Reform UK faces fresh claims of racism and sexism

A canvasser and a senior aide to leader Nigel Farage are filmed making racist remarks while the party disowns a candidate who belonged to the far-right BNP.

Andrew Parker, left, used a racial slur about the prime minister and Malcolm Cupis wrote of 'sluts'. Pictures: The Times

A campaigner for Nigel Farage has told voters that illegal migrants should be used for army “target practice” and that mosques should be turned into Wetherspoon pubs.

Undercover reporters in Clacton, the seat that the Reform leader is hoping to win, filmed the activist suggesting that people crossing the Channel by boat should be shot and referring to Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, using a racial slur.

They also filmed an aide to Farage likening gay people to pedophiles and calling them “degenerates”.

The revelations come as the party faces fresh claims of widespread sexist and racist behaviour among its election candidates.

On Thursday, Reform disowned its candidate in Basingstoke after it emerged he had been a member of the BNP. Raymond Saint told The Times that he had tried to “ignore” his six month-long membership of the radical right-wing party.

The latest controversy, revealed by Channel 4 news, features a Reform UK canvasser, Andrew Parker, who says he knows Farage. On the way to meeting potential Reform voters in the coastal Essex seat, Parker tells the undercover reporter how to approach them.

“Use the word ‘illegal’. Emphasise ‘illegal’ especially if you open the door and there’s a bunch of P---s,” he says. Giving his view on Muslims, Parker declares: “It’s a cult. I tell you what, if you don’t know about Islam, it is the most disgusting cult out.”

He adds: “We’re kicking all the Muslims out of the mosques and turning them into Wetherspoons.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the comments as ‘appalling’. Picture: Getty Images

In the same conversation, Parker describes Sunak as a “f---ing P---”.

Talking to a prospective voter on the doorstep, Parker expresses his views on how to stop migrants arriving in Britain by boat, suggesting that army recruits should carry out “target practice”.

“You’ve got Deal, haven’t you. The place near Dover. Army recruitment. Get the young recruits there, yeah, with guns on the beach, target practice … just shoot them,” he says.

He later tells a man who says that he is a paramedic to deny oxygen to a patient in an ambulance if they are “any of that f---ing lot”.

The investigation also includes comments from George Jones, a veteran of Ukip and the Brexit Party, now running events for Farage’s campaign.

As a police car passes displaying a Pride flag he says: “You see that degenerate flag on the front bonnet? What are the Old Bill doing promoting that crap? They should be out catching nonces not promoting the f---ers.”

Nigel Farage described the comments as “appalling” and said those identified “will no longer be with the campaign”. He said that the sentiments “expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views, those of the vast majority of our supporters or Reform UK policy”.

He added: “Reform UK is a party for everybody who believes in Britain. I am proud that our supporters, candidates and national campaign team come from all backgrounds and identities.”

Scrutiny of Reform’s candidates has intensified as the party draws level with the Conservatives in some opinion polls and appears on course to win a handful of seats next week.

Parker told Channel 4: “I would like to make it clear that neither Nigel Farage personally or the Reform Party are aware of my personal views on immigration. Any comments made by me during those recordings are my own personal views. 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.” Other candidates have made inappropriate and sexist comments on social media including Ian Gribbin, standing for Reform in Bexhill & Battle, who claimed that feminism was a “cancer”.

Malcolm Cupis, the party’s candidate in Melksham & Devizes, said of two black women in a rap video: “Why would any self-respecting young woman aspire to behaving like a gutter slut in this way?” He defended his comments, saying that “people want politicians who speak plainly”.

The revelations overshadowed Reform’s announcement that the former Newcastle United owner and Tory donor Sir John Hall, 91, had defected to the party, claiming only it would protect his “English way of life”.

The Times