An undercover ITV News investigation has revealed a Reform UK activist and aspiring MP calling for Britain to build concentration camps for migrants, according to a report published on October 17, 2026.
Jason Powell, who attended the August Clacton by-election victory rally dubbed Farage Fest to canvass for party leader Nigel Farage, said he had passed vetting checks to become a Reform parliamentarian. He told the undercover reporter: 'Anyone who comes across on a boat, as an example, in the first week of [the] election, build concentration camps, and everyone who comes across on the channel, you're in there.'
Powell's remarks on Muslims and executions
Powell added: 'They just need to be rounded up, every single last one of them, and sent to those concentration camps and then be given an ultimatum. Where are you from? Because you're going back there. If you don't tell us, you're staying here for the rest of your life.'
He also claimed you 'cannot be a Muslim and British', saying: 'I'm pretty hardline about Islam as well, really, because if a Muslim's prepared to de-convert, I'm happy.' Referring to Reform's Home Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf, he said: 'To me… you cannot be a Muslim and British… It's like oil and water.'
Powell told ITV that his views are not extremist, but that he believes they reflect the general opinion of the British people.
Councillors discuss executions and machine-gunning
The investigation also recorded Councillor Adam Parkins and Councillor David Kerr from Hounslow in West London discussing actions Reform might take if it gained power. Parkins said: 'Let me put it this way: if I were f***ing prime minister, I would quite happily do Sunday morning Rose Garden executions of f***ing rape gangs. Give me a f***ing pistol, and I'll walk behind them and go "Boom, boom, boom." I would do that without f***ing thinking for a second about it, and I'd go up and have my coffee.'
Kerr, who stood as a Reform MP in 2024, agreed that 'grooming gang perpetrators' should be 'machine gunned down' as 'offending rates will plummet'. Explaining his ideas on reversing immigration, Kerr said: 'Certain things are best left done, best left until you're in power, because there's no way you're going to be able to even discuss a tenable solution without being called a f***ing Nazi.'
Kerr did not respond to ITV's later request for comment. Parkins said the Reform policy is that grooming gangs should face the toughest possible sentences under British law, and that is his view.
Media training and party response
The investigation also found that candidates for the Welsh parliament received media training, including serving councillor Karl Lewis, who previously came under fire for liking and sharing extremist material. In a mock interview conducted by board member Darren Grimes, Lewis was quizzed on his support for Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate and his sharing of 'conspiracy theories by a discredited group'. He replied that his views have 'changed' since 2016, saying: 'We don't tolerate extremism at all in the party. And anyone that is found to have extremist views are rejected straight away. We have a process to stop that from happening. I've gone through that process… it's totally robust, trust me.'
Lewis later told ITV's reporter that he was lying, arguing that he was 'ahead of his time' by endorsing posts such as one entitled 'Sweden Raped to Death by Muslim Migrants'. Asked to clarify 'What's common knowledge now?', he answered, 'Migrants coming over, yeah.'
ITV's footage suggested that, while Lewis appears to be the kind of candidate Farage pledged to oust from Reform, the party trained him internally to handle the media.
Responding to the latest reporting, Reform UK issued a statement insisting that 'not all individuals covertly recorded by ITV are members of [the party]'. It added: 'Where members, activists and councillors have clearly behaved inappropriately, investigations have commenced. In some cases, there have been suspensions, and due process must be followed.'
The statement continued: 'Reform UK has improved and prioritised its vetting procedures, but from time to time, a handful of individuals who do not share our values will initially make it through vetting. This is the same for all organisations. However good the vetting, one cannot vet a future comment. There is no room for racism in Reform UK. We always respect due process of investigations, and whilst these are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.'
Undercover: A Year Inside Reform airs Sunday, October 18, at 10.20pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV, and STV Player.
