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Nigel Farage cleared by Ofcom for saying Jon Snow should be attacked over 'white people' Brexit rally comment

Watchdog says MEP’s remark had potential to cause offence but did not breach rules

Peter Stubley
Monday 05 August 2019 18:32 EDT
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Jon Snow on pro-Brexit protests: 'I've never seen so many white people in one place'

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Nigel Farage has been cleared by Ofcom after he said that Jon Snow “should be attacked” for commenting about the number of white people at a Brexit rally.

Seven people complained that the former Ukip leader may have encouraged violence against the Channel 4 News presenter during his LBC radio show.

However the regulator accepted Mr Farage’s explanation – given during the same programme – that he was referring to a verbal attack rather than a physical one.

Ofcom also cleared Mr Snow of breaching the rules for his on-air remark about the protests in Westminster on the day the UK was due to leave the EU.

The presenter summed up events at the end of the programme on 29 March by saying: “It has been the most extraordinary day. A day which has seen – I’ve never seen so many white people in one place. It’s an extraordinary story. There are people everywhere, there are crowds everywhere.”

More than 2,600 people complained that the comment was racist and offensive, biased and “implied a potential link between Brexit supporters and white supremacists”.

Channel 4 quickly apologised for any offence caused by the 71-year-old broadcaster’s remark, describing it as “a spontaneous, unscripted observation”.

Two days later Mr Farage was asked by Alastair Campbell to condemn attacks on journalists during the Brexit demonstration.

The Brexit Party leader replied: “Well I think Jon Snow should be attacked without doubt, but that’s slightly a separate issue."

He was later asked to respond to a tweet from a listener asking: “Nigel Farage calls for Channel 4’s Jon Snow to be attacked, is it incitement?”#

Mr Farage replied: “No! Verbally, verbally attacked for his disgraceful coverage of the Leave rally on Friday, for which I’m pleased to say that Channel 4 has made a grovelling apology, so fine.”

Ofcom found that the remarks by both Mr Snow and Mr Farage had the potential to cause offence to viewers but decided they were ”sufficiently contextualised”.

The watchdog concluded: “Ofcom reminds broadcasters that in the context of the current volatile public discourse surrounding Brexit, particular care is needed to fully contextualise any ambiguous statements in programmes that have the potential to be understood by audiences as highly inflammatory and provocative.”

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