Sunak says Farage has ‘inquiries to reply’ over Reform racism row
Furious Rishi Sunak lashed out at Nigel Farage today after a Reform UK activist was caught on camera branding the Prime Minister a ‘f***ing p***’.
Mr Sunak used a media interview to hammer Mr Farage over the conduct of campaigners in Clacton who were recorded making a catalogue of vile racist and homophobic remarks.
The PM, whose grandparents were from India, said Mr Farage had ‘questions to answer’ as Reform plunged into chaos in the wake of the revelations, the latest and most damaging of a string of allegations to hit it in recent weeks.
He likened the language to that used by ‘misogynist’ Andrew Tate and repeated the racial slur used against him ‘because it is important to call it out for what it is’, citing the impact on his young daughters.
Reform activist Andrew Parker, who made the remark about the PM, was also secretly recorded by Channel 4 News in Essex suggesting that migrants should be shot by soldiers as they arrive on UK beaches.
He also called for Muslims to be ejected from mosques so they can be turned into Wetherspoons pubs.
Other campaigners in the town where Mr Farage is hoping to become the MP on July 4 suggested LGBT people are ‘degenerate’, would turn the police into ‘paramilitaries’ and would bring back ‘the noose’.
Appearing on ITV‘s Loose Women today, Mr Farage claimed Mr Parker was an actor used to discredit him, saying: ‘This whole whole thing is a complete and utter set-up, of that I have no doubt.’
But on a campaign visit to a school in Teesside, the Prime Minister told broadcasters: ‘My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing p***. It hurts and it makes me angry, and I think he has some questions to answer.
‘I don’t repeat those words lightly. I do so deliberately, because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is.’
The angry Tory leader, whose grandparents were from India , repeated the racial slur used against him ‘because it is important to call it out for what it is’, citing the impact on his young daughters.
Appearing on ITV ‘s Loose Women today, Mr Farage claimed Mr Parker was an actor used to discredit him, saying: ‘This whole whole thing is a complete and utter set-up, of that I have no doubt.’
The Channel 4 News investigation revealed Andrew Parker, who is said to be a Reform canvasser, advocating for Channel migrants to be shot by Army recruits
On a campaign visit to a school in Teesside, the Prime Minister told broadcasters: ‘My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing p***. It hurts and it makes me angry, and I think he has some questions to answer.
Asked whether he was frustrated that some former Tory voters are leaning towards Reform UK when their activists are making racist and homophobic comments, Mr Sunak said: ‘When you see Reform candidates and campaigners seemingly using racist and misogynistic language and opinion, seemingly without challenge, I think it tells you something about the culture in the Reform party.
‘Andrew Tate isn’t an important voice for men. He’s a vile misogynist. And our politics and country is better than that.
‘As Prime Minister, but more importantly as a father of two young girls, it’s my duty to call out this corrosive and divisive behaviour.’
Mr Farage sought to distance himself from the comments, saying the canvassers’ language was ‘vulgar, drunken and wrong’ and that they had been kicked out of the party.
He told ITV’s Loose Women: ‘They had watched England play football, they were in the pub, they were drunk.
‘People when they are drunk often turn quite nasty.’
Asked whether he would take action against them, he said: ‘They’re gone.’
Writing on X this morning he shared a link to Mr Parker’s acting page, saying ‘this whole episode does not add up’.
‘Andrew Parker was the man that made the astonishing racist comments that have given us so much negative coverage. We now learn that he is an actor by profession. His own website says he is ”well spoken” but from the moment he arrived in Clacton he was doing what he calls ”rough speaking”.’
However while Mr Parker confirmed to Mail Online that he is an actor, he said he became involved with Reform UK by contacting the party himself and volunteering to do leafletting because he believes in its message, and had not mentioned that he was an actor.
He said he ‘regretted’ his ‘old school’ choice of words, saying: ‘I’m a Brit. I call a Scotsman a Scot. It’s pathetic really.’
When questioned about the fact that the p-word has more of a darker context than calling a Scotsman a ‘Scot’ he added: ‘I don’t know about that…I’m still someone who, when I go down to the takeaway, [say] ‘I’m going to down the c****y’.
‘It’s not racist. But then I’m an outdated old git.’
Mr Parker does not deny being a part-time actor, but told GB News it was a sideline and his main work was as a property developer. He said claims he was paid to fit up Reform were ‘total rubbish’
In another conversation, Mr Parker was filmed describing PM Rishi Sunak as a ‘f****** p***’. ‘I’ve always been a Tory voter,’ he said. ‘But what annoys me is that f****** p*** we’ve got in’
Sir Keir Starmer today said the row over the ‘clearly racist’ comments was ‘a test of leadership for Mr Farage’. The Labour leader told BBC Breakfast : ‘You have to ask the question why so many people who are supporting Reform are exposed in this particular way.’
Mr Parker said he had made the comments in ‘the heat of the moment’ because he was being ‘goaded on’.
‘Of course, I regret what I said,’ he added. ‘Christ, I’m not a racist. I’ve had Muslim girlfriends. It was typical chaps-down-the-pub talk.’
Asked whether he would like to apologise, he said: ‘Of course I’m sorry. They were off-the-cuff things that everyone says.’
He said he had ‘a lot of Pakistani friends’ and ‘Muslim friends’, and that he was ‘sick to death’ of being asked about the footage.
A spokeswoman for Channel 4 News said: ‘We strongly stand by our rigorous and duly impartial journalism which speaks for itself.
‘We met Mr Parker for the first time at Reform UK party headquarters, where he was a Reform party canvasser.
‘We did not pay the Reform UK canvasser or anyone else in this report. Mr Parker was not known to Channel 4 News and was filmed covertly via the undercover operation.’
Reform has also yet to explain why, if he was acting, he used his real name, which is easily discoverable online.
Mr Farage claimed during an interview on BBC Panorama that the West ‘provoked’ Russia through Nato and the European Union.
The Prime Minister likened the Reform leader to those who, in the 1930s, opposed taking a firm stand against Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
In a newspaper interview Mr Sunak said: ‘What he said was wrong, it was completely wrong. It plays into Putin’s hands. This is the guy that used nerve agents on British streets, he’s doing deals with North Korea. That is who we’re talking about here.’
Sir Keir Starmer today said the row over the ‘clearly racist’ comments was ‘a test of leadership for Mr Farage’.
A JL Partners survey conducted between June 21 and 24 found that Reform was down three points to 15 per cent, with the Tories up two to 25 per cent
Savanta research carried out on the same dates had the Conservatives up two on 21 per cent while Reform fell by the same proportion to 14 per cent
Deltapoll found Mr Farage’s party was down one on 15 per cent, with the Tories stable on 19 per cent
Reform have already faced a string of controversies over online remarks made by some of their candidates ahead of polling day on 4 July
The Labour leader told BBC Breakfast: ‘You have to ask the question why so many people who are supporting Reform are exposed in this particular way.’
The activists involved were disowned by the party after the footage was published by Channel 4 News last night.
At the same time Mr Sunak launched his strongest attack yet on Mr Farage, branding him a ‘Putin appeaser’ over his views on Ukraine.
Recent opinion polls show Reform falling back, suggesting the row is hurting the party’s popularity. It is also being hit by wave after wave of revelations about far-right views being espoused by some of its candidates.
Yesterday Reform dropped support for a candidate who used to be a member of the far-right British National Party (BNP).
A JL Partners survey conducted between June 21 and 24 found that Reform was down three points to 15 per cent, with the Tories up two to 25 per cent.
Savanta research carried out on the same dates had the Conservatives up two on 21 per cent while Reform fell by the same proportion to 14 per cent.
Deltapoll found Mr Farage’s party was down one on 15 per cent, with the Tories stable on 19 per cent.
However a megapoll that dropped yesterday suggested his party could still be on course to win 18 seats on July 4.
The Reform leader said last night that he was ‘dismayed by the reported comments of a handful of people associated with my local campaign’.
Mr Farage added they would no longer be with his campaign in the seaside constituency.
Reform have already faced a string of controversies over online remarks made by some of their candidates ahead of polling day on 4 July.
The Channel 4 News investigation revealed comments about Muslims by Andrew Parker, who is said to be a Reform canvasser.
He described Muslims as ‘sick m*****f******’, adding: ‘It’s a cult. I tell you what, if you don’t know about Islam, it is the most disgusting cult out.
‘We’re f****** kicking all the Muslims out of the mosques and turning them into Wetherspoons.’
As a police car passed by displaying a Pride flag, George Jones said: ‘You see that f****** degenerate flag on the front bonnet?’
In a statement to Channel 4, Mr Farage said: ‘I am dismayed by the reported comments of a handful of people associated with my local campaign, particularly those who are volunteers’
George Jones (pictured, left) is said to run events for Mr Farage’s campaign
In the same conversation, Mr Parker also described Mr Sunak as a ‘f****** p***’.
‘I’ve always been a Tory voter,’ he said. ‘But what annoys me is that f****** p*** we’ve got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He’s just wet. F****** useless’.
Filmed speaking to a prospective voter on the doorstep, Mr Parker suggested Army recruits should carry out ‘target practice’ on those crossing the Channel in small boats.
‘Get the young recruits there, yeah, with guns on the f****** beach, target practice,’ he said.
‘F****** just shoot them. That is what the Greeks done… You know about that. The Greeks shot a load… Ringfence Bradfordstan.
‘Round the f****** up. Do that f****** lot as well. And you’ve got these bastards running our country. You must be f****** joking mate.’
The footage also showed a separate exchange between George Jones, said to run events for Mr Farage’s campaign, Rob Bates, a senior party campaigner, and Roger Gravett, Reform’s regional manager for London and candidate for Tottenham.
As a police car passed by displaying a Pride flag, Mr Jones said: ‘You see that f****** 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******.’
Mr Gravett is later heard saying: ‘When we form the government in 2029 then surely we can change lots of things’.
A spokesman for Reform told MailOnline the party would be making no further comment
‘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’, Farage said
In response, Mr Jones is heard saying ‘our police officers will be paramilitaries, they won’t be police’ and that Reform should ‘bring back the noose’.
In a statement to Channel 4, Mr Farage said: ‘I am dismayed by the reported comments of a handful of people associated with my local campaign, particularly those who are volunteers. They will no longer be with the campaign.
‘The appalling 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. Some of the language used was reprehensible.
‘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.
‘I would be interested to know whether Channel 4 is subjecting the grassroots volunteers of all the political parties to similar subterfuges, or whether Reform UK has been singled out for special attention.’
Honorary President of the Britain’s right-wing populist party Reform UK Nigel Farage and party leader Richard Tice
Reform Party leader, Richard Tice, and founding member, Nigel Farage, on stage at the Reform Party annual conference on October 7, 2023
Mr Parker said: ‘I would like to make it clear that neither Nigel Farage personally or the Reform Party are aware of my personal views on immigration.
‘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.
‘At no time before I was sent out to canvass did I discuss my personal views with any representative of the Reform Party or Nigel Farage.
‘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.
‘I offered to help the Reform Party on their canvassing as I believe that they are the only party that offer the UK voter a practical solution to the illegal immigration problem that we have in the UK.’
A spokesman for Reform told MailOnline the party would be making no further comment.
