Nick Tenconi, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and Chief Operating Officer of Turning Point UK, visited Oxford today to take part in a public street debate on Cornmarket Street titled ‘Britain needs border control. Prove me wrong’.
The event, organised by Turning Point UK’s Oxford branch, drew a crowd of students, shoppers, and passersby in the city centre.
Tenconi, who has led UKIP since February last year, framed the visit as part of a broader campus strategy. Tenconi told Cherwell: “Turning Point UK will go to any city where there is suspected Marxist far-left indoctrination aimed at our university students, and will be there to provide them with a conservative outlet, debate platform, and support network by setting up Turning Point UK chapters to challenge Marxist indoctrination on our campuses.”
He described the debate as “absolutely fantastic” and thanked Oxford students for engaging. “It’s all about debate. It’s all about challenging the narrative”, he said.
Turning Point UK is an offshoot of Turning Point USA, an organisation founded by right-wing activists Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery in 2012 which aims to promote right-wing politics in schools and universities. The format of the event in Oxford today invited members of the public to step forward and argue against Tenconi’s position that Britain needs stronger border control.
One woman who did so was critical of the set-up of the event. She told Cherwell: “It was mostly just a personal attack and then he’d criticise me for doing some sort of bad behaviour and debate and then do it himself.” She went on to say that “this isn’t proper debate”, arguing that the event was being held to create clips for social media that would only display “the best bits to show how great he is”, and that there would be “no actual depiction of debate”. She stated that she had not heard of Tenconi before the event.
During his exchanges with members of the public, Tenconi criticised what he characterised as “open borders” sentiment in British politics, calling it “crazy” and arguing that the political mainstream had failed to respond to public concerns about migration. He claimed that undocumented immigrants “threaten” women’s safety and framed stricter border controls as essential to protecting the public.
Tenconi further claimed that there had been two disruptions during the event. He described those involved as “far-left militias who dress in black bloc” and said police had arrived of their own accord.
When asked by Cherwell whether such disruptions were common, Tenconi replied: “Yes, yes, yes.” He added that counter-protesters often attempt to mobilise against his appearances. He characterised critics as “indoctrinated” and argued that illegal immigration amounted to “cultural suicide”, while also describing what he saw as a broader ideological shift towards what he called an “anti-masculine” and “anti-logical position”.
UKIP faced scrutiny last month following an attempt to rebrand the party with a new emblem that critics said bore a resemblance to the Iron Cross, a symbol associated with the German military and later the Nazi regime. The party denied this, saying the symbol was intended to reflect Christian heritage. The symbol remains in use by the party.
Reporting by: Oskar Doepke, Mercedes Haas, Archie Johnston, and Ned Remington.
