Election latest: Farage responds after Reform campaigner filmed saying migrants should be used as 'target practice' (2024)

A Reform UK campaigner has been filmed saying migrants crossing the Channel should be used as "target practice".

In footage recorded by a Channel 4 undercover reporter, the same campaigner used a racial slur against Rishi Sunak.

Another Reform figure was filmed making hom*ophobic remarks.

The clips were recorded in Clacton, where Reform leader Nigel Farage is a candidate.

Responding to the footage, Mr Farage has said the comments were "very wrong".

"There was an activist that said some pretty unpleasant things," he said.

"Very very prejudiced, very wrong.

"He's somebody who turned up to help ... all political parties encourage volunteers."

He added that the campaigner in question would "not be welcome back" and that the two other figures featured in the footage would also no longer be working with the campaign.

In the footage, the undercover reporter captured canvasser Andrew Parker talking about people coming ashore at Deal in Kent.

Mr Parker said: "Army recruitment - get the young recruits there, with guns, on the f****** beach, target practice. F****** just shoot them."

Mr Parker said in a statement, sent to Channel 4 News: "I would like to make it clear that neither Nigel Farage personally or the Reform Party are aware of my personal views on immigration."

He added: "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 UK or Nigel Farage."

Another Reform figure was filmed reacting to a Pride symbol on a passing police car.

He says: "You see that f****** degenerate flag on the front bonnet? What are the old bill doing promoting that crap? They should be out catching nonces not promoting the f******."

The other candidates for the Clacton constituency are:

• Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour;
  
• Matthew Bensilum, Lib Dems;
• Craig Jamieson, Climate Party;
• Tony Mack, independent;
• Natasha Osben, Greens;
• Tasos Papanastasiou, Heritage Party;
• Andrew Pemberton, UKIP;
• Giles Watling, Conservatives.

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

With just a week to go, the Tories and Labour have taken a drop, while support for Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats is on the rise.

Read more about the trackerhere.

The panel discussion is now turning to the Conservative Party's election campaign.

Sky'selection commentatorAdam Boultonsays it has been "dreadful", adding Rishi Sunak "hasn't brought anything to this campaign".

A series of missteps have dominated the headlines from the outset when Mr Sunak announced the election in the pouring rain.

But as the campaign enters its final week there may now be a moment of respite for the Conservatives, Adam says.

"Almost the best thing about this campaign is the most irritating for a lot of people," Adam says.

"He's timed it to coincide with the Euros, with Wimbledon, with Glastonbury, which actually means the last week, it'll have to be a pretty big gaffe for anyone to notice."

That brings tonight's Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge to an end - the show will return tomorrow with Ali Fortescue. In the meantime, stick with us here for more news and analysis through the evening.

By Ashna Hurynag, news correspondent

The battle for Scottish votes is all to play for.

An exclusive YouGov poll for Sky News has Labour on 35% in Scotland and the SNP on 29%.

The latter are closing the gap, but if all goes this way on the night, such a result would mean big gains for Labour.

But the biggest gutter punch is dealt to the Conservatives who YouGov has on 11% and level with the Lib Dems.

But attitudes change when voters consider where to cast their ballot in the 2026 Holyrood elections.

As of the 18 June, voter intentions shifted to 28% for the SNP, 24% Labour, 10% Conservatives and 7% for the Lib Dems.

This tells us Scots treat UK and Scottish elections differently.

It also suggests the former creating an opportunity for a protest vote - a cry of frustration at 14 years of Tory governments at Westminster, or the firing of a warning shot at the SNP’s record after 17 years at Holyrood.

But so many are still undecided.

1,059 people over 16 were surveyed by YouGov between the 20 and 25 June, exclusively for Sky News, and 14% of people surveyed have changed how they plan to vote over the past four weeks.

Of those, 37% say it was down to how the parties and their leaders have conducted themselves.

The NHS and health care are the key issues, followed by the cost of living next, the economy in general, immigration, and Scottish independence.

Rishi Sunak's most senior adviser in Downing Street has been interviewed in the investigation into bets by Conservatives on the date of the general election.

Liam Booth-Smith, Downing Street chief of staff, was interviewed last week by senior Gambling Commission officials and questioned about who knew about the timing of the election.

Sources have emphasised to Sky News that Mr Booth-Smith is not a suspect in the gambling investigation and was interviewed as a witness and was "asked for help".

Described as the prime minister's most trusted ally, Mr Booth-Smith has worked for Mr Sunak since he was chancellor, when his fondness for leather jackets earned him the nickname "the Treasury Travolta".

According to a Gambling Commission insider, Mr Booth-Smith was interviewed by "senior officials within the Gambling Commission, more senior than investigators".

Sky News has also been told there are currently no plans to interview the prime minister as part of the investigation into bets on the election date.

Read more here:

Sir Keir Starmer's interview with Sophy Ridge hits on the central paradox of the Labour campaign, Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates says.

Sam says there is an "incredibly high level of ambition" in Labour's "chunky manifesto" and the "rhetoric couldn't be bigger".

And yet, "the first steps that take you to the missions are small".

Sam adds that what we may discover should Labour form the next government is that "we don't know what the second and third and the fourth step are going to be".

Sky's election commentator Adam Boulton adds that Sir Keir was "not overpromising in any area, but making it clear he has his priorities".

"I think people going to have to get used to this. He is going to be someone who sticks to his course," Adam adds.

"He's going to be quite deliberate in his approach."

Sophy ends the interview by asking Sir Keir which is more likely - Labour winning the election or England winning the Euros.

He replies: "Well, I can't have both I don't suppose?"

More seriously, he adds the "more important one is winning the election".

"But don't let that be any sort of reflection... I say get behind the team when it comes to England and the players."

Despite topping their group, some fans have been left disappointed by England's Euros performance.

Earlier, Sir Keir told Channel 5 News's Dan Walker he believes England will still be in the competition by the time the election comes round on 4 July.

He said England normally start "a bit wobbly in these competitions" but have a "brilliant set of players", adding that he's "backing them all the way".

An "element" of the backlash against Labour's plans to impose VAT on private schools is driven by those in Westminster and the media with ties to such schools, Sir Keir Starmer tellsSophy Ridge.

He was responding to a question on whether criticism over the policy - which Sophy says polls quite well - has been because there are so many in Westminster and the media who either went to a private school or send their children to one.

"I think there's an element of that," he says.

Private schools 'will adapt'

Addressing the criticism, the Labour leader says there is "no evidence" private schools will be forced to close due to the plans.

"I think they will adapt," he said. "They've had lots of increases in costs over the last 14 years, and they've accommodated it.

"There's no evidence to show these schools will close. They don't have to pass the cost onto parents."

He added: "It's a difficult choice. But they're businesses in the end, and they're very successful in the round.

"I want them to thrive. But we need to make this choice, because in the end, if I want the teachers we need in our state secondary schools, I have to answer the question you would put to me, just how are you going to pay for that?

"You're going to pay for that by getting rid of the tax breaks for private schools, and use it to invest in the teachers we need in our state secondaries."

You can read more on Sir Keir's exchange with Sophy on Labour's policy to see VAT applied to private schools here:

Sir Keir Starmer tellsSophy RidgeLabour are "ready" for government as he reveals what puts a spring in his step.

Sophy asks him what keeps him going during the election campaign after Rishi Sunak said he gets through an "enormous" amount of sugar.

"Coffee. Coffee. And then some more coffee," Sir Keir says.

He adds that he's "not a big one for snacks", but is partial to "cheese sandwiches and tuna sandwiches" in the back of the Labour bus.

"It's the high life, isn't it," he jokes.

'We're campaigning with a smile'

Asked whether he was still enjoying the campaign, he says: "Yeah. Four and a half years we've been working for this.

"I woke up with a smile on my face on 1 January because I knew we'd have an election this year.

"We're really pleased to be able to take this argument to the country. We're ready for this. We've got a positive offer to put for the country.

"So we're campaigning with a smile and a spring in our step."

Plans to create tens of thousands of extra appointments to get NHS waiting lists down would be Labour's first priority in government, Sir Keir Starmer tells Sky'sSophy Ridgein the latest of her general election leaders interviews.

He also lists the recruitment of teachers and setting up Great British Energy among the top items on Labour's to-do list should they win the election on 4 July.

He says Labour has "ambitious" plans to "hit the ground running", with many people feeling the country "has been left broken".

"Our job will be to come in to fix that," he adds.

"The first steps are going to be putting in place the plans for 40,000 extra appointments in the NHS to get the waiting list down each week. That's two million a year."

'Are you going to waste the opportunity?'

He describes these first steps as the"down payment on the bigger change we need across the country".

Sophy puts to him polls are suggesting Sir Keir is about to be gifted a historic majority - the kind which in 1945 saw Labour prime minister Clement Attlee create the NHS.

She says his first steps seem quite small, asking "are you going to waste the opportunity?"

Sir Keir says his plans are "a first stepto an NHS which is fit for the next 75/76 years".

"I want to make sure that in the 50, 60, 70 years, people are celebrating the fact an incoming Labour government in 2024 made sure the NHS was not something you look proudly back on, but actually fit for the future."