Reform UK has withdrawn support from three of its parliamentary candidates as the row over racism within the party escalates.
The party under the leadership of Nigel Farage has stopped supporting Edward Oakenfull, who is standing in Derbyshire Dales, Robert Lomas, a candidate in Barnsley North, and Leslie Lilley, who is standing in Southend East and Rochford, after alleged comments from them appeared in the media.
At this point, party leaders from across the political spectrum condemned Reform UK and called on Farage to “get a grip” on his party.
Oakenfull was suspended after reportedly making social media posts about the IQ of people from sub-Saharan Africa, which he told the BBC were “taken out of context”.
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Meanwhile, Lomas demanded that blacks “get off their lazy butts” and stop acting “like savages,” the Times reported.
According to the newspaper, Lilley called the people arriving in small boats “scum” and added: “I hope your family gets robbed, beaten or attacked.”
Since the deadline for candidate registration has passed, all three candidates remain on the ballot, although they are no longer Reform Great Britain.
Dispute over racism
The decision to drop these candidates comes amid a major row over racism in the party after Channel 4 News broadcast footage that was filmed covertly It shows Mr Farage campaigner Andrew Parker calling the Prime Minister a racist slur, calling Islam a “disgusting cult” and saying the army should “just shoot” migrants crossing the Channel.
Reform UK has been condemned by party leaders across the political spectrum and Rishi Sunak reacted angrily responded to the comments, saying Mr Farage had to “answer some questions”.
He said: “My two daughters have to see and hear reformers campaigning for Nigel Farage calling me a f***ing p***. It hurts and makes me angry and I think he needs to answer some questions.
“And I do not repeat these words lightly. I do so intentionally, because the matter is too important not to call it clearly by its name.”
Parker has told Sky News he was a “total idiot”that he had learned his lesson and that there was “no racism” in his statements.
Reform UK has said it has reported Channel 4 to the Electoral Commission for alleged “scandalous … interference”. The party claims the broadcaster staged a fabricated tirade.
The broadcaster flatly denied the allegations, saying: “We stand firmly behind our rigorous and impartial journalism, which speaks for itself. We first met Mr Parker at Reform UK’s headquarters, where he was working as a campaign worker for the Reform Party.”
“We have not paid the Reform UK poll worker or anyone else in this report. Mr Parker was not known to Channel 4 News and was secretly filmed as part of the undercover operation.”
The Electoral Commission said it was “aware of reports” that it had been asked to investigate by Reform UK.
However, the Commission stated that it had “not received such a letter” and added that if it had, it would “examine the contents (of the letter)”.
A Commission spokesman said Channel 4 News was exempt from regulation because it was a licensed broadcaster.
They said that any laws related to the possible defamation of candidates would be the responsibility of the police.
Questions to be answered
Mr Farage faced a number of questions on the subject during a BBC Question Time Leaders’ Special on Friday night, in which he said he would “not apologise” for the actions of people associated with his party.
When asked why his party was “attracting racists and extremists”, the former UKIP leader claimed he had “done more to drive the far right out of British politics than anyone else” – having already taken on the British Nationalist Party (BNP) a decade ago.
He also appeared to blame his predecessor, Richard Tice, when he read racist and xenophobic comments made by Reform candidates. He said he had “inherited a newly formed party” and had “no idea” why the people who said those things were chosen.
Mr Farage also lashed out at the BBC today, saying he would refuse to appear on the broadcaster’s Sunday morning politics show with Laura Kuenssberg until he apologised for his “dishonest” audience. He accused the broadcaster of behaving “like a political actor throughout the election”.
But the right-wing agitator was condemned by all party leaders.
Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News that Mr Farage needed to “set the tone” for his party, adding: “It is not good for Nigel Farage to say after the event that he disagrees with certain comments.”
The Labour leader further stressed that Mr Farage was “not a bystander” but the leader of Reform UK.
He added: “Leaders need to set the tone, set the standards and take action so that people know in advance what is acceptable and what is not.”
“Pull yourself together”
Labour’s shadow defence secretary told Sky News that Mr Farage should “get a grip” on his party in the face of racism allegations.
John Healey said: “To some extent I see him stirring up a row about this Channel 4 film to actually distract from the fact that there are officials and candidates right at the heart of the Reform Party who are responsible for racist, homophobic and other deeply offensive statements.”
“And it is Farage’s job to take appropriate action. And ultimately, the culture and standards of any political party are determined by the party leader, and Nigel Farage wants to be seen as the party leader.”
“He has to get his own party under control, and he is not succeeding in doing that at the moment.”
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney commented on the reform policy: “I disapprove of it. I disapprove of it. I want nothing to do with it.”
“We will always protest against racist and homophobic comments and I cannot believe that Nigel Farage can do anything to tackle a problem that he himself created,” he said.
The SNP leader further claimed that this was not a case of black sheep, but “a deep-rooted reform problem”.
Read more:
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He said: “Nigel Farage set all this up. He fuelled it all. With every word over all these years he has fuelled all this intolerance and prejudice in our society.”
“I don’t want anything to do with it. And I don’t think Nigel Farage can do anything to stop it because he caused it.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his members and candidates “shared no values with Mr Farage”.
“He can sort himself out. My job as leader of the Liberal Democrats is to tell you what we are about.”
Here is the full list of candidates in the Derbyshire Dales constituency:
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Kelda Boothroyd, Green Party
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Robert Court, Liberal Democrats
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Sarah Dines, Conservative Party
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Rachel Elnaugh-Love, Independent
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Edward Hudson Oakenfull, formerly of Reform UK
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Helen Wetherall, True and Fair Party
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John Whitby, Labour Party
Here is the full list of candidates for Barnsley North:
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Penny Baker, Liberal Democrats
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Tony Devoy, Yorkshire Party
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Neil Fisher, Independent
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Tom Heyes, Green Party
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Dan Jarvis, Labour Party
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Tamas Kovacs, Conservative Party
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Robert Lomas, formerly Reform UK
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Janus Polenceusz, English Democrats
Here is the full list of candidates in Southend East and Rochford:
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Bayo Alaba, Labour Party
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James Joseph Allen, Liberal Democrat
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Lee John Clark, Confelicity
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Simon Cross, Green Party
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Gavin Haran, Conservative Party
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Bianca Eleanor Isherwood, Heritage Party
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Leslie Lilley, formerly Reform UK
