Reform suspends activist over anti-Muslim and migrant camp remarks

Reform UK has suspended activist Jason Powell while it investigates remarks he made to an undercover reporter, including that Muslims cannot be British and that migrants arriving by boat should be sent to concentration camps. The comments raise questions about the party’s vetting and its stated position that there is no room for racism in its ranks.

Powell said he was “pretty hardline about Islam” and proposed rounding up people arriving by boat, with those unable to identify their country of origin remaining in the camps. The footage is part of a year-long ITV investigation due to be broadcast that night; earlier released scenes showed other Reform figures making racist and sexist remarks. The story also comes amid disagreement within Reform over whether people of Asian heritage can be English.