"I was racist every single day"
Reform UK continues to face scrutiny over undercover footage exposing figures making racist and violent remarks, which includes Nigel Farage appearing to joke about racism and antisemitism allegations from his school days.
The footage, recorded for ITV’s Undercover: A Year in Reform, shows the Reform UK leader addressing allegations from former classmates that he displayed racist and antisemitic behaviour while attending Dulwich College.
At a Reform event, Farage said: “There’s lots of banter […] Some of the banter I’ve no doubt I’ll get a hard time for in forty years’ time.”
In November 2025, Mr Farage said he was sorry if anyone had been upset by his behaviour, but denied ever racially abusing anyone directly.
Fresh undercover footage has revealed further controversial remarks by Reform UK figures.
? WATCH: Undercover ITV footage appears to show Nigel Farage joking about allegations of racist and antisemitic behaviour when he was at Dulwich College https://t.co/roVi01nq1T
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 17, 2026
Councillor Adam Parkins made violent remarks about people involved in child sexual exploitation gangs. He said he would “quite happily do Sunday morning Rose Garden executions” of those responsible.
He added: “Give me a f***ing pistol and I’ll walk behind them and go ‘boom, boom, boom’.”
Parkins also asked the undercover reporter whether there was a “Pakistani problem” in his area before discussing grooming gangs. He called for “the most brutal f***ing punishments” for perpetrators and public bodies he claimed had ignored the issue.
Parkins subsequently denied making a generalised claim about a “Pakistani problem”, saying his comments concerned grooming gangs rather than Pakistani people.
The investigation also features Gawain Towler, a long-standing ally of Farage who has worked with him for more than 20 years and sits on Reform’s decision-making board, discussing the allegations about the party leader’s school days.
Asked how Reform should respond to the claims about Farage’s behaviour at Dulwich College, Towler said: “I don’t think you can.
“I’ve looked at my time in school and, as much as I know Nigel […] I was racist every single day against a friend. I was racist every single day.”
Mr Towler described schoolchildren as “nasty” and, when asked about the allegations against the Reform leader, added: “I’m sure he said [things].”
? WATCH: Reform UK board member Gawain Towler admits he was “racist every single day” at school in undercover ITV footage https://t.co/ynu0M8LWij
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 17, 2026
The footage comes amid purported racist and violent remarks by vetted councillors, candidates and activists.
Reform has said three councillors have resigned their posts, two people have left the party and others are under investigation.
David Kerr, a Reform councillor who stood as a parliamentary candidate in 2024, was recorded saying he would “line up a few thousand grooming gang perpetrators and machine gun them down”.
He also described Reform’s board as “hardline”, adding:
“There are views held by the [Reform] Board that if you said publicly as a councillor on a podium you’re going to get yourself kicked out of the party.”
Aspiring Reform MP Jason Powell was filmed saying people arriving in the UK by small boat should be sent to “concentration camps”.
He also said:
“You cannot be a Muslim and British […] it’s like oil and water.”
Powell told ITV his views were not extremist and reflected those held by British people generally.
The revelations have prompted questions about Reform’s vetting procedures and how the party responds to allegations of racism among its representatives.
On Friday, Reform’s Laila Cunningham said the party was being held to a “higher standard” than its rivals following the release of footage showing councillors making racist comments.
She said she was “angry” at the remarks and insisted people with racist views had “no place” in Reform. However, she argued that attributing the views of several individuals to the party’s entire membership amounted to “guilt by association”.
Reform UK has maintained that not everyone filmed during the investigation was a party member. It said investigations had begun into cases involving members, activists and councillors who had behaved inappropriately, with some suspensions already made.
A spokesperson said: “Reform UK has improved and prioritised its vetting procedures, but from time to time, a handful of individuals who do not share our values will initially make it through vetting.
“There is no room for racism in Reform UK.”
Undercover: A Year in Reform airs on October 18 at 10:20 pm on ITV1 and ITVX at 10:20 pm.
