A recent remark by Nigel Farage has sparked a diplomatic rebuttal after he suggested that Eastern European immigrants in Britain were responsible for eating swans. The comment, which drew headlines and controversy, was quickly countered in the pages of The Spectator by Professor Piotr Wilczek, Poland’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who firmly rejected the claim as both offensive and absurd.
Farage, the leader of Reform UK and a long-time critic of European migration, has often made provocative statements about the impact of immigration on British society. His latest claim about swan-eating was seized upon in public debate, seen by many as a crude stereotype of Eastern Europeans.
He stressed that no such practice exists among Poles or other Eastern European communities, calling Farage’s suggestion “a bizarre falsehood” that unfairly maligns law-abiding migrants.
“The Royal Parks have spoken: no, London’s swans are not being roasted for supper. Their cygnets are intact, their lakes tranquil, their wildlife officers alert. Yet for a moment this week, the nation was asked to imagine Eastern Europeans stalking Hyde Park by moonlight, stuffing swans into shopping bags. Nigel Farage, on LBC, suggested as much,” the Ambassador’s text begins.
The Ambassador highlighted the contributions of the Polish community to the UK, particularly in fields such as healthcare and the armed forces, and reminded readers that Polish and British people have long stood side by side in history.
“It is a fine fantasy. One can picture Henry VIII applauding from the bank of the Serpentine, fork in hand, as the birds are borne aloft like Tudor delicacies. But times have changed. The swan split the spit and became untouchable: a symbol, a ballet, a subject for poetry rather than pies,” the Ambassador wrote.
The Ambassador also pointed out that repeating baseless myths about immigrants fosters prejudice and damages the fabric of mutual respect between nations. Instead of indulging in caricatures, he urged that the debate on migration be grounded in facts and fairness.
Farage’s remark, while quickly dismissed as an exaggeration, has once again placed him at the centre of a culture-war flashpoint. For many, the Ambassador’s intervention was an important reminder that Britain’s Eastern European communities deserve recognition for their genuine contributions rather than suspicion fuelled by stereotypes.
You can access the full text by Ambassador Piotr Wilczek here: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/no-nigel-farage-eastern-europeans-like-me-arent-eating-british-swans/
Source: The Spectator
Photo: British Poles
Tomasz Modrzejewski
