Nigel Farage blasts BBC for showing sea of EU flags at Proms: ‘People who hate this country!’
Nigel Farage has lashed out at the EU flag showing at Last Night of the Proms
GB NEWS / BBC
Nigel Farage has lashed out at the BBC’s decision to facilitate a pro-EU gesture at the Proms.
It comes as the broadcaster faces calls for an inquiry into its coverage as a sea of European Union flags were seen being waved throughout the final performance of the Last Night of the Proms.
The former leader of the Brexit Party told GB News that he found the coverage “rude”, and admitted he was unable to watch through the whole thing.
The national broadcaster organises and broadcasts the proms, and opted to include footage of flag-waving EU supporters during Rule Britannia, the song used to close out the festivities for the end-of-season concert.
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Pro-Remain group, Thank EU for the Music, have been synonymous with the event since 2016, which could explain the anti-Brexit sentiment on display.
The group have been handing out EU flags at the Proms since 2016.
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Speaking on GB News, Farage dubbed the showing “insulting and inappropriate”.
“It was blooming rude I thought”, he said.
“The whole thing was rude, insulting and inappropriate.
“I’m afraid we do have this small group of people who hate this country, hate the flag, hate its history, hate its shared commonality and identity, and there they were in the hall.
A screengrab from the BBC's coverage of the Last Night of the PromsBBC“Mercifully, they’re a small minority. I know they’re having a rejoin march in London in a couple of weeks time.
“I had to leave the room, but the best thing we can do is ignore them.”
In a tweet on Sunday, Thank EU for the Music boasted about vans filled with “thousands of free EU flags” in an apparent show of support for musicians who have been impacted by Brexit.
The group congratulated director-general of the BBC Tim Davie on Saturday on an “incompatible festival of joyful music-making”.
EU flags are waved at Last Night of the Proms
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In relation to the flags, they added: “We appreciated that the BBC strives to avoid controversy at all costs, but would gently point out that in doing so you might on occasion have chosen reticence rather than objectivity with regards to editorial policy on Brexit matters.”
A BBC spokesman admitted there are no guidelines on political statements through the use of flags at the event, saying: “Audiences choose to bring their own flags and the Royal Albert Hall specifies size limitations within guidelines for safety reasons.”
Despite continued calls for Britain to rejoin the EU, Farage says he is not concerned about the reversal of Brexit, but admits Britons are “disappointed” in how it has been implemented.
“I don’t think Brexit itself legally is going to be reversed, but that isn’t the problem”, he told Andrew Pierce.
“The problem is, while we may be standing taller on the world stage as an independent country, people who voted Brexit are not seeing any of the results they expected domestically.
“Millions of people out there, men and women who are doing their best to run little businesses and act as sole traders genuinely felt the heavy-handed bureaucracy and taxation would be lighter outside the EU.
“Unfortunately under this Government in nearly all regards, it’s become heavier.
“There is great disappointment about the execution of Brexit. The Conservative Party never believed in it.”