LBC's James O'Brien sparks backlash over claims Brits are being 'gaslit' over migrants

LBC Radio host James O'Brien appeared to take a swipe at his co-stars as he erupted in a furious rant about immigration, claiming Brits are being "gaslit" into believing more people are in the UK illegally than is actually true. The presenter lost it live on-air in a brutal rant about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

Kicking things off, James began: "People haven't just got things a little bit wrong about immigration. They've got things wrong by a scale that is actually visible from space. They think that there are more people coming irregularly than regularly, when the real ratio is 4% to 96%. We are a gaslit nation! And the gaslighters are on the march, probably popping up on LBC again next week to take your calls!

"And what they are peddling is categorically untrue. You've got the law and order stuff, while I'm on the subject of [Nigel] Farage. Here is a man who doesn't think that the voters of Essex should be told that their candidate has been banged up for battering a woman, but who thinks he can somehow cast himself as a paragon of law and order.

"I mean, it's hilarious," James said, adding the caveat: "If it was happening in another country!"

He was hit by unbelievable backlash on X, with one fan tweeting in response: "His tune will soon change when they move in on his street."

"And about 99.9% of it is unnecessary, unwanted and a drain on the country's finances and services," someone else said. While a third social media user chimed in: "James O'Brien thinks this is funny!" alongside a graph showing how migration increased after Brexit.

Somebody else posted: "James O'Brien thinks shouting "96% legal" down a microphone makes Britain's demographic earthquake disappear. Here's the truth he'll never touch, legal or illegal, it's all happening without consent. Communities are transformed overnight, services collapse, housing vanishes, and wages are squeezed, but LBC's pet propagandist wants you to clap like a seal because the paperwork's in order.

"Brits never voted for this. No referendum on mass migration. No mandate to turn towns into transit lounges. The uniparty signed the forms, the media sells the lie, and O'Brien sneers at the public he loathes."