Police ‘urgently assessing’ racist comments by Reform activists as Sunak speaks of anger

Published

1 year ago

June 28, 2024

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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.”

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.”

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

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

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July 10, 2025

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Politics

Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

Published

11 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”