Nigel Farage goes to war with BBC as he demands to be included in election debates
The Reform UK leader called on the national broadcaster to give him a spot on two upcoming General Election TV debates.
Nigel Farage demands to be included in BBC election debate
Nigel Farage demanded to be included in key BBC General Election debates after Reform overtook the Tories in a bombshell poll.
The Reform UK leader said he should be added to the two-hour Question Time programme hosted by Fiona Bruce in York next Thursday with the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and the SNP.
He also said he wanted to take part in the head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer on June 26.
Speaking at a press conference in central London today, Mr Farage said: "The BBC will be having a four-way leaders debate with the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Labour and the SNP.
"That takes place next week and I think we can demand right now that the BBC put us into that debate."
In a tweet after the press conference, he added: "Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer are taking part in a BBC debate on 26th June.
"As we are now ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, I demand that Reform UK is a part of this debate. If the BBC want a fight with me on this, they can have one."
The Brexit architect also said he wants a separate debate with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on immigration.
He told the press conference: "I would also very much like to do a debate head to head with Keir Starmer and the reason is very simple.
"We think this should be the immigration election because whether we're talking about rents, housing availability, access to GP services, pressure on infrastructure, there is no aspect of our life that is not touched by the massive population crisis this country now faces directly as a result of immigration policies that were started by Labour but accelerated by this Conservative government."
Mr Farage also labelled himself "leader of the opposition" and said he believed Reform could get more than six million votes in the General Election.
It comes after a YouGov poll published yesterday saw Reform beat the Tories for the first times by 19% to 18%.
The BBC was contacted for comment.
