Labour has called on Nigel Farage to sack two more Reform UK local election candidates accused of offensive social media posts, saying the party's vetting procedures are 'clearly not fit for purpose'. The fresh controversies come ahead of the 7 May local elections in England, as well as Scottish and Welsh parliament elections.
Alan Stay, a Reform candidate on the Isle of Wight, shared racist and sexist messages on Facebook, including one that repeatedly used an explicitly racist epithet. Another candidate, Caroline Panetta, standing in Bexley, retweeted anti-Islam comments and posted that Islam was 'the religion of rape, incest and paedophilia'. She also shared posts questioning the murder conviction of George Floyd's killer.
Labour chair Anna Turley said: 'What will it take for Nigel Farage to finally act? Farage has repeatedly boasted about Reform’s vetting procedures but it is still clearly not fit for purpose. Farage must condemn these vile remarks, sack them as Reform candidates and kick them out of his party without delay.'
Separately, Restore Britain, the party set up by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, has accepted a donation from an activist who called for 'another Hitler' to come to power. Miles Routledge, who donated £2,500 to join the party's Cromwell Club, also threatened to imprison journalists. Lowe has not disowned openly racist supporters.
