Nigel Farage has said Kanye West should not be banned from coming to the UK by the government, despite labelling him a “vile” person.
His comments came less than an hour before the government announced they had blocked the rapper’s permission to travel to the UK this summer to perform at London’s Wireless festival.
West, now known as Ye, had been booked as the headliner for all three nights of the rap and hip-hop festival in Finsbury Park.
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This had sparked fury from some because of antisemitic and pro-Hitler statements he has made in recent years. This included selling t-shirts with swastikas on and releasing a song called Heil Hitler.
West apologised for his comments and behaviour earlier this year and Wireless organiser had defended the decision to book him. However, on Tuesday afternoon the Home Office told the BBC they had blocked West’s application to travel to the UK.
It said the decision was made on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good.
This has also prompted the cancellation of the entire festival, organisers Festival Republic confirmed following the news.
Earlier on Tuesday afternoon though, Reform leader Farage had said he disagreed with calls to ban West from the UK. This was despite the fact the Clacton MP described West as “vile” and urged people not to buy tickets to see him perform.
But he continued: “If we start banning people from entering the country because we don’t like what they say, I worry where that ends up […] It’s a dangerous path to go down.”
Earlier in the day, West said in a statement that he had been “following the conversation around Wireless”, and offered to meet representatives of the Jewish community in person “to listen”.
Wireless managing director Melvin Benn acknowledged that the singer’s previous comments were “abhorrent” and “disgusting,” but argued West deserved understanding over the role his mental health issues had played in his behaviour.
But Benn had hinted that the rapper could have his visa blocked by the government during an appearance on Radio 4.
He said that if this did happen “the issue is over.”
In the end, this proved to be what happened.