Farage sparks furious backlash after claiming children with special educational needs are ‘over diagnosed’

Charities have been condemned Nigel Farage over “wildly inaccurate” claims about people with mental health problems and children with special educational needs (SEND).

The National Autistic Society (NAS) led the criticism of Reform UK’s leader after he claimed in a rant on mental health problems that GPs are “over diagnosing” conditions.

Speaking at a press conference in Dover, Mr Farage said: “It’s a massive problem. I have to say, for my own money, when you get to 18 and you put somebody on a disability register, unemployed, with a high level of benefits, you’re telling people aged 18 that they’re victims.”

“And if you are told you’re a victim, and you think you’re a victim, you are likely to stay [a victim].”

He questioned the way conditions are being diagnosed in particular taking aim at children with special educational needs.

Mr Farage: “So many of these diagnoses, for SEND before 18, for disability register after 18 – so many of these have been conducted on Zoom, with the family GP.”

“I think you’re the family GP, and I’ve known your family for generations, and you’re saying to me there’s a real problem here with depression, or whatever it may be, it’s quite hard for me as your GP to say ‘no’.

“I don’t think any of these allocations should be done by family GPs. I think it should be done independently.

“And I think we are massively – I’m not being heartless, I’m being frank – I think we are massively over diagnosing those with mental illness problems and those with other general behavioural disabilities. And I think we’re creating a class of victims in Britain that will struggle ever to get out of it.”

The National Autistic Society was quick to attack Mr Farage’s comments accusing him of “spreading disinformation” and “perpetuating stigmas”.

In a statement on X, the charity said: “Nigel Farage’s comments are wildly inaccurate and show that he’s completely out of touch with what autistic children and adults have to go through to get a diagnosis or any support at all.

“For the record, absolutely no one has got an autism diagnosis through the GP – this is just incorrect, wrong, fake news. Children with SEND and disabled adults, including autistic people, are not victims who are being ‘over diagnosed’. They are people who face huge delays and long fights to get the most basic support across every aspect of their lives, including diagnosis, education, health and social care.

“Spreading misinformation only perpetuates stigma and makes life harder. We’re calling on all politicians to drop the political point scoring and stand up for their autistic and other disabled constituents.”

Labour MP Peter Swallow said: “Whether it's [Tory leader] Kemi Badenoch saying that a SEND diagnosis is just a route to special treatment, or nonsense like this from Farage - it's clear that Reform and the Tories both lack the compassion and basic understanding needed to tackle the SEND crisis.”

And Munira Wilson MP, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, added: "Farage is clearly laying the groundwork to axe crucial special needs provision in councils he’s got his eye on - communities where families and vulnerable young people are already waiting years to access threadbare special needs funds and special schools bursting at the seams.

"If Nigel Farage had spent any time speaking to parents in his constituency, he’d know he’s barking up the wrong tree. The special needs crisis needs urgent repair - not his lazy rhetoric. We need a National Body for SEND to end the special needs postcode lottery now.”