Nigel Farage’s criticism that Channel 4 sting was ‘arrange’ thrown out by Ofcom
Nigel Farage’s complaints about an undercover investigation that found racism and homophobia within Reform UK’s campaign have been thrown out by Ofcom.
The Reform UK leader claimed a Channel 4 News report into his local campaign in Clacton had been a “set up”, alleging a canvasser caught making offensive remarks was an actor and had been putting on a performance for the cameras.
Mr Farage said he had “never been surer of anything” that it had been a “set up” and had urged Ofcom to look into the matter. But the media regulator has dismissed complaints about Channel 4’s footage.
Ofcom said it received more than 270 complaints about the broadcaster’s investigation which it “urgently assessed”. It concluded: “For all of these complaints, we have concluded that they do not raise substantive issues warranting further investigation.”
The undercover footage recorded by Channel 4 News showed Reform UK activist Andrew Parker saying the party should “kick Muslims out of mosques and turn them into Wetherspoons ”. He also said that army recruits should use asylum seekers crossing the Channel as “target practice”. And in the same conversation he used a sickening racist term to describe Rishi Sunak.
Another canvasser described the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggested members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.
When the comments first emerged, Mr Sunak said he was “hurt and angry” about Mr Parker’s use of the racial slur, telling broadcasters: “My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign to Nigel Farage calling me an effing p***.”
Channel 4 rejected the claim it was a “set up” and said it strongly stood by its “rigorous and duly impartial journalism”. It denied paying Mr Parker or anyone else during its investigation. Mr Parker also denied he was a “paid actor” set up to make Reform UK look bad. He confirmed to GB News that he is primarily a property developer and he does a small amount of acting on the side.
Following Ofcom’s dismissal of the complaints, a Channel 4 News spokeswoman said: “Since this report aired, Channel 4 News has strongly stood up for its accurate, rigorous and duly impartial reporting, which speaks for itself. Ofcom’s decision underscores the integrity of Channel 4 News’s journalism and high editorial standards.
“The programme will continue to refute any claims that we – or the production company we worked with – knew or paid the Reform UK canvasser, Mr Andrew Parker. We met Mr Parker for the first time at Reform UK’s campaign headquarters in Clacton, and he was filmed secretly via the undercover investigation.”
