Reform UK councillors face accusations of racist remarks after local election gains

Turn away for a moment from Westminster and the contest to become the next prime minister. Focus instead on the lives of ethnic minorities and immigrants in England after many areas turned turquoise in the May local elections. How will Reform representatives treat these residents when the party views them as lesser humans and a threat to the social fabric of the communities where they live?

A newly elected Reform councillor allegedly said he could not believe the number of Nigerians in town and suggested they should be melted down to fill potholes. When the comment was raised with him, Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said voters had heard such smearing and sneering before. Another Reform candidate tweeted that Muslims never coexist with others and should be deported, and that Africans have IQs among the lowest in the world. A third stated that the only solution was to remove Muslims from British territory and described Ashkenazi Jews as a problem who had caused the world massive misery.

Nigel Farage has faced repeated allegations of racism. He is said to have sung Hitler Youth songs as a joke and to have been a racist abuser at school. He has expressed admiration for Enoch Powell, claimed that some Muslims are here to take the country over, and said he feels uncomfortable when people speak other languages on public transport. He has also blamed traffic congestion on immigration.

Much of this language has become background noise in the decade since Brexit. Slogans such as Take Back Control, Stop the Boats and Secure Our Borders have mixed with rows over culture, history and university syllabuses. Reform policies now sit close to the culture war and anti-immigration arguments that run through mainstream politics. A similar mix appeared at the weekend when Tommy Robinson held his second Unite the Kingdom rally in London and called for national unity, free speech and Christian values.

Words in the media and in politics have consequences. They shape the views of people who voted against their neighbours and for Reform. Ethnic minorities see no promise in the election of Reform candidates. They expect conditions to worsen. Reform’s project contains no local economic agenda and no plan to help people through the cost of living crisis. It offers only identity politics.

Reform has promised to cut spending, reject plans to house asylum seekers in its areas and end diversity roles in local government. The party will be limited by central government policy, yet it will spread fear, suspicion and division. It will turn national arguments about immigration into local suspicions about how ethnic minorities live in communities.

Black and brown neighbours will face greater scrutiny, including over the languages they speak in public. Farage has described the number of students speaking English as a second language in Glasgow as cultural smashing. He has said immigrants from the West Indies integrated better because they shared history, culture and religion with the UK. He has called for a ban on Muslim public prayer and described a Ramadan event in London earlier this year as an open attempt to overtake and dominate British life.

The question is who will be exempt from this suspicion. How long must someone live in an area before they are allowed to call it home? The Black man whose family has been here for generations, the woman in a hijab who sought asylum, and the brown child born in the UK who speaks another language at home are all cast as outsiders unless they change their skin colour, dress, speech and culture.

There has been a failure to grasp the seriousness of what is happening. The anti-migrant right has been given space by media and politicians to present itself as mainstream. Concerns about immigration now serve as cover for prejudice. Reform insists the issue is immigration and that accusations of racism are smears.

The real threat is not the contest for Keir Starmer’s leadership. It is a Reform party that is moving closer to winning parliamentary seats at the next election. What is at stake is the safety and dignity of ethnic minorities in the UK and the risk that neighbours will be treated as second-class citizens.