Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram says Liverpool City Region Reform MP's comments “could be interpreted as racist”

Sarah Pochin became her party’s first MP in our region in May when she beat Labour to the Runcorn and Helsby seat by just six votes. She has faced a backlash after she responded to a viewer on TalkTV last weekend, saying “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of Black people, full of Asian people.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer blasted the “shocking racism” of Ms Pochin’s comments. Reform leader Nigel Farage said he was “unhappy” by her remarks but admitted he understood “the basic point” she was making. Speaking on Wednesday, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said while he didn’t know Ms Pochin, it was “clear” what she said had been offensive.

Ms Pochin said during a phone-in on TalkTV, the viewer she spoke to was “absolutely right” when complaining about advertising. She blamed the situation on the “woke liberati” in the “arty-farty world”.

She said: “It might be fine inside the M25, but it’s definitely not representative of the rest of the country.” The MP added: “It doesn’t reflect our society and I feel that your average white person, average white family, is… not represented anymore.”

Ms Pochin went on to issue an apology on social media on Sunday. 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 has gone DEI mad and many adverts are now unrepresentative of British society as a whole.

“I will endeavour to ensure my language is more accurate going forward.”

Asked for his thoughts on BBC Radio Merseyside, Mr Rotheram said: “I don’t know her to tell you the truth, so I’ve never met her, but I think her words and she later clarified what she meant by what she said, but it was quite clear to most people who saw or heard what she did say that those things were offensive. The question is, is she a racist and I don’t know.

“I’d say that certainly the words she used could be interpreted as being racist, but I don’t know if she herself is.” The Metro Mayor added: “She should apologise for using the words that she did but also for what the words indicate that she was actually saying.”

Speaking at a press conference in the capital on Monday, Mr Farage said he was not pleased by the remarks but did not think Ms Pochin was intending to be racist. Mr Rotheram didn’t pull his punches when offering his view on the Reform leader.

He said: “Nigel Farage is one of these duplicitous people who call for everyone to be suspended when they transgress anything, he’s usually first there, isn’t he? The problem with this is he has the opportunity to do something but he probably doesn’t want to suspend her because he has similar sort of views.”

The LDRS contacted Reform UK for comment.