Is King Charles a ‘white Briton’? Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe won’t say

Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore Britain, refused to say he believes King Charles can be classified as a “white Briton” in an extraordinary interview on the BBC’s Today programme.Questioning Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, over his claims that “White Britons will become a minority by 2063”, the presenter, Nick Robinson, noted that the forecast Lowe referred to defined a “white Briton” as someone whose parents were both born in the UK.With the king’s late father, Prince Philip, having been born on the Greek island of Corfu, Robinson asked Lowe: “Are you aware that, by the definitions used in that particular report, King Charles is not a white Briton? Do you think he is a white Briton?”Declining to address the question, Lowe responded: “Well, many people have different interpretations of that, Nick. I mean, we can split hairs.”Rupert Lowe: ‘By 2063, white British people will be a minority on current trends.’ Photograph: Jason Bye/The GuardianRobinson interjected: “We’re not splitting hairs – do you think the monarch of this country is a white Briton?”Lowe said: “The experience of what we’re talking about is quite clear and I think most British people, if you speak to them, would agree.”Accused of ignoring the question, he continued: “It is a fact that, by 2063, white British people will be a minority on current trends. I don’t think anyone disputes that.”As Lowe continued to decline to give a direct answer, Robinson said: “So, because Prince Philip was born in Greece, King Charles is not, under your definition, treated as a white Briton. Now let me go on and ask you a different question.”Mon Repos, the villa on the Greek island of Corfu where Prince Philip was born in 1921. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/ReutersLowe said: “I did come on to speak about ostensibly the economic paper we’ve just put out, and about the issue with Nigel Farage, and you’ve managed to turn it into a discussion about British people becoming minority, white British people, by 2063.”Nigel Farage has said Restore could inflict “great harm” on his party, Reform UK. Lowe, who was expelled from Reform, said in a video message earlier this week he and Farage should set aside differences and cooperate “to destroy the looming leftwing alliance”.He said he had made a “genuine” effort to reach out to Farage “in good faith”, adding: “Now, so far, I had one message from Nigel on a Sunday morning at 10.30 saying, will call later. Now, in his press conference, he said he was waiting for a call from me.”Lowe was also asked several times to provide evidence “that Britain, in your words, is hurtling towards becoming an Islamic country”.He pointed towards Restore’s “219-page rape gang inquiry report”. The BBC had not covered it at all, Lowe said, adding: “And if you had the intellectual appetite to actually read the report, I don’t think you’d even need to ask me this question.”