Berlin Pride Attack Prompts UK Labour MP to Blame Reform UK and GB News for Fueling Hate

On Saturday night a van driven by 21‑year‑old Abdul Ballout rammed into a crowd at Berlin's Pride festival, after which he attacked revellers with a machete. The attack left one person dead and 28 others injured; police shot Ballout dead at the scene. Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, had previously attempted to join the Islamic State and served a suspended youth sentence for terror‑related offenses.

Labour MP Kate Osborne accused UK right‑wing party Reform UK and broadcaster GB News of contributing to an "escalation of hate" across Europe that she said acted as a catalyst for the violence. Osborne claimed the outlets "spouted nonsense" and "broadcast language that attacks and vilifies the LGBTQ+ community." Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson rejected the link, and Cabinet Office minister Hamish Falconer said conflating UK media with the German attack "doesn't sound right." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his government would examine security gaps around the event.