Australia edition
Brazil edition
Canada edition
France edition
Germany edition
India edition
Indonesia edition
Israel edition
Italy edition
Japan edition
Korea edition
Netherlands edition
Saudi Arabia edition
Spain edition
Switzerland edition
Taiwan edition
U.K. edition
U.S. edition
Ukraine edition
Vietnam editionThe Mirror reported on Saturday 17 October that an undercover ITV sting shows a Reform UK councillor saying he wants to 'machine gun' perpetrators of grooming gang crimes. The same report says Nigel Farage has been accused of 'sitting on his hands' after fresh allegations of racism in the party. The Guardian reported late on Friday 16 October that Alan Feeney, who sat on Solihull and Birmingham councils, resigned after being filmed making racist remarks. Mr Feeney was quoted as saying there was 'no excuse' for his comments. The reports reviewed do not name the person making the accusation against Mr Farage. Neither report states whether the Feeney filming and the ITV sting are connected.
Parties that grow fast through council seats rely on candidates vetted quickly, and filmed remarks show where that process failed. Voters in the affected wards lose a councillor and may face a by-election, while the party's leader is pressed over whether he acts only when a camera forces the issue.
If you live in a ward with a Reform councillor, check the council's published register of members and the party's response before drawing a conclusion about your own representative. Read the ITV material itself rather than summaries when it is published, because the quotes here are second-hand.
The charge is not that individuals said ugly things but that nobody noticed until a camera did. A leader who can disown one councillor in a day still has to explain why the checking happens after the footage, not before.
Mirror, Guardian, 16-17 Oct
Reform UK faces fresh racism allegations as Nigel Farage is accused of sitting on his handsReform UK faces fresh racism allegations as Nigel Farage is accused of sitting on his hands
An undercover ITV sting, in which a councillor is shown saying he wants to 'machine gun' grooming gang perpetrators, has landed a day after another Reform councillor quit over racist remarks.
Reform UK ended the week defending its record on discipline after two separate episodes involving its local representatives. The Mirror reports that an undercover sting by ITV shows a Reform councillor saying he wants to 'machine gun' perpetrators of grooming gang crimes. The same report says Nigel Farage has been accused of 'sitting on his hands' in response to what it calls fresh allegations of racism within the party. The coverage reviewed does not name who made that accusation, and no response from Mr Farage is quoted in the material available to us.
The second episode came a day earlier. The Guardian reported late on Friday that Alan Feeney, who sat on both Solihull and Birmingham councils, had resigned after being filmed making racist remarks. Mr Feeney was quoted as saying there was 'no excuse' for his comments. Neither report says whether the filming was part of the ITV operation, so the two cases should be read as separate until a newsroom says otherwise.
Why does this matter beyond the individuals? Reform has built much of its pitch on being a party of ordinary local people who can win council seats from the established parties. That strategy depends on many new, often first-time candidates, and each filmed remark gives opponents a ready example of vetting that critics say is too thin. The 'sitting on his hands' charge is aimed squarely at the leader: it suggests that the test is not whether individuals resign but whether the party acts before a camera crew forces the issue.
What is known is limited. One councillor has resigned and the party has not, in the reports reviewed, announced a wider review of its candidates. The identity and current status of the councillor in the ITV footage are not given in the summary available, and the full ITV report was not among the material reviewed. There has been no police statement connected to the remarks in the coverage we have, and nothing here says any offence is alleged. Readers wanting certainty should wait for the broadcaster's full report and for a formal Reform response, since both the accusation and the party's answer are still developing and the details may be corrected or expanded.