Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, is facing intense criticism and accusations of turning a 'blind eye' to racism within his party. The row centres on his failure to remove a candidate who told Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy he should 'go home' to the Caribbean.
Labour Demands Action Over '1950s-Style Hate'
Pressure is mounting on the Reform leader after Labour's chairwoman, Anna Turley, wrote a formal letter demanding immediate action. In the letter, sent on Monday, 16 December 2025, Turley called on Farage to remove Chris Parry as the party's candidate for the Hampshire and the Solent mayoralty.
She stated that failure to do so would prove Farage was prepared to 'turn a blind eye to racism when it suits you'. Turley's intervention came after it emerged that Parry, in February, shared a news story about slavery reparations on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) with the comment: 'Lammy must go home to the Caribbean where loyalty lies'.
Reform Leadership Refuses to Condemn Remarks
The controversy has been amplified by the refusal of senior Reform figures to criticise Parry's comments. When questioned, Reform's deputy leader, Richard Tice, claimed he was 'not familiar with what was said' and declined to comment further after the remark was read aloud to him at a Westminster press conference.
Similarly, Reform MP Danny Kruger, who defected from the Conservatives in September, refused to condemn the statement. On Monday, he said he could not comment 'without knowing the context', instead describing Parry as a 'distinguished public servant'.
Parry himself has not apologised. In an interview with Talk TV, he refused to discuss the post directly and instead questioned whether Lammy's 'primary loyalty' was to the United Kingdom, telling the interviewer: 'Ask him'.
Mounting Pressure and Political Fallout
London-born David Lammy has called on Reform to tackle what he termed '1950s-style hate' within its ranks. The issue was also raised in the House of Commons last week, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Farage of sowing 'chaos and division'.
In her letter, Anna Turley highlighted that the incident was first reported over a week ago, yet Reform had taken no action. She contrasted this with the party's past decision to revoke the membership of a Staffordshire councillor for online abuse, asking why Parry was being treated differently.
'Telling a black British man from London to “go home to the Caribbean” is racist,' Turley wrote. 'It should have no place in our politics, and no place in your party.' The demand leaves Nigel Farage with a critical decision that will be closely watched as a test of his party's stance on racist rhetoric.
