Audience members at the latest episode of Question Time cheered as a panelist confronted Nigel Farage in a fiery discussion on immigration. Daisy Cooper, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, attributed the increase in asylum seekers arriving in the UK via boats to Farage, Boris Johnson, and the Brexit agreement. She directly challenged Zia Yusuf of Reform UK during the immigration-focused show.
Cooper, who represents St Albans in Hertfordshire, criticized Farage for his role in championing the Brexit deal that led to the UK’s departure from the EU in January 2020. She pointed out that while there were no asylum seekers arriving by boat in 2017, the number has surged to 46,000 annually, which she attributed to the Brexit deal orchestrated by Johnson and backed by Farage. The audience in Dover, Kent, applauded Cooper’s strong stance.
Despite the audience’s support for Cooper, the panel faced a tense moment as Kieran Mullan, Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle, dismissed her argument as “nonsense,” while Yusuf reacted with a smirk.
Yusuf, the former chairman of Reform UK, emphasized his party’s commitment to prioritizing British citizens, prompting a heated response from Cooper, the former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, who highlighted alternative viewpoints available to voters. She underscored the importance of representing the silent majority.
Following Cooper’s criticism of Farage, Mullan joined the debate, questioning the correlation between Brexit and the increase in asylum seekers, citing arrivals in Spain and Italy. He argued that the situation in the UK was misrepresented and labeled it as baseless.
Immigration has been a recurrent and contentious topic on recent episodes of Question Time. In a previous episode, the audience applauded as a guest challenged right-wing GB News host Matt Goodwin on his views on asylum seekers breaking laws. Goodwin’s claims were refuted by economist Faiza Shaheen, who asserted that migrants share similar aspirations with native citizens, garnering applause and social media attention.