A Channel 4 News undercover investigation on the election campaign in Clacton has exposed examples of racist language being used towards the Prime Minister.

The investigator conducted filming for Channel 4 News, with filming concluding last week. 

The recorded footage reveals a Reform UK canvasser openly making racist and Islamophobic comments to potential voters on the ground.

The canvasser also calls for ‘target practice’ on people arriving by boat and to ringfence 'Bradistan'.

The undercover investigator went on the campaign trail with a Reform UK canvasser, Andrew Parker.

In a car en route to canvassing potential voters, Mr Parker gives the undercover investigator advice on what to say on the doorstep.
“The immigration thing, use the word ‘illegal’. Emphasise ‘illegal’ especially if you open the door and there’s a bunch of p****.”

Giving his view on Muslims and what the party would do with mosques, Mr Parker says to the undercover investigator: 

“Sick mate. Sick m*****f******”, adding: “It’s a cult. I tell you what, if you don’t know about Islam, it is the most disgusting cult out”. 

“We’re f****** kicking all the Muslims out of the mosques and turning them into Wetherspoons.“

In the same conversation, Mr Parker describes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “f****** p***”.

“I’ve always been a Tory voter,” he says, “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”. 

 

 

Talking to a prospective voter on the doorstep, Mr Parker is also heard expressing his views on how to stop the boats, suggesting army recruits should carry out “target practice”.

“You’ve got Deal, haven’t you. The place near Dover. Army recruitment. Get the young recruits there, yeah, with guns on the f****** beach, target practice. F****** just shoot them. That is what the Greeks done… You know about that. The Greeks shot a load… Ringfence Bradfordstan. 

Round the f****** up. Do that f****** lot as well. And you’ve got these bastards running our country. You must be f****** joking mate.”

He later tells a man who says he’s a paramedic to deny oxygen to a patient in an ambulance if they are “any of that f****** lot”. 

“And do us a favour. You’re a paramedic. Any of that f****** lot get in your ambulance, just don’t put oxygen on the bastard. Use something else. You know where I’m coming from”, he says.

The programme’s report also heads to a pub where senior campaign figures meet.

In a statement to Channel 4 News, Mr Nigel Farage said: 
“I am dismayed by the reported comments of a handful of people associated with my local campaign, particularly those who are volunteers. They will no longer be with the campaign.

“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.

“Reform UK is a party for everybody who believes in Britain. I am proud that our supporters, candidates and national campaign team come from all backgrounds and identities.

“I would be interested to know whether Channel 4 is subjecting the grassroots volunteers of all the political parties to similar subterfuges, or whether Reform UK has been singled out for special attention.

“For instance, have they covered the grotesquely racist social media post by Labour’s candidate in Clacton who has now apparently been banished to the Midlands?

“Just one week before polling day, we will not allow this to distract us from our mission to give voters a real alternative to the establishment parties that have broken Britain.”

In a statement to Channel 4 News, Mr Peter Harris has said: 
“As Reform UK Agent and Campaign Manager in Clacton I am appalled by these reported comments. All parties in such a short campaign are having to deal with the challenges of working with many activists they may not have met before.

“Any individuals who have been identified as making unacceptable comments and holding those views are not welcome in our campaign. We are running a campaign to represent all voters in Clacton.

“No political party is perfect. Just ask Labour’s candidate in Clacton, whom it seems has been exiled from Essex after it emerged that he was behind a blatantly racist social media post.

“As to the suggestion that our campaign has overspent; I can assure everyone that this is completely untrue.

"We are well within the legal limits and, like all parties, our returns will be delivered promptly after the close of the polls.”

Mr Andrew Parker told Channel 4 News: “I am making this statement in response to your letter informing me of your intention to broadcast clandestine undercover recordings you have of me whilst canvassing for the Reform Party.

“I would like to make it clear that neither Nigel Farage personally or the Reform Party are aware of my personal views on immigration.

“I have never discussed Immigration with either Nigel Farage or the Reform Party and that any comments made by me during those recordings are my own personal views on any subject I commented on.

"At no time before I was sent out to canvass did I discuss my personal views with any representative of the Reform Party or Nigel Farage.

“I would therefore like to apologise profusely to Nigel Farage and the Reform Party if my personal views have reflected badly on them and brought them into disrepute as this was not my intention. 

"I offered to help the Reform Party on their canvassing as I believe that they are the only party that offer the UK voter a practical solution to the illegal immigration problem that we have in the UK.”

The full investigation will be broadcast tonight on Channel 4 News at 7pm - Thursday June 27.