Rishi Sunak has demanded answers from Nigel Farage after a Channel 4 investigation revealed a Reform UK canvasser using a racial slur against the prime minister. Sunak said he was hurt and angry, repeating the slur to condemn it, and questioned the culture within the Reform party.
Essex police are 'urgently assessing' racist and homophobic remarks made by Reform campaigners in the broadcast footage. The comments included calling Sunak a 'fucking [P-word]', describing the Pride flag as 'degenerate', and suggesting shooting asylum seekers arriving in small boats.
Keir Starmer said he was 'shocked' by the comments, calling it a test of Farage's leadership. Farage dismissed the investigation as a 'complete and utter set-up', claiming the canvasser was an actor, but Channel 4 stood by its journalism.
Farage faced a hostile BBC Question Time audience, with one viewer calling him a racist. The canvasser, Andrew Parker, later apologised, saying he was 'old school' and not a racist, but Farage cast doubt on his identity.
