A Reform UK activist filmed making a racial slur about prime minister Rishi Sunak claims he cannot be racist as “he has had Muslim girlfriends”.
Andrew Parker was recorded by a Channel 4 undercover reporter saying army recruits should use migrants arriving by small boats in Kent as “target practice”, and labelling Islam a “disgusting cult” in widely condemned comments.
Referring to Mr Sunak, who is of Indian descent, he said: “I’ve always been a Tory voter. But what annoys me is that f****** p*** we’ve got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He’s just wet. F****** useless.”
Speaking on Friday, Mr Parker claimed he had made the comments in “the heat of the moment” because he was being “goaded on” and said they were “off-the-cuff”.
“Of course I regret what I said,” he added. “Christ, I’m not a racist. I’ve had Muslim girlfriends. It was typical chaps-down-the-pub talk.”
Asked whether he would like to apologise, he said: “Of course I’m sorry. They were off-the-cuff things that everyone says.”
Mr Parker said he had “a lot of Pakistani friends” and “Muslim friends”, and that he was “sick to death” of being asked about the footage, which was only released on Thursday.
Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer condemned the comments and said Mr Farage had questions to answer over another racism row involving his party.
The Prime Minister said the slur “hurts and it makes me angry”, adding: “My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing p****.
“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.”
Sir Keir said he was “shocked” by the “clearly racist” footage and that the Reform UK leader faced a “test of leadership”.
The Labour leader told BBC Breakfast: “You have to ask the question why so many people who are supporting Reform seem to be exposed in this particular way.
“It’s for a leader to change his or her party, to make sure the culture is right, and the standards are understood by everybody within the party.”
On Friday Mr Farage and Reform supporters tried to suggest the incident was a ‘set up’ after it emerged Mr Parker was an actor. The party leader said he was “dismayed” by the racist comments, describing them as “appalling sentiments”, but claimed “the whole episode does not add up”.
But Mr Parker rejected the suggestion of conspiracy, and said he had become involved with Reform UK by contacting the party himself and volunteering to do leafletting because he believes in its message.
Channel 4 News also shot down any criticism of its reporting when it exposed Mr Parker’s comments during an undercover operation.
“We strongly stand by our rigorous and duly impartial journalism which speaks for itself,” a spokesperson said. “We met Mr Parker for the first time at Reform UK party headquarters, where he was a Reform party canvasser.
“We did not pay the Reform UK canvasser or anyone else in this report. Mr Parker was not known to Channel 4 News and was filmed covertly via the undercover operation.”
