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Nigel Farage has called on a member of the Reform party to apologise following an online comment that attracted accusations of racism. The comment in question was made by Arron Banks, who responded on the social media platform X with the phrase “Welsh Lad?” to a video posted by Plaid Cymru. The video featured a black community organiser from Cardiff, prompting backlash against Banks’ remark.
Banks, who is not a candidate in the upcoming Senedd election, defended his comment as a joke and suggested that Plaid had lost their sense of humour. Despite this explanation, Farage described the post as being in “poor taste,” noting that “people who keep on tweeting after a glass of wine make some blooming silly mistakes.” Banks later denied having consumed alcohol recently, reiterating that his comment was intended humorously.
The incident has drawn criticism from Plaid Cymru’s leader in the House of Commons, Liz Saville Roberts, who accused Banks of implying that “black people can’t be Welsh.” Banks previously contested the West of England mayoral election for Reform in 2025, narrowly missing out to Labour. Historically, he has been a significant donor to UKIP and played a role in Nigel Farage’s campaign advocating for Brexit.
When asked if Banks should issue an apology, Farage responded, “Yeah, he won’t – he’s Arron Banks.” He also emphasized that Banks is not involved in Welsh politics, stating that Banks is neither a candidate nor Welsh and has never financially supported the party in Wales. Addressing potential collaboration between Reform and the Conservatives in Wales, Farage called such an alliance “highly undesirable,” although he confirmed that decisions on cooperation would rest with Reform’s Welsh leader, Dan Thomas. Farage also expressed doubt that a Reform-Conservative pact would be necessary, predicting poor electoral performance for the Tories in the May election. Meanwhile, Conservative Darren Millar acknowledged the possibility of working with Reform or other parties if it helped advance Tory policies like income tax cuts. Farage made these remarks during an interview with BBC Wales in the lead-up to the Senedd election
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