Russell Brand calls Nigel Farage 'poundshop Enoch Powell' in BBC Question Time debate

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Washington Bureau Chief

Comedian-cum-revolutionary Russell Brand and Ukip leader Nigel Farage clashed on Question Time last night, with the former telling the latter that he "don't have no good ideas".

Brand likened his counterpart on the other end of the political spectrum to controversial MP Enoch Powell – famed for his "Rivers of Blood" immigration speech in 1968 – and criticised his "booze and fag down the pub" persona.

"This man is not a cartoon character. He ain't Del Boy. He ain't Arthur Daley. He is a pound shop Enoch Powell, and we've got to watch him," Brand said.

In fairness Farage stuck to the high road and didn't go for a counter-character assassination, facing a pincer attack from Brand and the audience, members of whom sporadically shouted and booed him during the debate.

The comedian feebly replied that it might "turn him into one of them [a corrupt MP]", which only further angered the audience.

Immigration, the NHS, "Punch and Judy politics" and education were all discussed during the debate, which also saw Conservative Communities and Local Government Minister Penny Mordaunt, Shadow International Development Secretary Mary Creagh and Times columnist Camilla Cavendish on the panel.