Jenrick Defends Farage Amid Undercover Investigation Into Reform UK

LONDON: Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick has defended party leader Nigel Farage against fresh allegations of racism within the party’s ranks, claiming that Farage has “probably done more than almost anybody” to stand against racism and the far right.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday, Jenrick, the party’s Treasury spokesperson and MP for Newark, described Farage as the most heavily scrutinised figure in British politics and said he had worked throughout Jenrick’s lifetime to protect British politics from racism and extremism.

His remarks followed the release of footage from an ITV Exposure undercover investigation, which spent a year inside Reform UK. The clips reportedly show Farage being rebuked by a party official for “protecting” a mayoral candidate who had been accused of making racist remarks about former Labour deputy prime minister David Lammy, and pushing back against senior advisers who said the candidate should be removed. The candidate was eventually suspended in March after further remarks were revealed by The Guardian.

Earlier clips from the investigation showed Alan Feeney, a Reform councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull, describing Asian homeowners as “parasites” and saying that no more than 1 per cent of the British population could be non-white. The investigation also reported racist and misogynistic language used by other councillors and candidates.

Jenrick said he had not liked what he had heard or seen in the documentary, but insisted the party had acted immediately to suspend or remove the councillors involved. He defended Reform’s vetting procedures, saying that all political parties have “bad apples”.

He also rejected a claim by fellow Reform MP Sarah Pochin, who was filmed during the investigation describing the party as chauvinistic in expletive-laden terms, saying that this had not been his experience of the party.

Reform UK has maintained that there is no room for racism in its ranks, while Farage has said the ITV investigation was carried out because the establishment wanted the party “out of the picture”.

The full documentary, Undercover: A Year in Reform, is due to air on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, October 18.