Prime Minister Andy Burnham has issued a statement saying Reform UK must take "immediate and firm action" against party members caught in an undercover journalism sting using racist language. He was asked for his reaction to the ITV News investigation, which found that councillors and candidates within Reform UK had used racist language.
Undercover investigation details
Airing on Sunday, October 18, at 10.20pm, Undercover: A Year In Reform will show Reform politicians filmed making the offensive comments during a year-long ITV undercover investigation. The 90-minute film contains footage of senior Reform politicians and officials working at its UK headquarters, and politicians campaigning for the party across Britain.
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. Footage also includes a Tameside Reform councillor saying rival politicians 'should be shot against the wall'.
Reform UK response
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 on Thursday (October 15): "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."
Prime Minister's statement
He added: "There is no place for any form of racism, antisemitism, or 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 earlier today, 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." 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.
