Oldham MP: 'We are not defined by Nigel Farage'

Oldham MP Jim Mcmahon

Jim McMahon has hit back at the comments made by the former UKIP leader, that Oldham is a 'divided society'.

The leader of the Brexit party, caused controversy this weekend as he spoke at Lock Haven University in the United States.

During the talk, Nigel Farage discussed Oldham town and made controversial claims surrounding racial and community tension in the town.

He said, "Let me take you to a town called Oldham in the North of England, where literally one side of the street everybody is white and on the other side of the street everybody is black."

Oldham West and Roton's MP, Jim McMahon, is calling for Farage to rescind his comments, having spent little time in our area and knowing little of the life in the region.

He Stated, "It is a mistake to believe that Oldham is divided and that communities from different backgrounds do not come into contact with eachother.

Continuing to say, "Oldham is built on hard work, the workhouse of the industrial revolution truned villages and hamlets into the sprawling cotton giant, and with each wave of migration and immigration the nature, culture and fabric of the town changed. That's no different today."

Our futures are interwined, and our success will be a shared one, enriched by where we've come from and united in where we are heading.

We are not defined by Nigel Farage or anyone else seeking to divide us. And by the way; if the alternative to Oldham today is assimilation to become a population in the mould of Nigel Farage, i'd sooner leave.

With the local elections coming up on the 2nd May, and with the EU elections later in May, it is hard not to see this renewed attention from Mr Farage as a front to increase his parties popularity in the area."

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