Nigel Farage's HIV claim criticised by leaders' debate rivals

Nigel Farage was rounded on by other party leaders on ITV’s Thursday night debate after he complained about foreigners with HIV costing the health service up to £25,000 per year per patient.

The Ukip leader steered the debate on to the topic of health tourism when he was given the opportunity to talk about the NHS.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood tackled him on the subject during the seven-way discussion, saying it was scaremongering and that he should be ashamed of himself.

Farage prefaced his comments with a prediction that he was sure the other leaders would be “mortified that I dare to even talk about it”. He went on to claim that 60% of the 7,000 people diagnosed with HIV every year in the UK were born abroad.

He said: “You can come to Britain from anywhere in the world and get diagnosed with HIV and get the retroviral drugs that cost up to £25,000 per year per patient. I know there are some horrible things happening in many parts of the world, but what we need to is put the National Health Service there for British people and families who in many cases have paid into this system for decades.”

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon responded saying: “One of the things we’ve learned is there’s nothing Farage wouldn’t blame on foreigners.”

Having not intervened during the debate, Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeted afterwards that Farage’s comments were “disgusting”, adding: “He should be ashamed. The fact he isn’t says so much.”

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg also took to Twitter to condemn the remarks, saying: “Farage’s comments about foreign people with HIV were simply vile and desperate. Politics of the lowest form.”

David Cameron remained silent, but when asked to comment, chancellor George Osborne said he would not dignify them with a response. Later, on the BBC’s Newsnight, he refused once again to rule out the idea of a post-electoral pact with Ukip.

The Ukip leader has previously talked about “HIV tourism” in his latest book, The Purple Revolution, claiming that the Terrence Higgins Trust lobbied Cameron’s wife Samantha in order to secure treatment for “any foreigner with HIV courtesy of the British taxpayer”.

Ukip wants every migrant to have private health insurance valid for five years and to stop those with life-threatening illnesses from coming into the UK.

Farage’s comments meant HIV was one of the most mentioned words on Twitter along with the #leadersdebate hashtag during the event, occurring 17,000 times.