‘Stop the fake news’ – former Farage adviser slammed for immigration mistruths in TV interview

Femi Oluwole, the Our Future Our Choice campaigner, was debating Trixie Sanderson (real name Annabelle Fuller) on Sky News as the pair discussed the newly-formed Brexit Party and whether or not Labour should become a second referendum party.

Discussion quickly turned to the racist ‘breaking point’ posters that Nigel Farage unveiled during the 2016 EU referendum, which appeared to blame the European Union for Middle Eastern migrants heading for the west.

Sanderson argued that immigration was a key issue during the campaign, and that those that accused those with concerns of racism ‘only polarised the argument further.’

Femi Oluwole, a seasoned debater during these live television debates, quickly pointed out why Sanderson was wrong to defend the posters.

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‘I literally just explained why it [the poster] was racist.

‘The UK is not part of the common asylum policy which means that the only people who can come to this country under EU law are people who look like Nigel Farage.

‘People from Poland. People from Bulgaria.

‘Yet he chose specifically people from Middle Eastern backgrounds to scare people about immigration.

‘So, why did he choose people who have nothing to do with Brexit to scare people about immigration?

‘Could it be perhaps what they look like?’

Sanderson then tried to shoehorn a lie into her response, by saying: ‘I’m sure you are aware that the ‘free movement of people’ means that anyone who is within the EU can come into the UK.’

She continued: ‘If you read the legislation 2004/56, if you are interested, it says that ‘free movement is for anyone who is within the EU.’

At this point Oluwole snapped at the ‘fake news’ she was using in the interview.

He said: ‘It isn’t. Sorry. I’m not going to allow you to spread fake news on national television. It is for EU citizens.

‘Those people that were shown in that photograph, those Syrian refugees are not EU citizens which means they had no right to enter this country under EU law.

‘It applies to citizens of EU countries. They are not citizens of EU countries. So what you are saying is fundamentally fake news.’

A video of the debate has been viewed at least 300,000 times in just two days as Twitter users responded to praise the young anti-Brexit campaigner.

Steve Peers said: ‘Well done to @Femi_Sorry debunking the false statements of a Farage advisor that any non-EU citizens in the EU can just come to the UK. (If anyone can just enter the UK, why were there camps in France?)’

Cristo Foufas tweeted: ‘Gosh a former advisor to @Nigel_Farage telling outright lies on national TV. What a surprise.

‘No-one on the ‘Breaking Point’ poster could come to the UK. Therefore it was racist.

‘Well done @Femi_Sorry for calling out these absolute outright lies. This can’t continue.’