Nigel Farage has done more to tackle racism and the far-right than ‘almost anybody’, Robert Jenrick claims

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Nigel Farage has done more to tackle racism and the far-right than “almost anybody”, Robert Jenrick has claimed as Reform UK battles fresh allegations of sexism and racism. The extraordinary claim came as Reform’s Treasury spokesperson sought to defend the party after a new undercover sting operation found councillors and candidates within Reform UK had used racist language . The footage also showed Mr Farage appearing to let off a mayoral candidate accused of racism . Asked about the ITV documentary, Mr Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "I didn't like what I heard in the documentary or what I've seen in it. The party has acted immediately. open image in gallery An anti-migrant poster unveiled by Nigel Farage was reported to the police in 2016 with a complaint that it incites racial hatred and breaches UK race laws ( AFP/Getty ) “We have and will never have any place for racism or comments of that kind in Reform, and so we acted to suspend or remove all of the individuals in question, including the councillor Feeney from Solihull that you just referenced, and we couldn't do more than that.” He added: "I don't accept that this happens any more in Reform than any other party. “What you do have, which is different in Reform, is media organisations lying, faking documents, spending millions of pounds a year in this case to film undercover thousands of interactions with councillors and members and young, in many cases members of staff at the Reform headquarters, ultimately, I presume, with the aim of trying to find Nigel Farage saying or acting in an inappropriate way. “And once again, this undercover documentary did not succeed in doing that. He is the most heavily scrutinised figure in British politics, and he's someone who's probably done more than almost anybody else to stand against racism and the far right, and to protect our politics from that over the course of my lifetime." Mr Jenrick’s claims came after secretly filmed footage showed Mr Farage telling his director of communications, Ed Sumner, that the party’s mayor candidate for Hampshire and the Solent, Chris Parry, must apologise to David Lammy for a social media post in which he said the then-deputy prime minister should “go home to the Caribbean”. The footage cuts to Mr Sumner saying to Mr Farage “you’re protecting him”, before the party leader says: “It’s showing a bit of... bit of sorrow. Look, ‘I’m sorry’ is probably a good thing to hear. Just take the f***ing deal.” In Mr Parry’s social post in January over speculation that the government could be considering talks about reparations for slavery, he wrote: “Lammy must go home to the Caribbean where his loyalty lies.” open image in gallery Jenrick also denied the party was chauvinistic after his fellow MP Sarah Pochin was caught by undercover filming complaining about the party’s culture ( PA Wire ) At the time, Labour described the remarks as “racist and grossly offensive”. Mr Parry later apologised “for any distress or offence” caused. Mr Farage has repeatedly been accused of making inflammatory remarks that could stir up racial tensions in the past. In 2016 during the Brexit referendum, the Reform leader was reported to the police over an anti-migrant poster which critics claimed incited racial hatred and breaches UK race laws. The poster showed a queue of mostly non-white migrants and refugees with the slogan “Breaking point: the EU has failed us all.” In November 2025, Scottish first minister John Swinney said some remarks Mr Farage made about Glasgow schoolchildren were “simply racist”. Mr Farage, in a video on social media, claimed one in three schoolchildren in Glasgow do not speak English as their first language. Mr Swinney said the comments demonstrated that Mr Farage is “a purveyor of racist views”, adding: “I think Nigel Farage’s comments are just quite simply racist. That’s what they are. There’s no other way to describe it. “I don’t know quite when we believed that multilingualism was something of a problem in our society, and certainly not the view I take. I think it’s a benefit. I think it reflects the diversity of our country.” And last year, the Guardian published testimony from former pupils at Dulwich College accusing Mr Farage of racist and antisemitic behaviour during his school years - allegations the Reform leader denies. The latest footage, part of a documentary by ITV Exposure to be screened on Sunday night, captured the conversation between Mr Farage and Mr Sumner following a press conference where the party leader said Mr Parry should apologise. It showed Mr Farage saying Mr Parry “must apologise to Lammy”, before Mr Sumner tells him they had written him a text that he’s “not too happy with”. Mr Farage said: “No, I'm sure, but he must do it and move on…Tell him that from me.” When the Reform UK leader left, Mr Sumner said: “He's lucky, if it was up to me, I'd have kicked him out f***ing months ago.” The footage also found councillors and candidates within Reform UK had used racist language. Meanwhile, Runcorn and Helsby MP Sarah Pochin described the party as “so f***ing chauvinistic”, telling an undercover reporter: “I go out on all the shows, and go: ‘Oh no, it’s lovely, oh they’re all so welcoming.’ S***… they just exclude you if you’re a woman… It’s really tough being a girl with all of this alpha male s*** going on.” Asked about Ms Pochin’s remarks, Mr Jenrick denied Reform is chauvinistic, saying: “That’s not my experience of Reform.” He added: “I’ve spoken to Sarah many times. We are colleagues and friends and she knows that she can always rely on me. But it’s not my experience that the party has problems of that kind.”