Reform UK candidate concentration camps comment caught on undercover film
A prospective Reform UK MP told an undercover reporter that asylum seekers arriving on small boats should be locked up in concentration camps during the first week of an election, in footage from an undercover ITV investigation due to be broadcast on Sunday.
Reform UK candidate concentration camps comment caught on undercover film
What the candidate was recorded saying
The activist and aspiring MP, who has not been publicly identified, was recorded telling an undercover reporter that Muslims cannot be British and that asylum seekers crossing the Channel should be placed in concentration camps. In the recording he described himself as "pretty hardline about Islam".
On small boats crossings, he set out how he would handle arrivals:
In the first week of election, build concentration camps, and everyone who comes across on the Channel, you're in there.
He made an exception for someone who abandoned the faith, saying a Muslim who de-converts would be acceptable to him. Of Reform's home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf, who is Muslim, he said "you cannot be a Muslim and British", adding that "it's like oil and water".
The wider investigation
The recording comes from the undercover ITV investigation that has already seen Reform accused of "appalling behaviour" and "extreme racism". Excerpts released earlier in the week showed councillors and candidates within the party using racist language, including:
- black children referred to as "animals";
- a Reform member saying his area had become "infested" with Asian families.
Separately, Alan Feeney resigned as a Reform councillor for Solihull and Birmingham on Friday after racist comments he had made were uncovered by the investigation.
How Reform and Labour responded
In a statement to ITV, Reform UK said it had improved and prioritised its vetting procedures but that from time to time a handful of individuals who do not share its values would initially get through. "There is no room for racism in Reform UK. We always respect due process of investigations", the party said, adding that it would not comment on individual cases while investigations are ongoing.
Nigel Farage said earlier in the week that Reform carries out vetting but "you can't vet people for what they say in the future". Labour party chair Bridget Phillipson said his response to the revelations showed he was "completely unfit to lead", arguing that the racism revelations go right to the top of Reform UK and that Farage is incapable of taking responsibility because he himself shares culpability.
The footage is due to be broadcast on Sunday. The activist at its centre remains unnamed.
