Farage vows to ban foreign nationals from social housing as byelection looms

Nigel Farage has said he intends to repeal the Equality Act if elected as prime minister. Photograph: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Nigel Farage has said he intends to repeal the Equality Act if elected as prime minister. Photograph: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images Farage vows to ban foreign nationals from social housing as byelection looms Reform leader claims ‘anti-whiteness is institutionalised’ in UK as polls suggest Labour have lead in Makerfield UK politics live – latest updates Nigel Farage said he would ban foreign nationals from social housing and then deport them if they could not find private sector homes, in a hardening of anti-immigration rhetoric before the Makerfield byelection . It comes as two new polls in Makerfield suggests Farage’s Reform UK continues to leak potentially crucial support to its far-right rival Restore Britain, which is led by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe . On Sunday, Farage used his first post on a new Substack account to try to appeal to Makerfield voters tempted by Restore which has an even more extremist stance on immigration than Reform. In an essay that mentions white people more than 60 times, Farage says: “Thanks to the mass migration policies of Conservative and Labour governments, white Brits will become a minority in this country before the end of the century.” He writes: “Anti-whiteness is institutionalised into every aspect of public life.” And he says Reform will ban foreign nationals from welfare including social housing. He adds: “Foreign nationals who are unable to relocate to private rented accommodation after a three-month grace period will lose their right to remain and be liable for deportation.” Farage vowed that “veterans and long-term local residents will be preferenced for social housing” if he were in power. View image in fullscreen Nigel Farage joins the Reform UK byelection candidate Robert Kenyon in Makerfield. Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters In his 6,800 word essay, Farage also describes the result of diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a “deeply sinister act of social cleansing” and confirms Reform’s plans to abolish the Equality Act. He says: “No recruitment, training or promotion policies that favour one group over another will be lawful: we will restore meritocracy so your skin colour, sex, age or sexuality has no bearing on your job prospects or treatment as an employee.” In healthcare, Farage said Reform would “cap the recruitment of foreign doctors to ensure that British patients are not being put at risk”. And in education it would insist that university admissions were “purely meritocratic” to stop white students being “squeezed to make way”. ‘Labour had their chance – they flopped.’ Two days in Makerfield show me the scale of Burnham’s task | John Harris Read more Farage makes no mention of Restore in his lengthy essay, but he pointedly says: “Only Reform has the will and the ability to ensure that no young white person ever has to grow