Labour has called on Nigel Farage to sack two more Reform UK local election candidates accused of making offensive or potentially racist social media posts, stating that the party's vetting procedures are 'clearly not fit for purpose'. The candidates, Alan Stay on the Isle of Wight and Caroline Panetta in Bexley, are among a series of controversies ahead of the 7 May local elections in England.
Alan Stay, standing for Reform on the Isle of Wight, shared Facebook posts containing racist and sexist messages, including one that repeatedly used an explicitly racist epithet while arguing it was not harmful. Caroline Panetta, a candidate in Bexley, retweeted anti-Islam comments, including a claim that Sadiq Khan wants to turn London into 'Londonstan', and posted that Islam is 'the religion of rape, incest and paedophilia'. She also retweeted content questioning the murder conviction of George Floyd's killer.
Anna Turley, Labour Party chair, said: 'What will it take for Nigel Farage to finally act? Farage has repeatedly boasted about Reform's vetting procedures but it is still clearly not fit for purpose. Farage must condemn these vile remarks, sack them as Reform candidates and kick them out of his party without delay.'
Separately, Restore Britain, the party founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, has accepted a donation from Miles Routledge, an activist who has called for 'another Hitler' to lead a great uprising. Routledge, who donated £2,500 to join the party's Cromwell Club, also threatened to imprison journalists when he gains power. Lowe's party, which advocates for mass deportations, has attracted support from far-right activists, which Lowe has not disowned.
