A would-be Reform UK MP told an undercover reporter that Muslims could not be British and asylum seekers should be put in “concentration camps”. The comments were recorded as part of the undercover investigation by ITV that has already seen Reform accused of “appalling behaviour” and “extreme racism”. Reform has said it had opened investigations where activists or members had “clearly behaved inappropriately”, adding there was “no room for racism” in the party.
In footage due to be broadcast on Sunday, a Reform activist and aspiring MP, who has yet to be publicly identified, described himself as “pretty hardline about Islam”. He said: “If a Muslim’s prepared to de-convert, I’m happy. 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.
Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair, said Nigel Farage’s response to the revelations showed he was “completely unfit to lead”. She said: “Bad apples don’t fall far from the tree. The sleaze, scandals and appalling revelations of racism and rank misogyny piling up by the day go right to the top of Reform UK.
In a statement to ITV, Reform said: “Reform UK has improved and prioritised its vetting procedures, but from time to time, a handful of individuals who do not share our values will initially make it through vetting. However good the vetting, one cannot vet a future comment. We always respect due process of investigations and whilst these are ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.” On Friday, Alan Feeney resigned as a Reform councillor for Solihull and Birmingham after racist comments he had made were uncovered in the investigation.
ITV revealed secretly recorded footage of Feeney making racist comments about Asian homeowners, calling them “parasites”, and stating that “no more than 1% of [the] British population can be non-white”, during a local election campaign. In a subsequent Facebook post, Feeney wrote: “There is no excuse for my comments. With responsibility comes accountability, and it is for that reason that I have resigned every post I hold on both Solihull borough council and Birmingham city council.” He added: “My remarks were wrong, offensive and completely unacceptable.
They do not reflect the standards that the public rightly expects from an elected representative, and I take full responsibility for what I said.”
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