Rise of Brexit Party has no silver lining, warns Labour MP

Labour MP Lisa Nandy has described the Brexit Party as “fascist”, during a debate at Glastonbury Festival.

The MP for Wigan was responding to a question from an audience member who asked if there is a “silver lining” to the party increasing its support, claiming leader Nigel Farage is more successfully making the case for political reform than anyone on the left.

Ms Nandy said: “There isn’t any silver lining to the Brexit Party. We’ve been fighting the fascists off in towns like Wigan for 50 years. We know a fascist when we see one.

“This one has got a different face but it is the same thing, and we cannot allow people to be taken in by these people.

“What they will do if they get their hands on any kind of power at all, any kind of wrench in the system, is divide and destroy.”

Ms Nandy was on the panel at Glastonbury’s Left Field on Saturday afternoon, alongside politics professor Anand Menon, economist and prospective Labour parliamentary candidate Dr Faiza Shaheen, and journalist John Domokos, for a debate titled “Brexit – How do we put Britain back together”.