Nigel Farage's 'scaremongering' migrant rape claim, debunked

An interview with Nigel Farage in today's Sunday Telegraph has sparked anger over his claims that British women could be 'at risk of mass sex attacks' if we stay in the EU.

Citing "very big cultural issues", the Ukip leader said women would be put in danger thanks to the failure to control migration from Europe and North Africa if Britain doesn't vote Out in the EU referendum later this month.

More than 1,900 people filed criminal complaints in Germany after mass sex attacks in the country on New Year's Eve 2016, mostly in the city of Cologne. 149 of the 153 suspects were non-German citizens - prompting an outcry over Chancellor Angela Merkel's humane approach to the refugee crisis.

The Ukip leader was asked if a similiar incident could occur in the UK, and said:

It depends if they get EU passports. It depends if we vote for Brexit or not. It is an issue.

Sadly, his answer failed to take into account that 90 per cent of sexual assaults are carried out by people who the victim already knows.

According to charity Rape Crisis, around 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped in England and Wales alone every year.

As former business minister Jo Swinson put it:

I don't see Nigel Farage manning the barricades about sexual assault at any other time.

More: Syrian refugees in Germany are handing out these fliers to condemn the attacks in Cologne