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Agence France-Presse

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday denounced the use of a racist slur against him by an anti-immigration Reform UK party campaigner, as the general election campaign entered its final week.
An undercover investigation by Channel 4 filmed campaigners making racist, homophobic and offensive comments in Clacton-on-Sea, eastern England, where Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is hoping to be elected as an MP next Thursday.
One canvasser was heard using the racist slur about British-Indian Sunak, a practising Hindu and Britain’s first prime minister of colour.
The supporter also described Islam as “the most disgusting cult” and called for Muslims to be kicked “out of mosques” and their places of worship turned into pubs.

Farage, who campaigned as a European parliamentarian for Britain to leave the European Union and now wants a freeze on immigration, called the comments a “complete and total set-up”.
He suggested the canvasser, Andrew Parker, who was leafleting in Clacton last week, may have been paid to act in the video, possibly by opponents threatened by the party’s popularity.
Parker said that he was a part-time actor and that he campaigned for Reform in a personal capacity.
But Sunak said: “My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing Paki. 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.”
Channel 4 denied Farage’s claims of fabrication.
“We met Mr Parker for the first time at Reform UK party headquarters, where he was a Reform party canvasser,” it said.


The hard-right Farage making an eighth bid to win a seat in parliament has faced a number of controversies since the campaign began. A string of Reform UK candidates have been ditched or suspended over allegations of offensive comments.
According to the anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate, Reform UK has had to withdraw 166 candidates since the beginning of the year, many of whom have made racist or offensive remarks.
Last week, Farage caused outrage by saying in a BBC interview that the West had “provoked” Russia into invading Ukraine because of Kyiv’s aim of joining Nato and the European Union. The latest scandal met cross-party condemnation.
Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is tipped to replace Sunak as prime minister, said he was “shocked” by the footage and that Farage faces a “test of leadership”.
Farage has already faced criticism for saying Sunak, who was educated at a top private school and studied at Oxford University, does not “understand our culture”.
That followed condemnation of the premier leaving early from D-Day commemorations in France.
A new poll published by the Labour supporting Mirror newspaper on Friday put Sunak’s Conservatives on 18 per cent, with Reform on 21 per cent, both well behind Labour on 38 per cent.
Support for Reform could split the right-wing vote, handing Labour a landslide, analysts say.

Farage has given various reasons when probed on the number of dismissals from Reform UK, including blaming the vetting company his party hired to scrutinise potential candidates.
In the Channel 4 report, Parker is heard calling for new army recruits to carry out “target practice” by shooting undocumented migrants trying to cross the Channel from France in small boats.
George Jones, a Reform UK events organiser, was filmed making homophobic remarks including describing the LGBTQ flag as “degenerate”.
Police said they were “urgently assessing” the comments to “establish if there are any criminal offences”.
Parker called the comments “typical chaps-down-the-pub talk”. “I’m not racist, I’ve had Muslim girlfriends,” he told the Press Association news agency.
Farage said while the comments were “crass” and “vulgar”, Jones was “drunk” at a pub after watching an England football match, adding that “people when they’re drunk often turn quite nasty”.
The campaigners have been dismissed, according to Reform.


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Britain

UK PM Rishi Sunak slams racist slur by Nigel Farage party campaigner

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a speech in Leeds, northern England, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reacts during an interview in London on Friday. Photo: AFP

Reform UK supporters attend a Nigel Farage election campaign event in Maidstone, Kent, on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Reform UK’s Nigel Farage blames Nato and EU for ‘provoking’ Ukraine war

A Ukrainian serviceman drives a Leopard 2A4 tank during a test drive at an undisclosed location in the east of Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage plays on a game in an amusement arcade in Essex, England, on June 21. Photo: AP

Brexiteer Nigel Farage vows tighter borders, tax cuts, Reform to be ‘real’ UK opposition

Leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage delivers a speech to launch the hard-right party’s general election manifesto. Photo: AFP

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, during the launch of the party’s ‘Our Contract with You’ general election manifesto on Monday. Photo: Bloomberg

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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on the campaign trail. Photo: PA via AP

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden at the G7 Summit in Italy this week. Photo: AFP

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. Photo: PA via AP

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer clash in final TV debate before UK election

Britain’s Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak speaks during a live TV debate in Nottingham on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer takes part in the BBC’s Prime Ministerial Debate in Nottingham on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage speaks during an interview in Clacton-on-Sea, England, on June 21. Photo: AP

UK’s Sunak projected to lose seat in election as new polls suggest historic Tory defeat

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wears a life jacket as he campaigns in Clovelly, Britain. Photo: Reuters

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a tour of a nuclear power facility in Sizewell on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer meets staff at a supermarket in Wiltshire, England. Photo: PA via AP

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, is predicted to win a seat. Photo: Bloomberg

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Europe

An undercover investigation filmed anti-immigration Reform UK campaigners making racist, homophobic and offensive comments


An undercover investigation filmed anti-immigration Reform UK campaigners making racist, homophobic and offensive comments.


Rishi Sunak

Racism and other prejudice