LONDON: As Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party registers gains in British opinion polls, its candidates are coming under greater scrutiny, with several accused of making racist and misogynistic comments.
The veteran pro-Brexit populist has claimed that Reform is “now the real opposition” to predicted general election winners Labour, after a single YouGov poll published on Thursday put them a point ahead of the ruling Conservatives.
YouGov may be the only pollster so far to show a lead for Reform over the Tories but the hard-right party stands to gain from the support of right-wing voters disgruntled with 14 years of Conservative rule.
Earlier this year, Reform was polling in single digits.
It only obtained its first MP in March, when former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson defected to Reform after being reprimanded by the Conservatives.
He was sanctioned after refusing to apologize for falsely claiming that London mayor Sadiq Khan was “controlled by Islamists.”
Reform now has some 609 general election candidates — nearly double the number from 2019, when it was known as the Brexit Party.
According to Hope Not Hate, which campaigns against racism and fascism, Reform has ditched 166 candidates this year, with many having to be dropped for making offensive or racist comments.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s snap election call last month left Reform rushing to find nominees before final nominations were due last week — following its pledge to run in all of the country’s 650 constituencies.
“The real danger lies in the haphazard approach of the party to candidate recruitment and vetting,” said Georgie Laming, director of campaigns at Hope Not Hate.
One candidate was dropped in April for being “inactive” but the party had to apologize when it later transpired that he had in fact died.
“Time and time again, Reform UK candidates are exposed for racism and extremism,” Laming said.
Farage admitted on Thursday that the party had failed to fully vet all its candidates.
“Don’t forget, I’ve come in right at the last minute. We have not had time to do full vetting of candidates,” said Farage in an interview with LBC radio.
Farage is standing in the seaside resort of Clacton in eastern England after previously ruling out a bid to seek election.
The party had earlier conceded it was fielding some “paper” candidates, with Reform chair Richard Tice saying the “press and scrutineers” were doing the vetting for them.
In the week since final candidate lists were published, the party has dropped at least two candidates over revelations of racism.
One used slurs against black people, among other offensive comments found by the Times newspaper.
Another liked an Islamophobic post calling London mayor Khan an “undercover jihadist.”
Since then, dozens of accusations have been made against other Reform candidates still running for seats in Westminster.
One apologized after the BBC revealed he had posted online claiming that Britain would be better off if it had “taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality,” and another calling women the “sponging gender.”
Reform defended the comments, with one spokesman saying they were “written with an eye to inconvenient perspectives and truths.”
Multiple candidates who are still running have liked and retweeted posts supporting Enoch Powell, a firebrand right-wing politician in the 1960s who stoked fears of racial war if immigration went unchecked.
One candidate was found by LBC comparing “Islam and Nazis” as being “the same.”
Another retweeted a post saying Labour leader Keir Starmer was “owned by Muslims.”
Others have, like the party’s leadership, voiced climate change skeptic views.
One candidate’s biography on the Reform website called net zero a “dangerous false ideology” and cited UAE and Russia’s questioning of the “science of climate change.”
Farage, who wants the vote to be an “immigration election,” has been accused of dog-whistle politics himself.
He said UK-born Sunak — Britain’s first prime minister of color and of Asian heritage — did not understand “our culture.”
Hard-right Reform UK’s patchwork candidates face scrutiny
https://arab.news/nf7nk
Hard-right Reform UK’s patchwork candidates face scrutiny
- The veteran pro-Brexit populist has claimed that Reform is “now the real opposition” to predicted general election winners Labour
- YouGov may be the only pollster so far to show a lead for Reform over the Tories
Zelensky reaffirms his refusal to cede land to Russia as he rallies European support
- “Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, don’t want to give up anything. That’s what we are fighting for,” Zelensky says
ROME: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reaffirmed his strong refusal to cede any territory, resisting US pressure for painful concessions to Russia as he moved ahead Tuesday to rally more European support for his country.
“Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, don’t want to give up anything. That’s what we are fighting for,” Zelensky told reporters in a WhatsApp chat late Monday.
“Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we don’t have such right,” he said. “According to Ukraine’s law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we don’t have a moral right either.”
In an interview with Politico released Tuesday, US President Donald Trump pressed Zelensky to accept the US proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Russia, arguing Moscow has the “upper hand” in its nearly 4-year-old invasion, and that Zelensky’s government must “play ball.”
Zelensky met in Rome with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, discussing the progress of the peace process, her office said. They emphasized the importance of US and European unity and of solutions “that will have repercussions on the continent’s security,” the statement said.
They also discussed “developing robust security guarantees to prevent future aggression and maintaining pressure on Russia to join the negotiating table in good faith,” it said.
Earlier, Zelensky met with Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo, a papal residence outside Rome. The Vatican said Leo reiterated the need for continuing dialogue and “expressed his urgent desire that the current diplomatic initiatives bring about a just and lasting peace.”
The Holy See has tried to stay neutral in the war while offering solidarity and assistance to what it calls the “martyred” people of Ukraine. Leo has met three times with Zelensky and has spoken by telephone at least once with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for a ceasefire and urging Moscow to make gestures promoting peace.
On Monday, Zelensky held talks in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to strengthen Ukraine’s hand amid mounting impatience from Trump.
Ukraine faces US pressure
US and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the Trump administration’s peace proposal.
A major sticking point is the suggestion that Kyiv must give up control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia, which occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies firmly resist the idea of handing over land.
“You know, a lot of people are dying,” Trump told Politico on Monday, claiming that other Ukrainian officials that he identified only as Zelensky’s “lieutenants, his top people” agree with the US administration.
Other than Zelensky’s comments Monday, Ukrainian negotiators have said little in public about the content of the US proposal or their attitude toward it.
Speaking to reporters again Tuesday on WhatsApp, Zelensky said three documents were being discussed with American and European partners — a 20-point framework document that is constantly changing, a document on security guarantees and a document about Ukraine’s recovery.
Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine’s updated version of the proposal would be given to the US on Wednesday.
Russia, Trump said, is too powerful for Ukraine to continue fighting.
“I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the, you know, bravery and for the fighting and all of that,” he said. “But you know, at some point, size will win, generally.”
Trump also repeated his call for Ukraine to hold a presidential election even though martial law doesn’t allow it and Zelensky, elected in 2019, had his five-year term extended because of the war. Trump’s position on Ukraine’s failure to hold an election mirrors frequent statements on the subject by Putin.
Responding to Trump’s remarks, Zelensky asked for help from the US and possibly Europe “to ensure security for the elections” and suggested that Ukraine could be ready to hold balloting in 60 to 90 days.
In past comments, Zelensky has declined to hold elections until a ceasefire is declared and martial law lifted, and Ukrainians have largely supported that decision.
European leaders repeat support for Kyiv
Starmer, Macron and Merz strongly backed Kyiv, with the UK leader saying Monday that the push for peace was at a “critical stage” and stressing the need for “a just and lasting ceasefire.”
Merz, meanwhile, said he was “skeptical” about some details in documents released by the US “We have to talk about it. That’s why we are here,” he said. “The coming days … could be a decisive time for all of us.”
European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the US to deter Russia from attacking again. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.
Zelensky and his European allies have repeatedly accused Putin of slow-walking the talks to press ahead with the invasion.
Both sides exchange aerial strikes
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 110 drones across the country overnight. While air defenses neutralized 84 drones, 24 more struck their targets.
Several regions of Ukraine faced emergency blackouts Tuesday due to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo.
UN deputy humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya said Tuesday only 65 percent of the $278 million required to fund a winter response plan in Ukraine has been received, forcing cuts to services like cash assistance, heating support, mental health care and protection for women and girls.
This means families are facing freezing temperatures without heating, women and girls are losing access to “safe spaces” and older people in front-line areas are left without the means to evacuate, she told the UN Security Council.
The UK Defense Ministry said a member of the British military died Tuesday of his injuries from an accident while observing Ukrainian troops test a defensive system away from the front lines — the first UK servicemember to die in Ukraine in the war. It was not immediately clear what role he was serving or where the accident occurred.
The UK military has said a small of number of personnel are in Ukraine to protect British diplomats and support Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine also continued its drone attacks on Russia.
Russia said it destroyed 121 drones in various regions and in the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In Chuvashia, a region about 900 kilometers (about 560 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border, an attack damaged residential buildings and injured nine people, Gov. Oleg Nikolayev said.
Ukraine’s Security Service carried out a drone attack on a liquefied gas terminal at the port of Temryuk in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Dec. 5, according to an official with knowledge of the operation who spoke to The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the strike sparked a fire at the facility, with more than 20 storage tanks set ablaze for over three days.
