“The only way we are going to defeat this racism is to call it out"
When Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin said, “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people”, she sparked national outrage and reignited debate about racism in British politics.
Pochin, who later apologised and said her remarks were “phrased poorly”, insisted she only meant that “many adverts are now unrepresentative of British society”.
But her words, and the context in which they were said, cannot be easily dismissed.
Pochin made the remarks on TalkTV, responding to a viewer who complained about the demographics of television advertising.
She said the viewer was “absolutely right” and added: “It doesn’t reflect our society, and I feel that your average white person, average white family is… not represented anymore.”
The MP went on to blame what she called the “woke liberati” in the “arty-farty world”, claiming diversity initiatives had gone too far.
Following widespread backlash, including from Labour’s Wes Streeting and Anna Turley, Pochin issued a statement saying she regretted her choice of words.
She said: “My comments were phrased poorly and I apologise for any offence caused, which was not my intention.
“The point I was trying to make is that the British advertising agency world have gone DEI mad.”
But for many, the apology rang hollow.
Wes Streeting described her comments as “a disgrace” and accused her of being “only sorry that she’s been caught and called out”.
He told the BBC: “What we have seen on our streets in recent weeks and months is a return of 1970s, 1980s-style racism that I thought we had left in the history books.”
Streeting added: “The only way we are going to defeat this racism is to call it out and confront it for what it is, and for the decent majority of this country to stand against it, as we have always done.”
Labour Party chair Anna Turley was equally critical:
“It’s astonishing that a senior Reform MP is spending her time counting the numbers of people with a different skin colour to her on TV adverts.
“Defining British people by the colour of their skin is completely unacceptable and shows once again that Reform are more interested in dividing our country than uniting it.”
Sarah Pochin’s comments are not an isolated outburst but part of a wider pattern of rhetoric that is increasingly tolerated in public life.
Observers argue that such remarks reflect how the far right, and elements of mainstream politics, are testing the boundaries of what is socially and politically acceptable.
The Guardian and other outlets have noted that Reform UK have helped shift discourse around race and identity.
Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith recently said “the mask is slipping” after a series of remarks from politicians suggesting that Britain should deport legally settled people to make the country more “culturally coherent.”
This creeping normalisation of racialised language is evident in references such as Robert Jenrick’s infamous “no white faces” remark about Handsworth, and campaigns in right-wing media to ban the burka – telling women what to wear while claiming to oppose oppression.
These arguments, once confined to the political fringes, now receive sympathetic coverage and, in some cases, implicit endorsement from figures within mainstream parties.
The danger lies not only in the comments themselves but in their framing.
Pochin’s reference to “average white families” suggests a vision of Britain defined by skin colour, excluding millions who consider themselves just as British.
Her complaint about diversity in adverts overlooks the reality that modern Britain is multicultural, and that representation in media is a reflection of that fact, not a distortion of it.
Political analysts warn that this rhetoric reinforces a false narrative that equality for minorities comes at the expense of the majority.
It creates resentment, fuels division, and emboldens extremist voices who believe they are merely “saying what everyone thinks.”
Yet, as the Caerphilly by-election recently showed, communities can reject such messages.
There, voters backed a credible anti-racist campaign that refused to engage in “Reform-lite” narratives. The result suggested that while open racism may be more visible, it is not unchallenged.
The Pochin controversy has become a flashpoint in a broader struggle over Britain’s identity.
At its heart lies a question about whether political leaders will continue pandering to culture-war rhetoric or confront it head-on.
Reform UK’s silence following her comments, and Nigel Farage’s failure to condemn them, has only deepened public concern that overt racism is being rebranded as plain speaking.
The issue goes beyond one MP’s words. It exposes a dangerous shift in Britain’s public discourse, where racial prejudice is increasingly disguised as debate over “representation” or “political correctness.”
If anything, Sarah Pochin’s remarks have made one thing clear: open racism is no longer whispered; it’s being said aloud, live on air, by elected officials.
And that should alarm anyone who still believes in the idea of a fair and inclusive Britain.
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