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Police are “urgently assessing” racist and homophobic comments made by Reform UK activists as Rishi Sunak spoke of his hurt and anger at a personal slur.

The Essex force said it was looking “to establish if there are any criminal offences”.

It came after the prime minister said he hated repeating the bigoted insult directed at him by a supporter of Nigel Farage‘s party, but said as a father of two daughters it was important to challenge “corrosive and divisive behaviour”.

Reform campaigners had been recorded by an undercover Channel 4 reporter making racist comments, including about the Tory leader who is of Indian descent.

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A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We are aware of comments made during a Channel 4 News programme and we are urgently assessing them to establish if there are any criminal offences.”

Mr Sunak said: “My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing ‘P***’.

“It hurts and it makes me angry and I think he has some questions to answer.

“And I don’t repeat those words lightly.

“I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is.”

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Farage on racial slurs by activist

Speaking on an election campaign visit to a school in Teesside, he added: “As prime minister, but more importantly as a father of two young girls, it’s my duty to call out this corrosive and divisive behaviour.”

Mr Sunak said he repeated the racial insult because it was important to challenge it.

He went on: “I hate having to do it, I chose my words deliberately, I hate having to repeat them, absolutely hate it.

“But I also think it’s important to call this out for what it is and be clear about what it is.”

The footage taken in Clacton where Mr Farage is a candidate, showed Reform campaigner Andrew Parker making the discriminatory remark about Mr Sunak and suggesting migrants should be used as “target practice”.

He also described Islam as a “disgusting cult”.

‘I’ve never seen him so angry’

I’ve spent much of the last five weeks with the prime minister, dozens of visits, dozens of questions but today I’ve never seen him so angry, writes Sky News political correspondent Darren McCaffrey.

The broadcast last night of a Reform canvasser making a targeted racist slur against the Tory leader has left Rishi Sunak not just angry but he says hurt too.

When asked why he had deliberately decided to repeat the slur itself in an interview, he said it’s not something he wanted to do.

“I hate it, I hate having to do it, I choose my words deliberately, I hate it, but I have to call it out for what it is,” he said.

On a personal level, this clearly matters to the prime minister and his desire to protect his family.

He has mentioned his daughters having to hear racism like this several times.

Politically the Conservatives are hoping that this will also make voters think twice about Reform and about Nigel Farage.

When I asked Rishi Sunak if he would now describe Reform as a racist party he wouldn’t go that far, but suggested Mr Farage “has questions to answer”.

Another canvasser described the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggested members of the LGBT+ community were paedophiles.

Mr Farage, already facing a backlash over his claim the West “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has sought to distance himself from the inflammatory comments, saying he was “dismayed” by the “appalling sentiments” expressed.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “shocked” by the “clearly racist” footage and that the Reform UK leader faced a “test of leadership”.

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Mr Farage has used reports Mr Parker was a part-time actor to suggest the incriminating film was a “total set-up”.

Appearing on ITV’s Loose Women, he said: “It was an act right from the very start.”

Mr Farage added: “I have to tell you, this whole thing was a complete and total set-up, I have no doubt about that.”

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But Mr Parker told Sky News his volunteering for Reform was separate from his acting job and claimed he had been “goaded” into making the comments caught on camera.

He said: “There’s lots of old people like me who are sick to death of this woke agenda… but on that particular day, I was set up and set up good and proper.

“It’s proper taught me a lesson – I was a total fool.”

He added: “I still support Nigel Farage, I think Nigel Farage is a brilliant guy.

“I think Nigel Farage is the only person who tells the truth.”

Mr Sunak also hit out at Mr Farage’s previous praise of Andrew Tate as an “important voice” for men.

The online influencer has faced charges of human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women – charges he has denied.

The prime minister said: “Andrew Tate isn’t an important voice for men. He’s a vile misogynist. And our politics and country is better than that.”

The other candidates in Clacton are:

Matthew Bensilum, Liberal Democrat

Craig Jamieson, Climate Party

Tony Mack, independent

Natasha Oben, Green Party

Tasos Papanastasiou, Heritage Party

Andrew Pemberton, UK Independence Party

Giles Watling, Conservative

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‘Shameful’ that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

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'Shameful' that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

It is “shameful” that black boys growing up in London are “far more likely” to die than white boys, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has told Sky News.

The commissioner told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that relations with minority communities “is difficult for us”.

Sir Mark, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK’s largest police force in 2022, said: “We can’t pretend otherwise that we’ve got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong.

“And we get a lot more right today, but we do still make mistakes. That’s not in doubt. I’m being as relentless in that as it can be.”

He said the “vast majority” of the force are “good people”.

However, he added: “But that legacy, combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities, that creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern.”

Sir Mark, who also leads the UK’s counter-terrorism policing, said it is “not right” that black boys growing up in London “are far more likely to be dead by the time they’re 18” than white boys.

“That’s, I think, shameful for the city,” he admitted.

The Met Police chief’s admission comes two years after an official report found the force is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

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Police chase suspected phone thief

Baroness Casey was commissioned in 2021 to look into the Met Police after serving police officer Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

She pinned the primary blame for the Met’s culture on its past leadership and found that stop and search and the use of force against black people was excessive.

At the time, Sir Mark, who had been commissioner for six months when the report was published, said he would not use the labels of institutionally racist, institutionally misogynistic and institutionally homophobic, which Casey insisted the Met deserved.

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who helped hire Sir Mark – and could fire him – made it clear the commissioner agreed with Baroness Casey’s verdict.

After the report was released, Sir Mark said “institutional” was political language so he was not going to use it, but he accepted “we have racists, misogynists…systematic failings, management failings, cultural failings”.

A few months after the report, Sir Mark launched a two-year £366m plan to overhaul the Met, including increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing to rebuild public trust and plans to recruit 500 more community support officers and an extra 565 people to work with teams investigating domestic violence, sexual offences and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

Labour’s largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row.

Members of the trade union, one of the UK’s largest, also “overwhelmingly” voted to “re-examine its relationship” with Labour over the issue.

They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council’s leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for “bringing the union into disrepute”.

There was confusion over Ms Rayner’s membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended.

But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament’s latest register of interests had her down as a member in May.

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The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday.

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Unite is one of the Labour Party’s largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual.

The union condemned Birmingham’s Labour council and the government for “attacking the bin workers”.

Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made.

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Rat catcher tackling Birmingham’s bins problem

Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for “effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000”, the union added.

‘Missing in action’

General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: “Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table.”

She had earlier said: “Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.

“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.

“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.

“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.”

SN pics from 10/04/25 Tyseley Lane, Tyseley, Birmingham showing some rubbish piling up because of bin strikes
Image:
Piles of rubbish built up around Birmingham because of the strike over pay

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government’s “priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham”.

He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had “caused disruption” to the city.

“We’ve worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council […] as we support its recovery,” he added.

A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance co-founder CZ has dismissed a Bloomberg report linking him to the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin, threatening legal action over alleged defamation.

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