Reform UK campaigners caught making racist slurs
Undercover Channel 4 journalists have captured Reform UK members making homophobic and racist remarks while campaigning for Nigel Farage’s bid to become Clacton’s MP.
Reform UK responded by stating that individuals making “unacceptable comments” will no longer be involved in Mr. Farage’s campaign.
The secret recordings feature a discussion involving Rob Bates, identified as a senior Reform UK campaigner, and two other party affiliates. One individual linked to the party makes derogatory remarks about the Pride flag on a police car, referring to it as a “degenerate flag” and questioning why the police promote such symbols. He goes on to make disparaging comments linking members of the LGBT+ community with pedophilia and criticizing police participation in Pride events.
Additionally, he suggests drastic measures for law enforcement under a potential Reform UK government, advocating for police to become paramilitary and endorsing the return of capital punishment.
The BBC has been unable to verify the identity of the individual in question and is seeking further information.
In response to the recordings, Mr. Bates dismissed his remark about campaign spending as a joke, clarifying that he bears no responsibility for campaign finances.
Reform UK told the program that campaign spending is “well within the legal spending limits”.
Footage broadcast by Channel 4 shows further racist, homophobic,, and Islamophobic slurs being made by Andrew Parker, identified as a canvasser for Mr Farage, who used a racial slur to refer to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent.
Mr Parker is also heard describing Islam as “the most disgusting cult out” and suggesting army recruits should carry out “target practice” by shooting at small boats bringing illegal migrants to the UK.
At one point Mr Parker tells voters Reform would be “kicking all the Muslims out of the mosques and turning them into Wetherspoons”.
During campaigning, he advisers the undercover reporter to use the term “illegal” when discussing immigration, especially when addressing non-white households.
Ahead of the publication of the footage, Mr Parker made a statement to Channel 4 claiming “neither Nigel Farage personally or the Reform Party are aware of my personal views on immigration”.
Mr Parker said: “I have never discussed immigration with either Nigel Farage or the Reform Party and that any comments made by me during those recordings are my own personal views on any subject I commented on.
“I would therefore like to apologise profusely to Nigel Farage and the Reform Party if my personal views have reflected badly on them and brought them into disrepute as this was not my intention.”
Speaking at a Reform UK event in Boston, Lincolnshire, party leader Nigel Farage said the party was not “perfect”.
“We’ve had one or two candidates that have said things they shouldn’t have said,” he said. “In most cases they’re just speaking like ordinary folk.
“They’re not part of the mainstream political Oxbridge speak, we understand that. In some cases one or two people let us down and we let them go.
“Well, compare that to the international price fixing and betting ring that is the modern day Conservative Party.”
Alongside him Hubberts Bridge Community Centre, chairman of the party Richard Tice said the racist comments were “inappropriate”.
He said: “We put a statement out and it’s all self-explanatory in the statement.
“The reality is that we’re a fast-growing movement, and when you’ve got unpaid volunteers, some people behave inappropriately. And they’re gone.”
Peter Harris, Reform UK’s Campaign Manager in Clacton, said he was “appalled by these reported comments”.
“All parties in such a short campaign are having to deal with the challenges of working with many activists they may not have met before,” Mr Harris added.
“Any individuals who have been identified as making unacceptable comments and holding those views are not welcome in our campaign. We are running a campaign to represent all voters in Clacton.”
