LBC and wish him well.’
Yet fellow LBC presenter James O’Brien, a vehement critic of both Brexit and Mr Farage, gleefully tweeted: ‘We got our station back’.
As Black Lives Matter activists celebrated the scalp of one of their fiercest critics:
- Home Secretary Priti Patel admonished Labour MPs who told her not to talk about her own experience with racism because it ‘gaslights’ Black Lives Matter protesters;
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole abandoned bids to remove a statue of Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell after defenders formed a protective ring around the monument;
- ‘Racist’ road names and controversial gravestones were covered-up while plaques are torn down in latest responses to BLM protests;
- Labour peer Baroness Amos, who will be the first black head of an Oxford College demanded the statue of ‘white supremacist’ Cecil Rhodes is removed;
- The Mayor of Middlesbrough defended Captain James Cook as a ‘genuine working class hero’.
Nigel Farage is quitting his LBC show ‘with immediate effect’, the radio broadcaster announced this afternoon
Shortly after the news broke, fellow LBC presenter James O’Brien, a vehement critic of Brexit and Mr Farage, tweeted: ‘We got our station back’
The hardline Eurosceptic, who was today pictured with his new Labrador puppy Baxter in Kent, has been a vocal critic of removing controversial statues following the recent Black Lives Matter protests
Mr Farage, 56, has hosted his own 6-7pm show from Mondays to Thursdays as well as a mid-morning show on Sundays since 2017.
During his spell as a presenter, he has bagged interviews with some premier league guests, including President Donald Trump, which has made his show immensely popular.
The hardline Eurosceptic, who was today pictured with his new puppy Baxter in Kent, has been a vocal critic of removing controversial statues following the recent Black Lives Matter protests.
On Tuesday during a fiery debate on Good Morning Britain, he scolded those who toppled slave trader Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol.
Justifying his outrage, he said: ‘Because they did it as a violent mob making their own decisions and what they thought was right and wrong.
‘The point here is you start to unpick history you do not quite know where you are going to finish up.’
He added: ‘The Taliban love to blow up and destroy historical monuments from a different time that they do not approve of.
‘What we saw at the weekend was the most appalling example of mob rule.’
Mr Farage, 56, has hosted his own 6-7pm show from Mondays to Thursdays as well as a mid-morning show on Sundays since 2017
In the debate, Mr Farage went head-to-head with historian Professor Kate Williams, who this afternoon cheered his departure from LBC
Mr Farage’s producer Christian Mitchell suggested he had been blindsided by the sudden departure, tweeting: ‘Hearing this on social media…’
In the debate, Mr Farage went head-to-head with historian Professor Kate Williams and Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who this afternoon both cheered his departure from LBC.
Prof Williams tweeted: ‘On Tuesday, Nigel Farage made the disgraceful comparison of Black Lives Matter to the Taliban on GMB.
‘Horrific spreading of race hatred and inciting hate. Now, he is ‘stepping down’ from LBC – immediate effect.
‘This is long overdue. Race hatred must be off all the airwaves -now!’
Dr Mos-Shogbamimu wrote sarcastically: ‘Nigel Farage is out of LBC? Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. We thank him for nothing.’
Commenting on the news, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP bluntly said: ‘Good.’
For decades, Mr Farage was a fringe figure in British politics and banged the drum for Euroscepticsm through the vehicle of Ukip.
But his firebrand rhetoric and punchy debating tactics gained him a bigger following, which led Ukip to victory in the 2014 European elections.
Although shunned by the official Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum, Mr Farage toured the country as part of the unofficial Grassroots Out movement.
He quit as Ukip leader following the Brexit vote and flew to America to support Donald Trump’s bid for the White House.
He founded the Brexit Party in 2019, where he delivered a thumping win in the European elections, before flopping at the December general election.