Nigel Farage blames London terror attack on 'search parties sent to find immigrants'

Nigel Farage has pointed the finger of blame for the Westminster attack at multiculturalism, claiming it has created a “fifth column” of terror supporters within Western societies.

In an interview on the right-wing, Donald Trump-supporting TV network Fox News, the former Ukip leader claimed “search parties” sent out by Tony Blair’s government to find immigrants would harm the UK for the next 100 years.

He challenged assertions of Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan that Britain stands united in the face of the attack, insisting people in fact want “answers” about what they are going to do.

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Mr Farage said that the attack bolstered US president Donald Trump’s case for tougher vetting of immigrants from some Muslim nations, claiming that countries which open their door to immigration from the Middle East are “inviting in terrorism”.

Speaking on US TV network Fox News, the Ukip MEP said: “The idea that this whole country is united, which is what we are hearing from our leaders, I’m not sure is true.

“I think the British people want some answers from our leaders as to what they are now going to do.”

And he added: “I do actually think that the moment has come for us to actually point the blame. What these politicians have done in the space of just 15 years may well affect the way we live in this country over the next 100 years.”

Mr Farage – a commentator on the channel – said: “We’ve made some terrible mistakes in this country, and it really started with the election of Tony Blair back in 1997, who said he wanted to build a multicultural Britain.

“His government even said they sent out search parties to find immigrants from all over the world to come into Britain. Do you know what? I don’t think we vetted a single one of them.

“The problem with multiculturalism is that it leads to divided communities. It’s quite different to multi-racialism. That’s fine, that can work very happily and extremely well. But we’ve finished up with very divided communities.

“Frankly, all those people out protesting in Fifth Avenue in New York and elsewhere need to have a good, long hard think about what they are doing.

“If you open your door to uncontrolled immigration from Middle Eastern countries, you are inviting in terrorism.”

His comments were echoed by Katie Hopkins, the Mail Online columnist, also in an interview on Fox News.

She rejected the idea that Britain was standing united, calling it a “nation of ghettos” and polarising opinion on Twitter.

She said: “People are cowed, people are afraid, and people are not united.

“Great Britain is more disunited – it is absolutely divided, more than any time in its past, and we are in fact a nation of ghettos.

The reaction to Mr Farage’s comments was swift, with many pointing out the seeming contradiction between him blaming immigration policies and the fact that the terror suspect was born in Britain.

Speaking near Parliament, Ukip leader Paul Nuttall said the country must ensure there was no “knee-jerk” reaction after the “evil” attack and called on people to “come together and ensure that we move on forward”.

He told the Press Association that he was “horrified” by the “act of insanity”, but said that Muslim communities had to “do more to root out this cancer of radicalisation”.

Mr Nuttall said that “we have to do something about people who will be returning from Syria”, who he said should not be allowed back into the UK.

However, he added: “Let’s be frank about this, only a tiny fragment of the Muslim community in this country are radicalised – probably 1% – so the majority should not be blamed for the actions of one lunatic.

“But what will become clear I’m sure is that this is a lone wolf attack, but lone wolf attacks aren’t always just committed by one person on their own. There’ll be other people who would have known about this… and I just wonder whether more could have been done to stop them.”

Here are the latest updates from the London terror attack:

• Isis claims responsibility for atrocity

• Theresa May reveals suspect was British citizen

• Police say attack is linked to Islamic extremism

• At least eight people have been arrested after overnight raids in London and Birmingham

• Four people were killed in the attack and 40 injured, some seriously

• Terrorist among those dead after being shot by police

• Killed police officer identified as PC Keith Palmer

• Aysha Frade, another victim (pictured above), was on the school run

• Seven others remain critically injured

• Police have asked for the identity of the terrorist not to be revealed by the media

• Parliament to meet again as normal this morning

• In pictures: Pictures show chaos and confusion after attack

• Miracle escape: woman has been pulled alive from River Thames

• Timeline of terror: How events unfolded

• What we know about the attacker

• Video captures moment police shoot dead terrorist