Oldham MP candidates react to Nigel Farage's comment

Mr Farage was speaking to BBC Radio 4 yesterday (Tuesday, June 3) following his announcement he will in fact run for MP for the Reform party in Clacton, Essex.

While discussing the topic of Muslims in the UK, he told host Mishal Husain that there are "streets in Oldham where no one speaks English".

Now, candidates running to become an MP in both Oldham West and Royton and Oldham East and Saddleworth have reacted to the comments.

Jim McMahon, who represented Oldham West and Royton between 2015 and 2024 for the Labour and Co-operative Party, said: “Oldham is a wonderful community with some of the best people you’ll find anywhere, and I have been proud to represent it for 20+ years, including as an MP and as Council Leader.

“The vast majority of Oldhamers are decent, hard-working people who want to live in peace, accept and understand one another, and create a better life for all who call Oldham home.

Mr McMahon said Mr Farage does not speak for Oldham

“We are not blind to the challenges but what we don’t accept is people trying to divide our town, pit communities against each other and stoke divisions – the worst type of politics which the people of Oldham are better than.

“Mr Farage does not speak for Oldham and what he is trying to do will not work.”

Debbie Abrahams, who has served as MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth between 2011 and 2024 for Labour, said: “Oldham East and Saddleworth is a wonderful diverse community where we celebrate our diversity.

“Eighty nine per cent of the population speak English in line with England’s national average.

Ms Abrahams said the percentage of people in the constituency she has represented is in line with the national average (Image: Parliament Live TV)

“Those individuals intent on criticising communities like Oldham should instead focus on the failure of the Conservative government to invest and 'level up' the North with the rest of the country and not on Oldham’s people.”

Cllr Sam Al-Hamdani, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth, who is currently a councillor for Saddleworth West and Lees, said: “Nigel Farage has a tendency to stir up hatred between communities, and this is just another example. Frankly, I think for a lot of people faced with Mr Farage, it’s very tempting to just pretend you don’t speak his language.

“There are so many Asian-heritage families where there are second, third, fourth generations of children who have been born and bred in Oldham, and family life is a smooth mix of whatever language the other person prefers. That’s certainly the case in my family – personally I regret not learning Arabic from my father, as I would love to speak an extra language.

Cllr Al-Hamdani has accused Mr Farage of trying to stir up hatred

“I’m standing for MP because I want to find more and better ways for all the communities in Oldham to live and work together. That’s about finding ways to reach out to people, not exclude them. There are plenty of politicians for whom that is the case – Mr Farage is again demonstrating that he is not one of them."

READ MORE: Council leader hits back at Nigel Farage Oldham comments

Shanaz Saddique, who is also standing in Oldham East and Saddleworth as a candidate for the Workers Party of Britain, invited Mr Farage to Oldham to see how his comments are untrue.

She said: "Nigel Farage seeks to divide communities with inflammatory language. I challenge Farage to come to Oldham and we will visit the street he has identified.

"Not only will I introduce him to plenty of people who speak English. I will correct his grammar for him. The communities of Oldham are truly diverse and come from a wide range of backgrounds. 

"They all have one thing in common they have suffered a lot not only under the Conservatives extreme austerity measures but also under a poorly preforming Labour council."

Nick Buckley, who is running as an independent candidate in Oldham East and Saddleworth, took an opposing verdict to that of the other candidates, siding with Mr Farage's opinion.

He said: "This is a topic that many people are still too scared to approach but we must if we are to tackle some our of social issues. I have worked with many parents who did not speak English and relied on their children as interpreters - this is a fact.

"Our experiment with mass immigration has failed because we believed multiculturalism was a good thing in itself. We failed to plan for integration and allowed different communities to set up pockets of their homeland and keep their culture fully intact.

Mr Buckley does not oppose Mr Farage's comment

"A nation can only exist in peace if it has something to pull everyone together, such as love of the nation state, a monarch, or a shared history. You only have to witness what happens when England sports teams play other countries to see that England is a not a new home for some but simply a convenient hotel. We have a lot of problems ahead of us to fix."

Tom Fish, the Conservative candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth, declined to comment when approached.

Fesl Reza-Khan (Green Party candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth), Shanaz Saddique (Workers Party of Britain candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth) and Hannah Kitching (Liberal Democrats candidate for Oldham West and Royton) have all been approached for comment.

An attempt has been made to approach Samsuzzaman Syed, the Green Party candidate for Oldham West and Royton.