'It doesn't feel like Freedom Day!': Nigel Farage predicts Covid lockdown will ...

Nigel Farage today predicted that Covid lockdown will return by September, as he made a tough-talking debut on GB News.

Hours after announcing his new prime-time slot on the controversy-embroiled channel, the former UKIP leader made an appearance on the channel, in which he took aim at Boris Johnson over the Government's handling of lockdown.

In his typically bullish style, the politician accused the Prime Minister of 'not delivering' on previous promises to unlock the country and laid into the Government over its decision to remove quarantine for double-jabbed Britons returning to the UK from France.

Speaking on GB News today, he said: 'I object to the term (Freedom Day). It doesn't feel like "Freedom Day".'

He continued: 'I have to say there are 500.000 who suddenly learned that even if they have been double-jabbed that when they come back to the UK they are going to have to self-isolate.

'It certainly isn't "Freedom Day" for those half a million people. And I have to say I think we'll be back in lockdown by September, and I just wish Boris Johnson wouldn't make a whole series of promises that have never been delivered upon. So yes, I'm frustrated.'

His comments come after the Government on Friday night announced a sudden reversal on its Amber List plans for those returning from the UK from France.

The Government had planned to let double-jabbed Britons returning from all Amber List countries from Monday. But it suddenly pulled the plug on the plans specifically for France, citing concerns about the spread of the Beta (South African) variant.

Mr Farage was making his appearance last night after announcing he had landed a prime 7pm weeknight slot with GB News in the wake of the Guto Harri taking the knee row.

Meanwhile, Mr Harri last night accused the 'anti-woke' TV channel of moving to the far-Right and claimed he was forced out after his on-air anti-racism protest was blamed for a plunge in viewers amid a viewer boycott. 

Mr Harri, a former aide to Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he was Mayor of London, was publicly reprimanded by GB News executives and forced out after taking the knee in solidarity with black England football stars who received racist abuse after the Euros final.

Critics have previously pointed out how anyone who takes a knee, including police officers and sports stars, risks being seen to endorse some of the Left-wing ideas promoted by the Black Lives Matter movement as well as opposing racism.

In an extraordinary swipe at the TV channel, Mr Harri has now claimed GB News told him off for 'offending the lynch mob' despite him allegedly warning producers in advance that he was considering making the gesture. He claims he was given direction about how to take the knee by producers.

Writing in the Sunday Times, the pro-EU pundit said he was engulfed by a 'tsunami of disappointment, resentment and hate', adding: 'Old friends were amused to see me described as woke and Marxist. By Thursday night, the boss called and I'd been taken off air for the summer.'

Mr Harri also claimed: 'The channel is rapidly becoming an absurd parody of what it proclaimed to be. Rather than defending free speech and confronting cancel culture, it has set out to replicate it on the far-Right.'

And he continued to defend his actions, insisting that it was wrong to suggest his anti-racism protest was responsible for the decline in viewer numbers - which he claims 'dropped pretty swiftly after launch and kept slipping'. 

In an article in 2016, Mr Harri vehemently protested against Brexit and argued that a Remain vote was vital for Wales, claiming the 'dream of Brexit is a wild fantasy' ahead of the referendum.  

Mr Harri also previously wrote in a Cardiff University journalism blog where he revealed that he wanted to escape the 'straitjacket of impartiality' which was 'entirely appropriate for broadcasters but there's a time when some of us want to take sides'.  

Mr Farage had promised a 'big career change' as speculation mounted that he was set to join GB News  on a permanent basis. He told his 1.6 million Twitter followers to 'watch this space', with an announcement coming this afternoon. 

Announcing his new role on GB News, he said: 'Since politics I have done a fair bit of broadcasting. Broadcasting matters, it really does. It gets people to look at issues, think about issues in different ways and be very influential. 

Mr Farage referenced his previous three year tenure on LBC, and his YouTube channel that has more than 270,000 subscribers. He promised to take up broadcasting on 'a regular basis', as he revealed the finer details of his new show Farage.  

Mr Harri and his co-host Mercy Muroki spoke about the vile abuse Three Lions stars Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka had received online, during which Mr Harri admitted he 'gets' why footballers take the knee before each game.  

Mr Harri then proceeded to take the knee himself on air, sparking a viewer boycott and a public telling-off by GB News. In a statement, the channel said it was 'unacceptable' for any presenter to take the knee and accused Mr Harri of breaking its Editorial Charter.   

He had told viewers on Tuesday: 'I'll tell you where I am. I've never understood why people would find it offensive. I can see and I tended to be

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