Police Training Comparing Nigel Farage to Hate Crime Sparks Outcry

Police officers at the 2025 York and North Yorkshire Hate Crime Conference participated in a seminar that compared the political rhetoric of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to racially aggravated crimes. The session, part of a program called Project Unity, was delivered by Abbas Najib of Better Communities Bradford. During the training, Najib used a 2024 interview with Farage and footage of a racial assault on a Muslim bus driver to ask officers which individual had caused the most harm.

The workshop also criticized politicians including Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman, and Michael Gove for describing pro-Palestine demonstrations as hate marches. Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman condemned the training, with Jenrick arguing that the police have been infiltrated by actors seeking to police speech rather than actual crime.

Abbas Najib defended the session, stating that generalizations about faith communities are Islamophobic and fuel hostility. Better Communities Bradford, the organization behind the training, has received £490,000 from the National Lottery Communities Fund since 2019, which includes a £35,000 grant specifically for Project Unity.