Labour has accused Reform UK of having vetting procedures that are 'clearly not fit for purpose' after two more candidates in the upcoming local elections were found to have posted offensive or potentially racist content online. The party faces mounting pressure to take action ahead of the 7 May polls.
Alan Stay, a Reform candidate on the Isle of Wight, shared Facebook posts containing racist and sexist remarks, including one that repeatedly used an explicitly racist epithet. Another candidate, Caroline Panetta, standing in Bexley, retweeted anti-Islam comments and posted that Islam was 'the religion of rape, incest and paedophilia'. She also shared posts questioning the murder conviction of George Floyd's killer.
Labour chair Anna Turley called on Nigel Farage to sack the candidates, stating: 'What will it take for Nigel Farage to finally act? Farage must condemn these vile remarks, sack them as Reform candidates and kick them out of his party without delay.'
Separately, it emerged that Restore Britain, the party founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, accepted a £2,500 donation from Miles Routledge, who has publicly called for 'another Hitler' to come to power. When asked about the posts, Routledge confirmed his views and threatened to imprison journalists.
