LONDON — Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is “on the side” of predators like serial pedophile Jimmy Savile for wanting to overturn the U.K.’s flagship online safety rules, the U.K.’s Technology Secretary Peter Kyle claimed Tuesday.

Kyle’s comments come a day after Farage’s Reform UK, which is leading in the polls, vowed to scrap the U.K.’s Online Safety Act if elected, describing the legislation as an attempt at censorship and attack on free speech.

The act requires social media sites to check the age of users and block children from viewing pornography and other harmful content, with duties kicking in last Friday.

Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Kyle said: “We have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side.

“Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he’ll be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he’s on their side.

“Nigel Farage is on the side of turning the clock back to the time when strange adults, strangers can get in touch via messaging apps with children.

“Absolutely, no doubt about it, people are perpetrating more crime online, more danger to children online. And Nigel Farage has said he wants to overturn every single one of the laws that keeps children safe in our country.”

Savile, who was a well-known media personality until his death in 2011, took advantage of his fame to sexually abuse hundreds of people, including children.

Farage hit back, slamming Kyle’s comments as “disgusting” and demanding an apology.

Speaking on Sky News after Kyle on Tuesday, Reform UK member Zia Yusuf said Kyle’s comments were “one of the most outrageous and disgusting things a politician has said in the political arena that I can remember.”

The Online Safety Act will in fact “make children less safe,” Yusuf argued, adding: “It’s what tyrants always do. They cloak tyranny in the warm files of safety and hope nobody reads the fine print.”

But in a post on X, Kyle doubled down, stating: “If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.”