Nigel Farage has insisted he is not “fanning the flames of anything” as he defended his handling of the racism row engulfing the Reform UK party.
Speaking to a crowd of 5,000 supporters at his “biggest ever rally”, he also insisted the “bad apples are gone” from his party “and we’ll never have them back”.
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Mr Farage is coming under pressure following the controversy over a Reform canvasser who was caught making a racial slur about the prime minister in an undercover investigation.
Speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, The Reform UK leader denied stoking division by failing to get a grip on racism within his party.
“Political parties attract all sorts of people. I always think politics brings out the best and the worst in people and I am not fanning the flames of anything. I want unity in this country,” he said.
Pressed on why his party seems to attract people who hold extremist views, the former UKIP leader claimed it was because he had driven the British Nationalist Party (BNP) “out as an electoral force”.
“Ironically, destroying the BNP means people who are minded that way don’t any longer have a home to go to, and so some will gravitate in our direction,” he added.
Mr Farage went on to say that “anybody who has a racist point of view, I don’t want to know”.
He added: “I want to live, Trevor, in a country that is literally colour-blind. I couldn’t care less what colour you are. I’m not interested in what sexuality you have. Let’s treat everybody equally. That is my agenda.”
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The undercover investigation, by Channel 4, showed Reform activist Andrew Parker using the racial slur “P***” to describe the prime minister, describing Islam as a “disgusting cult”, and saying the army should “just shoot” migrants crossing the Channel.
Another canvasser described the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggested members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.
Reform UK has also had to drop several election candidates because of racist remarks they have made.
An attendee wearing a Nigel Farage mask ahead of the Reform UK party’s rally.
Pic: Reuters
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Mr Farage has been criticised by both the Tories and Labour over the controversy.
Rishi Sunak took the decision to repeat the slur made about him to “call out what it was”, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he shared the prime minister’s “disgust”.
Mr Farage has refused to apologise and even claimed Mr Parker was a “paid actor” who was part of a “deliberate attempt to derail our campaign”.
‘Bad apples gone from Reform’
Mr Parker and Channel 4 have denied this, but the Reform UK leader repeated the claim at an election rally later on Sunday at which claimed the “bad apples” are now gone from his party.
“Look, Reform is a new organisation. It’s a start-up and there were requests put out for candidates to stand,” he said.
In reference to the election betting scandal he added: “Have we had a few bad apples? We have, although to my knowledge nobody involved in an organised betting ring is standing for us.
“I have to say, the bad apples are gone. We’ll never have them back.”
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Sunak ‘hurt’ over Reform race row
The rally came after the prime minister bolstered his attack on Mr Farage, saying he had shown “no contrition or remorse”.
Asked how the Reform row was different to the case of Frank Hester, a Tory donor who allegedly made racist comments about Diane Abbott, Mr Sunak told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “The difference is that Nigel Farage has just described these comments (by Mr Parker) as inappropriate.
“They’re not inappropriate. They were vile and racist and wrong.
“The person who made them has only apologised to the Reform Party for the impact it’s had on them. It’s a very clear difference. There is no contrition or remorse and or acceptance of what’s happened in that case.”
Mr Hester, who has donated £15m to the Tory party, apologised for comments he made about Ms Abbott, but claimed they “had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
Mr Sunak was criticised for the way he initially responded to the allegations about the major party donor, before eventually condemning the remarks as “racist”.
