Nigel Farage blasts Channel 4 comedy showing assassination of right-wing campaigner named Nigel Fromage

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Updated 30 June 2019 at 8:44 am

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage during a presentation on postal votes at Carlton House Terrace in London. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images)

Nigel Farage has slammed a Channel 4 comedy show which shows a right wing public figure named Nigel Fromage being assassinated as ‘sick and irresponsible’.

The Brexit Party leader is spoofed in the comedy series Year of the Rabbit which stars Matt Berry and Keeley Hawes.

The character is making a public speech about the dangers of immigration when he is shot in the head. Farage has now blasted the scene, warning it could incite violence.

He told the Daily Star Sunday: “This scene is totally sick and frankly irresponsible.”

The former Ukip leader also slammed Channel 4 executives for not censoring the scene.

Nigel Farage parody Nigel Fromage. Photo credit: Channel 4

He said: “I think with Channel 4 we have reached a point where they are so partisan politically in everything they do that they now consistently go beyond what’s acceptable.”

However, a spokesman for Channel 4 claims it is ‘clear to views characters are not to be taken seriously’. The spokesman said: “Year of the Rabbit is a purposefully outrageous and heightened comedy set in Victorian era London featuring exaggerated and ridiculous fictional characters. It is clear to viewers that the characters are preposterous and not to be taken seriously.”

Former leader of UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage speaks to journalists as he arrives ahead of a meeting with European Commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain at the EU headquarters in Brussels on January 8, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

The stance taken from Channel 4 is similar to that taken by the BBC after comedian Jo Brand joked about throwing battery acid instead of milkshakes, after right wing figures such as Farage and Tommy Robinson both were subject to milkshake attacks while campaigning.

On Radio 4 show Heresy, Brand quipped: "Why bother with a milkshake when you could get some battery acid?"

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND - MAY 20: Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage is escorted to a car after having what is thought to be milkshake thrown over him as he visits Northumberland Street in Newcastle Upon Tyne during a whistle stop UK tour on May 20, 2019 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. The visit to Newcastle comes ahead of the 2019 European elections in the United Kingdom which will take place on May 23. The Brexit Party is a pro-Brexit Eurosceptic political party formed in 2019. Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party, is campaigning for the Brexit Party's contest for this month's European Parliament elections. The Brexit Party is reported to be polling in front of Labour and the Conservatives for the European parliament elections. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) — Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage is escorted to a car after having what is thought to be milkshake thrown over him as he visits Northumberland Street in Newcastle Upon Tyne during a whistle stop UK tour on May 20, 2019 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Farage took to Twitter to accuse the comedian of ‘inciting violence’ and insisted ‘the police need to act’.

However, the BBC responded to the furore, saying: “Heresy is a long-running comedy programme where, as the title implies and as our listeners know, panellists often say things which are deliberately provocative but are not intended to be taken seriously.”

The controversial episode of Year of the Rabbit is currently available via Sky’s OnDemand service and will air on Monday night (1 July).