The second and third Covid lockdowns were the biggest ever mistake made by a British government in peacetime, Nigel Farage has said.

Mr Farage spoke in front of a crowd of around 1,000 Reform UK supporters in Sunderland, the port city that gave significant backing to Brexit in 2016 and has benefited from Nissan ramping up production in the following years.

Mr Farage told the rally: “The Tories say we’re in economic trouble because of the pandemic. But hang on, you didn’t need to lock us down for a second and a third time.

“You didn’t need to take away our freedoms in a way that weren’t even done during World War Two and all of it with Labour support.

“I actually believe the long-term economic and psychological damage from lockdowns two and three perhaps represents the biggest mistake any British government, supported by the opposition, has ever made in peacetime.”

He went on to say he treated the second and third lockdowns with “contempt”.

Mr Farage will campaign on Thursday alongside Richard Tice, his predecessor and now the chairman of Reform, in Boston and Skegness, where Mr Tice hopes to unseat Tory incumbent Matt Warman.

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