Fact Check: Farage claims migrants are eating swans and carp in the UK (September 2025)
🗣️ The Claim
In September 2025, during an appearance on LBC, Nigel Farage claimed that migrants were catching and eating swans and carp in UK parks and waterways, including in London’s Royal Parks.
đź“Ť The Context
- Stories about migrants eating swans and ducks have circulated in UK tabloids and online forums for years, often resurfacing during heated debates about immigration.
- Farage’s remarks revived these rumours, framing them as evidence of cultural conflict and lawlessness.
- The claim gained traction on social media but has been repeatedly challenged by fact-checkers and local authorities.
🔎 The Facts
- Royal Parks Response
- Royal Parks, responsible for swans in areas like Hyde Park and St James’s Park, stated there is no evidence of swans being caught or eaten by migrants.
- Swans in the UK are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
- Police and Local Authorities
- Local police forces have received no credible reports of swan-catching linked to migrants.
- Isolated social media videos have circulated in the past, but investigations found them misleading or unverified.
- The Carp Allegation
- Some anecdotal reports of fish being taken from lakes or rivers exist, but none show a systematic or migrant-specific pattern.
- Fisheries law allows for certain angling under licence, but taking carp for food without a licence is illegal.
- Fact-Checking Organisations
- Full Fact reviewed Farage’s statements and concluded there is no evidence for swans being eaten, and that carp claims remain unsubstantiated.
- The story is considered part of a broader set of anti-migrant myths with little factual basis.
âś… Verdict: False / Lacks Evidence
Farage’s claim that migrants are eating swans and carp in the UK is not supported by credible evidence. Officials responsible for wildlife management and independent fact-checkers have all dismissed the allegation as a myth.