Nigel Farage has called on the police to release the immigration status of suspects charged with crimes following the arrest of two men in connection with the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Warwickshire.
The Reform UK party leader said he “absolutely” thinks such details should be released when asked about the matter at a news conference on Monday.
It has been reported that the two men charged in connection with the alleged rape in Nuneaton last month are Afghan nationals but the police have not confirmed this.
Warwickshire Police said once someone is charged with an offence, the force follows national guidance that does not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status.
The authorised professional practice followed by forces across the country, and cited by the College of Policing, says the same.
Asked by a reporter at the news conference in Westminster whether police should release the names, addresses and immigration statuses of suspects after they have been charged with a crime, Farage said: “What caused unrest on our streets after Southport last year was us not being told the status of the attacker.
“That led to crazy conspiracy theories spreading online.”
Last year’s deadly attack in Southport, in which three young girls were murdered, led to the spreading of a false claim online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Linking a perceived lack of information from police about Nuneaton to what happened in Southport last July, Farage continued: “To have masses of speculation as to what might have happened makes things I think far worse than they otherwise would be”.
Asked to clarify his thoughts further on whether he thought police forces should be obliged to publish such details, he said: “Yes, I absolutely think that they should.”
Later in the news conference, Farage called the police’s decision not to release details about the alleged Nuneaton attackers a “cover-up that in many ways is reminiscent of what happened after the Southport killings last year.”
“It is not… in any way at all a contempt of court for the British public to know the identity of those who allegedly have committed serious crimes,” he added.
“I felt that in the wake of the Southport attacks, and I feel that ever more strongly today.”
Ahmad Mulakhil has been charged with two counts of rape, while Mohammad Kabir has been accused of kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting the rape of a girl aged under 13.
Mr Mulakhil, 23, appeared before magistrates in Coventry on 28 July, while Mr Kabir, also 23, appeared in court on Saturday.
Both were remanded in custody.
Leader of Warwickshire County Council George Finch told the same news conference on Monday morning that he was “begging” for information to be released following the charges.
Finch, who at 19 became the youngest council leader in the UK and represents Reform UK, said he had contacted the chief executive of the council, Monica Fogarty, saying he wished to speak to Warwickshire Police “to urge” them to release the immigration status of the first man charged.
“I was begging for this to be released, screaming, phoning, asking [for the information] to be released”, he said.
Following the charging of the second suspect, Finch said he wrote a letter addressed to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Warwickshire Police’s Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith calling for the immediate release of the two suspects’ details.
Finch published the letter on his social media accounts on Sunday, in which he said Ms Fogarty had told him that Mr Kabir was an asylum seeker living in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO).
Speaking on Monday, Finch said he would be working to “fight against” houses of multiple occupancy that “have been put up to house illegal immigrants”.
He also claimed Reform UK needed to “change things” and are “the last line of defence against the blob, the cover-ups of the councils”.
When asked if police should release the ethnicity of people charged with offences, the prime minister’s official spokesman said the police and courts were operationally independent but the principle was to be “as transparent as possible”.
“We’ve always said and continue to say that transparency is important,” he said.
“That is our position. For police up to central government, we should always be as transparent as possible when it comes to cases.”
He added: “This is clearly a deeply upsetting and distressing case which the public are right to feel shocked and angry about.
“In relation to this case, the individuals have been charged and we are now in a live investigation.”
In a statement, Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: “It is essential to state that policing decisions – such as whether to release details about a suspect – must follow national guidance and legal requirements.”
He added that he would not speculate on the personal circumstances of those involved while court proceedings were active.
The BBC has contacted Warwickshire County Council for comment.