'Ask Me Another Question': Reform MP Fumes At Journalist Over Afghan 'Sex Offenders' Row

A Reform UK MP clashed with a radio presenter as she repeatedly refused to provide evidence for Nigel Farage’s claim that some Afghans airlifted to the UK after a data leak are “convicted sex offenders”.

At one point during the interview, an exasperated Sarah Pochin told Times Radio’s Kate McCann to “ask me another question”.

Farage made the claim after it emerged that the government had used a super-injunction to cover up the scandal for nearly two years.

A dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) was accidentally released “in error” in February 2022 by a Ministry of Defence official.

The mistake was only uncovered 18 months later after a threat was made to publish the list on Facebook, potentially putting those named at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.

The leak led to the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route – in April last year.

Around 6,900 people are expected to be relocated by the end of the scheme.

In a video posted on X, the Reform UK leader said: “Amongst the number that have come are convicted sex offenders – I am not, I promise you, making any of this up.”

Farage added: “The threat to women walking the streets of this country, frankly, is incalculable.”

However, defence secretary John Healey denied that any of the Afghans relocated to the UK under the scheme are sex offenders, and told Farage to go to the police if he had any evidence to the contrary.

On Times Radio this morning, Kate McCann told Pochin: “Nigel Farage posted yesterday saying that some sex offenders had been brought into the country as a result of that scheme. Where is the evidence for that?”

The Runcorn and Helsby MP said: “Well, I don’t think there’s any doubt whatsoever that there is hardcore evidence that this group, this particular culture, Afghan men, have a much lower regard for raping women than a white British cohort of men.”

But McCann went on: “What Nigel Farage said in a video is that amongst the number, and he’s talking about the number of people who were brought here on the secret scheme, amongst the number that have come, are convicted sex offenders.

“Where is the evidence that there are sex offenders in that number?”

After Pochin avoided answering, McCann asked again: “Does Nigel Farage have the evidence to back up what he says is happening?”

Sarah: “Well, I can only keep repeating what I’m telling you. We know from statistics that this group of people are more likely to commit these offences.”

Later in the interview, McCann asked again: “I’m only going to ask you one more time, because that’s what is so important here. Do you stand by, does the Reform Party stand by the claim that there are sexual offenders who came into this country under this secret Afghan scheme?

“And do you have the evidence for that? And if you do, have you reported it to the police as the defence secretary suggested you should?”

Pochin replied: “Look, I can’t go into that detail. I don’t know about individual cases. I’ve made my position very clear, Kate, you know, I’m not going to waste time on this interview, repeating, repeating, repeating what I’ve said. You know, I’ve made the position clear. Ask me another question.”

Reform sources pointed to a report in the Telegraph claiming that some of those now being offered asylum in the UK had previously had their claims rejected because of previous violence and sexual assault claims.