Farage Demands Apology From Arron Banks For 'Poor Taste' Plaid Cymru Tweet

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, has called for a public apology from party figure Arron Banks over a social media post that drew widespread condemnation for alleged racism. Banks had posted "Welsh Lad?" on X, formerly Twitter, responding to a Plaid Cymru video featuring a black community organiser from Cardiff. Banks, not a candidate in the upcoming Senedd election, dismissed his comment as "a joke," claiming Plaid Cymru had "lost their sense of humour."

However, Mr Farage, speaking on Wednesday, described the remarks as being in "poor taste." He attributed such incidents to individuals who "keep on tweeting after a glass of wine make some blooming silly mistakes."

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru's leader in the House of Commons, contended that Banks's comment implied "black people can't be Welsh." Banks, a significant donor to UKIP previously and a key supporter of Mr Farage's Brexit campaign, recently ran for the West of England mayoral election in 2025, where he was narrowly defeated by Labour.

When pressed on whether Banks should issue an apology, Mr Farage responded, "Yeah, he won't - he's Arron Banks." He further distanced Banks from Welsh politics, stating, "Number one he's not a candidate, number two he's not Welsh, number three he's never given money to the party."

Regarding potential political cooperation in Wales, Mr Farage indicated it would be "highly undesirable" for Reform to collaborate with the Conservatives. He deferred the ultimate decision to Reform's Welsh leader, Dan Thomas, stating, "He's our leader in Wales, he will make those decisions, albeit it in consultation with me." Mr Farage expressed doubt about the necessity of such a pact, predicting poor performance for the Conservatives in the Welsh election on 7 May.