Reform MP Suella Braverman clashes with Sky's Sophy Ridge over £5m donation to Nigel Farage

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]Well, we've of course been leading the program today on the double stabbing of two Jewish people that happened in North London. And we can speak now to Swella Bravman, Reform UK spokesperson for education, skills, and equalities. I know you're here to talk about student loan story, but just to start by getting your reaction to the staffing that we saw yesterday. Are Jewish people safe in the UK?

[00:00:23]Well, the tragedy that we saw yesterday unfortunately has become an unsurprising feature of uh the Jewish Jewish life in the UK. Uh last week we saw the an attack on a synagogue not very far away from Gold. Six weeks ago there was an attack on the ambulances in Gold. I went to Golders Green uh the day after to meet with the community. And of course, not very long ago, Jews were murdered in Manchester. Um, so this is not an isolated incident and I very much fear for the situation that we're in for the Jewish community.

[00:01:03]>> And what do you think politicians need to do now to make sure that Jewish people are safe, are protected?

[00:01:11]Well, what they mustn't do is dish out meaningless platitudes and put out tweets sending their sympathies and their thoughts and prayers. None of that is uh meaningful.

[00:01:25]There is action that needs to be taken and if this government were serious about dealing with anti-semitism, it would take that action. So, first of all, it should prescribe the IRGC.

[00:01:37]That's the group that's often linked to many of these um this violence and harassment that we see on the streets.

[00:01:44]It could ban and prescribe the Muslim Brotherhood another group. If they did that, even just doing those things would give the police much stronger powers to arrest, investigate, and stop some of the violence that we're seeing. It could also go further and ban the hate marches because that's what's fueling anti-semitism and extremism in our country.

[00:02:07]Uh can I ask about the suspects in this case? We spoke earlier to the home secretary Shinbanmood who confirmed that this is somebody who is a British national so came to the UK as a child but was born in Somalia. Do we need to look at the process in which he was granted citizenship or actually is it more a case of reflecting on what is going on in the UK the country where of course he's lived since being a boy?

[00:02:34]Well, some I think there's a combination of factors there. I think someone like that um yes, of course, the citizenship should be looked at and I think, you know, if he's found guilty, then I think there would be very strong grounds to strip him of citizenship um and deport this person. Actually, someone like that has no place in the United Kingdom. And secondly, we do need to look at the environment that we've built in this country over recent years. Um, since October the 7th, 2023, we've seen a culture of anti-semitism and extremism, uh, sectarianism, Islamism, call it what you will, it's all pretty much the same thing, get out of control because of weak leadership and cowardice at the top of the country. And the the blame lies with this Labor government. It lies with the last Conservative government. I tried as home secretary to call out the failures. Um, and I was sacked for doing so. Um, uh, it lies with the Met Commissioner, it lies with the mayor of London. Uh, all of these people who are in positions of leadership who could do something right now to fix the problem are utterly failing to do so.

[00:03:43]>> Uh, you're here to talk about student loans. What's the announcement that you've got today?

[00:03:48]>> Well, we have a real problem with many of our universities in that they are selling immigration, not education. And we've seen a massive influx in the number of international students coming into the country in recent years. The the last Tory government opened the floodgates irresponsibly.

[00:04:07]Um many of these uh foreign students uh pay um extra money um to universities and they've become a cash cow for a lot of universities. That's uh then led to a lot of universities offering very poor s poor courses, poor value for money to British students, penalizing British students uh highly unfairly. So, we're going to end that. Um we're going to ban foreign students from taking up a student loan to study at a UK university. Uh last year,4 billion pounds worth of taxpayer money was given to foreign students so that they could study at UK universities. A lot of that money is not paid back. We would save 2 billion pounds. We should put that towards supporting British students at British universities.

[00:04:56]Can I ask you next about Nigel Farage?

[00:04:59]Um because it's emerged that he received a£5 million donation just before he was elected. Now the parliamentary rules say that new MPs have to register all their financial interest and registerable benefits received in the 12 months before being elected. He didn't declare it. Has he broken the rules?

[00:05:20]>> No. Nigel Farage received a personal gift for his private purposes. Uh MPs, uh he received it before he was an MP, before he was a candidate, before he was even thinking about becoming a candidate. Um, now it's right that elected MPs should declare donations which are made for the purposes of their job, but that doesn't apply to this situation with Nigel Farage.

[00:05:49]>> So, you say it was a personal donation for private purposes.

[00:05:55]I mean, how many times has one of your friends given you £5 million? I mean, it's not like shouting a few rounds at the pub, is it?

[00:06:04]Well, the private purposes were very serious purposes. Um, uh, namely his security. Uh, for several years, preceding his election as an MP, Nigel Farret has carried a high personal risk.

[00:06:19]Uh, he's one of the most highly recognized politicians in the country.

[00:06:23]Uh, even before he entered the British Parliament. Um, back in 2019, he was attacked. someone threw a milkshake at him and that could have turned out very uh badly uh had it been something else that that person >> just just to come in because I I absolutely agree a lot of this >> and he is entitled to pay unfortunately the state will not protect him. They will not issue him with security. He has been forced to fund his own personal security even before he was an MP.

[00:06:55]So just to say I I absolutely appreciate the personal risk that Nigel Farage is under and I would say that I think there is a very strong case that he does need security right but the point here is about effectively being in hawk for somebody and if you really really need the money for something perhaps legitimately that doesn't mean that there isn't a conflict of interest in fact it increases the conflict of interest because it means that someone is giving you something that you really need. The issue here isn't about whether it's appropriate for Nigel Farage to have security, which I think many would agree with. The issue is that he got a5 million pounds from somebody and did not declare it. That's the issue.

[00:07:30]>> No, but you're blurring the lines and you're missing the point with respect.

[00:07:34]He needed uh security before he was an MP for his personal >> I know. I'm aware. I'm I'm absolutely aware of the argument security. saying that >> but I'm but if you receive5 £5 million from somebody for something that you very much need in the just before becoming an MP when the rules said that you are supposed to declare registerable benefits in the 12 months before you can understand you know you can understand the issue here right >> I'm sorry Sophie but are you suggesting that Nigel Farah should be going around without security you suggest saying he should be killed she should be >> I'm not I'm can I say I'm I'm saying the opposite I'm saying the opposite I'm saying that there is an argument, a very clear argument that he needs accuracy.

[00:08:17]I'm not diminishing that at all. I think you're correct in saying that. What I'm saying is that if you get £5 million for somebody, you should declare it.

[00:08:26]>> Well, well, not necessarily. If you're not an MP, no, you don't need to declare it. If you're not a candidate, you don't need to declare it. If you're using it as a private individual, you don't need to declare it. The rules are very clear.

[00:08:38]And I think the attack >> saying new MPs must register all their financial interests and register benefits received 12 months before their election.

[00:08:45]>> What you're suggesting what you're suggesting is that uh Nigel Far should be walking around without any security and some >> I just I have to come in there. I have to come in there again. I'm really sorry. I have to come again.

[00:08:56]Deliberately misinterpreting what I've said. I have said throughout the interview that I absolutely understand the reason that Nigel Faraj needs security and I agree with them. I've made that point many times through this interview because I think it is it's important to say that right. I'm talking about declaring a financial benefit.

[00:09:13]>> Yeah. And I'm saying and I've made my point repeatedly and you're not you don't seem to be following it. If you're a private individual and you're not elected, you're not a candidate, you're not even thinking about being a candidate, and you receive a donation for very uh legitimate purposes, private purposes indeed, because you carry a personal and high risk to your safety, then there's nothing wrong with that.

[00:09:37]And I think that the the attacks that are being made are very distasteful because that the the assumption behind them, and let's just be honest about this, is that something's done something's gone wrong here. And no, it hasn't. This was private. It was personal. It was before he was an MP.

[00:09:52]When you receive a donation as an elected MP, when you're accountable to voters, when you're accountable to parliament, you are subject to those rules. And when the when a donation is made for your purposes as an MP, that's a really important point in this. An MP can receive a a gift for private and personal purposes, and they don't need to declare it. So, you know, it's not that um if you were an MP, uh Sophie and your mom gave you a gift for your private personal purposes, you wouldn't need to declare that. So, there's a very big distinction between what's your public duty, your public role, and your private and and before he was an MP for many years, Nigel Farage has carried a high risk to his personal safety. It's entirely reasonable for him to take steps. is very regrettable actually that the state has not stepped in to protect him and because it's failed to do that he's had to take it into his own hands and look after himself we should be supporting that okay Braman thank you very much for being on the program today thank