Nigel Farage demands apology from Fiona Bruce after fiery Question Time

Nigel Farage has demanded an apology from Fiona Bruce after she interrupted him with “incorrect facts” on BBC Question Time on Thursday.

Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader who is now the honorary president of Reform UK, was speaking about the decline in NHS productivity when Bruce challenged him over his figures on expenditure as a proportion of GDP.

He told the audience that NHS spending now accounted for more than 10 per cent of the “national cake”, compared to just seven per cent no more than six or seven years ago.

Bruce interrupted to say: “Actually, it’s about 18 per cent. It’s about 18 per cent of total Government spending.” Mr Farage maintained that it was about 10 per cent to 11 per cent, but “we won’t argue about it”.

Wiring on X, formerly Twitter, after the programme, Mr Farage said: “I hope @‌bbcquestiontime and Fiona Bruce apologise for interrupting me with incorrect facts tonight. The ONS says NHS expenditure represented 11.3 per cent of GDP in 2022, not 18 per cent as Fiona said.”

It was not the only sparring between the pair, with Bruce challenging Mr Farage over why he was the Reform politician “fronting” the party’s campaign when he was “not actually standing for election”.

Mr Farage, making his first appearance on Question Time for five years, replied: “Don’t ask me…you invited me on. I don’t know why I am here,” to laughter from the audience. Bruce then said: “We actually asked for Lee Anderson [who defected to Reform from the Tories], but he wasn’t able to come on.”

Earlier on Thursday, he had joined Richard Tice, the Reform UK leader, to launch the party’s migrant tax plan, which would force employers to pay a higher National Insurance rate on foreign workers than domestic staff.

On Tuesday, he held a press conference at which he set out Reform’s plans for tackling illegal migration, including a proposal to pick up asylum seekers from small boats and take them back to France.

The launch of the migrant tax was at one point considered to be Mr Farage’s opportunity to kickstart his efforts to become a Reform MP.

Party sources disclosed that the venue, Glaziers Hall at London Bridge, had previously been booked to allow Mr Farage to declare his candidacy in the general election.

But Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a snap July election scuppered his plans, with Reform sources saying there was not sufficient time for him to prepare a fully researched campaign and promote the party’s cause nationally.

Three seats had been identified for Mr Farage’s candidacy, but sources refused to disclose which ones.