Nigel Farage blasts Gillian Keegan as ‘another over promoted politician’ in schools rant

Nigel Farage has waded into the row over Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s off-mic rant over the schools crisis, claiming it is part of a wider “out of touch” culture in Westminster.

The award-winning GB News presenter and former Brexit Party leader was reacting to Ms Keegan’s gaffe after an ITV interview when she started swearing when she thought she was off air – after defending her action over closing schools because of dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

She said: “Does anyone ever say ‘you know what you’ve done a f***ing good job’ because everyone else has sat on their a**e and done nothing? No signs of that? No?”

Ms Keegan later apologised telling Sophy Ridge, presenting her new Politics Hub program on Sky News, that she had been talking about the work done by the department not herself.

But Mr Farage took a less charitable view of it.

He said: “It may well have been naughty of ITV to play that clip but hey you are still miked up, the camera is rolling and from a journalistic point of view I guess you are fair game.”

Mr Farage compared it to the infamous occasion in the 2019 general election when the then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown was caught describing a voter “as an awful woman” and “racist” for asking him questions minutes before about immigration.

He went on: “What it revealed was just the most astonishing level of self regard that Gillian Keegan has about herself and so many in the Westminster bubble do.

“Talk about don’t get it, talk about detached, it was all about her ‘I am doing a fantastic job and why aren’t you praising me?’

“Yet another over promoted politician.”

But on Sophy Ridge’s new show Ms Keegan insisted she was not talking about herself but the work done by the department in tackling the issue.

She said she was “frustrated” because after two years, 750 schools in England have still not responded to a survey over the dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) which was widely used in public buildings from the 1950s to 1980s.

Ms Keegan insisted it “was a very difficult decision” to say 154 school could not reopen after the summer but she added that “the safety of children was paramount”.

The Education Secretary also defended her decision to go on holiday on August 25 after the crisis was revealed saying she had still chaired meetings on RAAC remotely.

Challenged by Ms Ridge, she said: “To be honest, for the whole of the summer, obviously I had to sort out industrial action, then I had to do A-Levels and I had to the GCSEs – so the first time I could go on holiday…”

Ridge interjected: “So we should feel sorry for you?”

Ms Keegan replied: “Not at all. I don’t expect anybody to feel sorry for me. I’m certainly not getting that vibe from you.”