Joe Lycett trolls Nigel Farage in letter over race riots

12 August, 2024

Joe Lycett and Nigel Farage

Joe Lycett has trolled Nigel Farage in the wake of the recent race riots in the UK.

The riots were sparked after fake news reports claimed that the suspect in the Southport stabbing attack was an asylum seeker. It was later confirmed that Axel Rudakubana, who has been charged with murder and attempted murder, was born in Cardiff, Wales.

Reform UK leader Farage recently claimed that the riots were due to a lack of information provided by authorities as he mentioned “fair and legitimate questions”, and Lycett has now taken aim at the politician on social media in response, where he posed his own series of “fair and legitimate” questions.

“Babe, you are having SUCH a brat summer!” the comedian jokingly began his post. “Totally loving everything you’re up to right now, especially your social media posts with those gorgey flags!

“I wanted to get some clarification from you on a couple of things. I was going to come to Clacton to say hi but Liz Truss said that’s the last place I’d find you. As the arbiter of what are ‘FAIR and LEGITIMATE’ questions, I wondered if you could let me know if you consider the below to be ‘FAIR and LEGITIMATE’ questions.”

As well as joke questions such as: “Which character do you think Tommy Robinson would choose on Mario Kart? (My guess is Shy Guy)”, and “Why is there always a fly in my house?”, he also raised more serious points.

“Are all immigrants bad or is it ok if they come from Europe and then become your wife?” he wrote for one, while in another he added: “Even though you say you’re not a racist do you think some racists use your words as encouragement to do racist things?”

In his original comments shared in video, Farage said: “I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us. I don’t know the answer to that. I think it is a fair and legitimate question. What I do know is something is going horribly wrong in our once beautiful country.”

Joe Lycett
Joe Lycett attends the BAFTA Television Awards. CREDIT: Getty/Wiktor Szymanowicz

Lycett is known for trolling politicians, previously taking aim at the likes of Liz Truss and Suella Braverman.

Since the riots, many celebrities have spoken out, including Paloma Faith, who hit out at “right-wing idiots”, while Massive Attack shared a statement by race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust.

Other well-known figures to speak out include Nova Twins, Yard Act,  KNEECAP, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and Nadine Shah, while Taylor Swift shared a statement after the Southport attack took place at a dance class themed around her music.

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