Ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana has officially launched a rival anti-Reform rally after doubling down on her controversial claims about Nigel Farage being "far-right".
Sultana, who yesterday compared Reform UK to the British National Party and National Front, shared a link to the protest and urged supporters to "join the fightback".
In her post, the 31-year-old Coventry South MP said: "We stand for solutions, not scapegoats. We’re against billionaires bankrolling division, against politicians propping up a system rigged against us, and for a future rooted in working-class unity, solidarity and justice."
Ex-Shadow Chancellor, who was suspended from the Labour Party alongside Sultana after rebelling over the two-child benefit cap last summer, will also attend the rally at Secret Space in Birmingham.
Zarah Sultana MP
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Former Respect Party leader Salma Yaqoob and Birmingham Trades Union Council chief Martin Hoare were also named as speakers at the event organised to "reject Reform's divisive blame game".
The counter-protest, which kicks off at 7pm, starts just one hour after Stand Up To Racism's "Farage not welcome in Birmingham" event.
Addressing the spat with Sultana on Good Afternoon Britain earlier today, Farage told GB News: "I think it's disgraceful and frankly I think it's almost inciteful. What she said about me and said about our people is very close to incitement.
"And clearly what she is trying to do is get a crowd of protesters, many of whom may not behave themselves, to turn up on March 28 - when we will be holding the biggest political rally seen in the United Kingdom for many, many decades.
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Nigel Farage will gather supporters in Birmingham on March 28
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"If you believe in free speech, even if you disagree with what Farage says and what Reform stands for, and attempt to stop the event from going ahead, I think that's an absolute democratic disgrace. It's not the way for any elected Member of Parliament to behave."
Rejecting Sultana's decision to compare Reform UK to the BNP, the Clacton MP added: "Reform is non-sectarian, non-racist. We're open to absolutely everybody. It's just that we're patriotic, we believe in controlling our borders and putting the interest of the British people first."
Sultana had sparked a backlash on social media for her original post, with Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe labelling the 31-year-old a "horrible woman".
Following Sultana's post comparing Reform UK to the National Front and British National Party, Lowe added: "You are the MP for Coventry, not Gaza."
Anti-Reform protesters gather outside the party's 2024 conference
GB NEWS
Zia Yusuf, who serves as Reform UK's chairman, also said: "This is a disgraceful tweet to make against a fellow MP who requires round the clock protection due to credible threats to life."
Farage last year lauded the rise of Ukip as being integral to dismantling support for the BNP in the late 2000s.
Speaking last summer, the Clacton MP claimed: "No one did more to beat the far right in this country than me. If I wasn’t here, somebody with a bit more brain than Nick Griffin would emerge.”
The Brexit stalwart is also vocal about distancing himself from former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson.
Zarah SultanaPAFarage locked horns with X chief Elon Musk earlier this year after the pair appeared to disagree on Robinson.
Reform UK's conference in Birmingham last September also sparked a set of protests outside the NEC.
A group of around 50 protesters gathered outside the venue where some 4,000 Reform UK members spent the day listening to Farage and other speakers.
Anti-Reform UK activists chanted.: "Nigel Farage, we know you, you are a racist, through and through."
