Reform UK must take “immediate and firm action” against party members caught in an undercover journalism sting using racist language, the Prime Minister has said.
Andy Burnham was asked for his reaction to the ITV News investigation which found councillors and candidates within Reform UK had used racist language.
In one excerpt, black children were referred to as “animals”, while in another a Reform member said his area had become “infested” with Asian families.
Reform UK has insisted there is “no room for racism” in its ranks, while the party’s leader Nigel Farage said the journalistic probe was carried out “because the establishment frankly want us out of the picture”.
Asked by reporters about the investigation during a visit to the North West, the Prime Minister said: “We’ve allowed a poison into our politics in recent years, and it’s time to draw a line under it.
“In fact, I praised the Leader of the Opposition (Kemi Badenoch) in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon, who herself drew a line at her party conference between her party and that type of politics, and we all need to call it out more.
“I’m pleased ITV has done this.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the establishment wanted the party out of the picture (Will Colebourne/PA)
PA Wire
“There is no place for any form of racism, antisemitism, discrimination in British politics, and we all should be relentless in repeating that and taking the firmest possible action.
“And I hope the Reform Party will take immediate and firm action against those who’ve been revealed to be making these abhorrent comments.”
Speaking on a visit to Chelmsford in Essex, Mr Farage said one of the people filmed had previously been a Conservative councillor, and while Reform carries out vetting “you can’t vet people for what they say in the future”.
He added: “I put it to you, if you went and spoke to hundreds of Conservative councillors and tried to provoke them you would find all sorts of things and all sorts of comments said.
“It’s just that you never will see an expensive investigation like that into the other parties because the establishment frankly want us out of the picture.”
He continued: “We deal appropriately always with people saying and doing bad things, no question about that.
“We vet much more heavily than the other parties, but you can’t vet against what somebody might say in the future, especially if they’re provoked in conversation.”
(PA Graphics)
PA Graphics
During a walkabout in Chelmsford a man told Mr Farage he was “out of order” for not attending the Clacton by-election count in August, which saw him retain his seat, while Count Binface finished second.
Mr Farage told the man, who said he used to be an activist: “I didn’t want to get punched.”
A woman who heckled Mr Farage from a distance was kept away by security staff, and the Reform UK leader did not engage with her comments.
He said of a poll earlier this week, which saw Reform UK drop to third behind Labour and the Tories: “The last couple of months you’ve got the whole of the Tory press promoting Kemi Badenoch as the saviour.
“We’ve had problems whether it’s ITV or Channel 4 or whatever it is.
“You know what, I’m here today in Chelmsford, we’re running the county council, we’re doing a good job, we’re building for the next general election, we’ve raised money, we’re reorganising and we will be back up in those polls, I have no doubt.”
Tory leader Mrs Badenoch sought to distance her party from defectors to Reform, as she reiterated her opposition to uniting with Mr Farage’s outfit.
She said on X: “The reported comments show yet again why we’re not doing deals with Reform. We want Reform voters back, not Reform politicians.
“Reform voters are being let down by the people who claim to represent them. Many of these people were the ones who let them down in the Conservative Party. We are now under new management.
“These people caused a lot of problems and is why I say Nigel Farage has been doing my spring cleaning.”
Reform faced calls from across the political spectrum on Wednesday when the news broke to kick out party members who made racist remarks in the ITV report.
Party sources suggested the people involved had either been suspended or left the party.
One of them, Chris Whelan – who was filmed making misogynistic and racist comments – has resigned as a councillor, Solihull Council confirmed on Thursday.