UK’s Farage says would ban mass prayer events in public sites amid iftar row

Hard-right UK lawmaker Nigel Farage, currently leading opinion polls, says he will ban mass Muslim prayer at historic British sites if he becomes prime minister.

The anti-immigrant firebrand called a Ramadan event in London’s Trafalgar Square earlier this week an “attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life.”

Monday’s open iftar, the evening meal to break the traditional Ramadan fast, has been the subject of political debate in recent days, with Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticising a Conservative MP for opposing the event.

Too many are too polite to say this.

But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination.

The adhan – which declares there is no god but allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination.

Perform these rituals in… pic.twitter.com/PIfJAgb7Zk

— Nick Timothy MP (@NJ_Timothy) March 17, 2026

“We have to stop this kind of mass demonstration, provocative demonstration, in historic British sites, because that’s what it is,” Farage said on Thursday.

Asked during a visit to Scotland whether he favoured banning all mass religious observances, Farage, leader of Reform UK, replied “yes.”

Pressed on whether that included Jewish or Catholic observances, he added: “I’ve never seen Jewish services taking place in places of historic Christian worship, or anywhere else.

“We have to get this right. We can’t stop individuals from praying, we wouldn’t want to stop individuals praying, but mass prayer is banned, mass Muslim prayer is banned, in many Muslim countries in the Middle East itself,” he says.