Reform UK leader records video with Essex pastor to support his battle against council banning order

Nigel Farage has been criticised for giving his full support to a Christian church leader who preached that homosexuality was an “abomination” and would lead to eternity in hell.

The Reform UK leader recorded a video with Stephen Clayden after Colchester council applied for a banning order to limit his street preaching.

In the clip posted on his YouTube channel, Farage assured Clayden that he was “fully on your side” in the dispute and offered to enlist the help of contacts at the Free Speech Union campaign group.

Clayden told Farage the council was objecting to the volume and some of the content of his preaching, including his references to hell and judgment. However, he has since acknowledged that the council raised concerns not just about the volume of his preaching but also his church’s warnings against homosexuality.