By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) – Britain's right-wing Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage is facing backlash after one of his party’s campaigners was filmed making racist and Islamophobic comments.
A Reform UK party canvasser in Clacton constituency in Essex, East of England, where the party leader Nigel Farage is contesting the upcoming election, was secretly filmed making offensive, racist, and Islamophobic comments about migrants and Muslims.
Channel 4 News shared a video on Thursday, in which Andrew Parker, a Reform canvasser who was filmed as part of the broadcaster’s undercover investigation, also used a racial slur to refer to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent.
He was also heard saying those who arrive in Britain on small boats should be shot by army recruits.
Reacting to the footage, filming of which was concluded last week, Farage said he was "dismayed" by the views expressed by the canvasser.
"The appalling sentiments expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views, those of the vast majority of our supporters or Reform UK policy. Some of the language used was reprehensible," he noted in a statement.
The remarks come just days before the general election on July 4, as recent polls indicate that Reform UK is closing the gap with the Conservative Party.
Farage referred to Parker as "the man that made the astonishing racist comments that have given us so much negative coverage."
He has confirmed that the canvasser will be dropped from the campaign.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said the incident is a test of Farage’s leadership and control over his party’s culture.
"I was shocked by what I heard in the report, (it was) clearly racist. And I think this is a test of leadership," he told BBC early Friday.
Along with some NGOs, many social media users reacted to the footage with racist and Islamophobic comments.
However, early Friday, the Reform Party leader claimed that they have now learn that Parker "is an actor by profession."
"His own website says he is ‘well spoken’ but from the moment he arrived in Clacton he was doing what he calls ‘rough speaking,’" he wrote on X.
Reform UK is currently polling as the third party ahead of the July 4 election, trailing only the Conservative Party by a few points, while polls show the Labour Party on course for a landslide majority after 14 years in opposition.