Anyone yet watched the ITV Reform “expose”

Well said Cossy.

Absolutely, Cossy.
Exposure of the dreadful events in Rotherham have helped everyone be more assiduous in reporting matters, and tenacious in f

Sorry - button pressed too soon!
..resulting in successful prosecutions.
In Kent, six ( white) men have just received custodial sentences for grooming.

Well said Cossy.
I read this thread just now, I didn’t watch the tv programme but will do so.
How on earth anyone can criticise investigative reporters, rather than the disgusting individuals they show to the world, is beyond me.

We shouldn’t be surprised to see The repeated suggestion that the actions of Muslim sex offenders of largely Pakistani heritage is somehow always worse than those of white British sex offenders. Men speaking about sniffing seats etc are rarely harmless.

Just as an aside for those choosing not to watch.

It’s an uncomfortable watch, I take my hat off to the two main reporters, one male and one female, who had to physically work side by side with these utterly insidious men, whose rhetoric must have sickened them.

Prior to any footage being released, every single man filmed talking or taking part in “chats”, were approached for comments.

Farage was also approached, he too declined to comment. Several
clips of Farage appear in the expose, many already publicly shown by Farage, some from inside their Westminster HQ where the female reporter had gained employment as press officer.

Approx 75% refused to either engage or comment.

I've just completed my annual online mandatory training for Safeguarding Adults and Children.

Protection of Adults and Children from abuse is a statutory responsibility for everyone - in all work places

One Reform Councillor Chris Wheelan referred to a female party colleague with "Phwoar. F* me, if she was my daughter it would still be bath night on a Thursday...I'll wash you properly this time"

His words evidence potential historical concern- did this man actually abuse his own daughter in some way on bath night? Is he an abuser in plain sight?

Real and immediate concern- Sexual misconduct in the workplace is not acceptable. Female workers need to feel safe and respected. Safety in the workplace legislation gives organisations a legal duty to ensure workers are safe- including form sexual misconduct. There is a risk of sexual harassment claims. If a colleague makes comments like this it should feel wrong, uncomfortable, concerning, unacceptable by any listener and be reported e.g. to the Reform Safeguarding Lead (do they even have one?!).

Instead what was shown was people who were present when Chris Wheelan made his comments laughed, were not surprised, deemed it acceptable, had no concern for the female colleague. This kind of example was repeated many times throughout the programme showing Reform UK as an organisation that attracts such individuals, with a culture that such comments give rise to laughter, normalisation, 'boys will be boys', pub banter, minimisation- all often defended by Farage. Even Sarah Pochin, one of the few and only female Reform UK MPs, on camera, outlined and confirmed the chauvinistic culture she experiences in Reform UK.

You would expect the Reform UK leader to be vigourously calling out what was shown, contrite, vowing what will change, actively seeking to clean up his organisational culture. Instead- deafening silence from Farage pre and post broadcasting and himself on camera not behaving well.

As far as I know, not a single reform representative has apologised, explained or denied the findings in the tv programme.

Maybe Farage will turn to his beloved Telegraph newspaper in a few days time with his own slant, how he and his party were victimised by ITV, the footage was biased etc etc. ? In a similar way he reacted to recent Channel 4 documentary?

Or maybe this time, finally Farage, if only motivated by self interest and preservation in light of falling polls, will realise things have to change and he needs to not only clean up his personal act he must also clean up Reform Uk?

Or maybe pigs might fly?

Time will tell.

Oh forgot a 4th possibility- Reform UK will hold an internal investigation thus not an independent investigation then after a couple of weeks make a simple statement lessons have been learned- without saying what lessons had been learned or what actions Reform has put in place to prevent recurrence? 🤷‍♀️

I really hope that people who are supporting Reform in the belief that they are representing their views begin to understand what Reform actually stands for. Reform is a comfortable home for racists, homophobes and misogynists and frankly for anyone who isn't like this, both Labour and Conservative parties want to stop genuine asylum seekers from using dangerous routes as a means to gain asylum and want to return failed asylum seekers to their own country. Reform doesn't have a magic wand and frankly their policies are neither workable nor legal. People don't need to support Reform or Restore to register their objection to the problems which the people traffickers cause, many of us continue support parties with a more acceptable ethical and humane stance.

I find it interesting that those who used to champion Reform are now very quiet.

GrannyGravy13

I am surprised that anyone is surprised at the undercover revelations.

Me too.

I was unsurprised at what was uncovered, and also at the ‘defence’ of the racism, misogyny and utter disregard for anything ‘different’ voiced by Reform supporters.

dragonfly46

I find it interesting that those who used to champion Reform are now very quiet.

Yes, it’s a shame that they haven’t the integrity to show how appalled they are, but perhaps they are not appalled🙄.

I am beginning to think that no one would support Reform unless they were racist or bigoted, let alone all the other horrors.

Foxie48- I agree.

The other concern I had watching the programme was a prevailing, repeated view that Reform UK just needs to appeal to enough to voters, using anti asylum seeker/anti immigrant rhetoric to get elected and voted into government...

Then Reform UK "can do whatever it wants." Some examples given:
1) Setting up concentration camps to house asylum seekers, even threatening them that they could stay in the concentration camp forever
2) Making it clear you can not be both Muslim and British comparing the 2 as "oil and water'
3) carry out Sunday morning Downing Street Rose garden executions of f**** rape gangs
4) Cutting offending rates by expecting Local Authorities to "line up a few thousand rape gang perpetrators and machine gun them down".

In respect of such comments made by Councillors Parker and Kerr, Reform stated there will be no further action taken against them. Quite alarming that Reform UK did not confirm that the party had no such plans.

Referring to an earlier post- that Reform UK allows and enables Kerr and Parker to remain in post as Reform UK Councillors for a London Local Authority, in context of their specific views comments, both alarms and disgusts me.

Cossy

Prior to any footage being released, every single man filmed talking or taking part in “chats”, were approached for comments.

I think this is standard with legitimate undercover reporting in these kinds of cases isn't it? It would be unjust to simply expose them without first allowing them the opportunity to have their say, or be forewarned.

So the majority refused to engage. But you can be sure they will via social media etc post recording release and that the response will be a mix of protests that what was said was just 'pub-talk', sports changing-room banter, etc, and high-dudgeon about the fact that they were recorded secretly because people should "be allowed to have private conversations" - and there is a grain of truth in that. But not when those involved could ultimately gain positions of authority, nor when some of those individuals publicly insist they are the defenders of "our" women and children but privately indicate the complete opposite.

During Jeremy Corbyn's tenure as leader of the LP, there were several high-profile incidents involving secret recordings between him and senior members of his team - made much of by the right-wing press and other media. I wonder if anyone found those secret recordings "disgusting"?

Journalism frequently employs undercover methods to expose political hypocrisy and there've been a few key instances exposing internal party attitudes through secret audio recordings - these methods are standard fodder across the political spectrum.

Reform activists and members are no more victims than anyone else or any other party, and to be more disgusted by the method of exposure rather than what that exposure reveals is bizarre, to say the least.

So well said Cossy - considering Farage's close alliance with the pussy-grabbing Trump and his MAGA movement and the administration's creeping restrictions on women's autonomy - we need to know about the hypocrisy.

... and for anyone who wants to indulge in the usual 'what-about-the-Asian-grooming-gangs-then' - start a thread and we can discuss the ridiculous defence of not-wanting-to-appear-racist made by the police and other agencies.

I was shocked when a Reform voter who knows about all the things they have done said that it was all made up by the media just to cast a slur on Reform.
You can't get through to people who think this way.

AGAA4

I was shocked when a Reform voter who knows about all the things they have done said that it was all made up by the media just to cast a slur on Reform.
You can't get through to people who think this way.

It is just like MAGA - total denial.

What I do think is worrying for democracy is that supporters of Farage, Trump etc, are rejecting/denying evidence that they are behaving badly by maintaining that everything that supports the evidence of bad behaviour is biased, right up to blaming the judiciary. (I am thinking here of Johnson/Cummings) but it is happening constantly in the USA .

Our democracy is under threat when groups in our society refuse to accept the truth of evidence presented. I am sure that some reform supporters genuinely believe that the evidence is entirely untrue, but I fear that many more know that it is true, but continue to support Reform because they believe in the fundamental values of racism, misogyny, nationalism and division,

I think that anyone who can in any way support these men, men who are already in official posts, men who have “influence” in many ways on our local councils, men who so clearly are frankly perverts, anyone who supports their actions, their behaviour and their rhetoric needs to take a good long look at themselves and their own consciences.

This go way way beyond “stopping the boats”.

We all want to stop these boat crossings, perhaps for different reasons. I’ve not seen or heard one person on here who has stated that they want them to continue and that Asylum Seekers are not a problem. This went so further than simply AS. It was about all non white people, all Muslims, women of all ages.

At one point, one deranged man stated “King Charles is a Muslim….. He wants to convert our entire country to become Muslims…. The c* should be beheaded”

If it wasn’t so utterly appalling, I’d laugh! I cannot laugh as these men truly believe what they say, they are dangerous lunatics.

These were not throw-away, drunken comments, across a night or two in a pub (though even if they were, I’d still condemn them).

These are remarks and ideas repeated time and time again, across the country, in different professional settings, as well as private parties and the pub, across a 12 month period.

Whitewavemark2

What I do think is worrying for democracy is that supporters of Farage, Trump etc, are rejecting/denying evidence that they are behaving badly by maintaining that everything that supports the evidence of bad behaviour is biased, right up to blaming the judiciary. (I am thinking here of Johnson/Cummings) but it is happening constantly in the USA .

Our democracy is under threat when groups in our society refuse to accept the truth of evidence presented. I am sure that some reform supporters genuinely believe that the evidence is entirely untrue, but I fear that many more know that it is true, but continue to support Reform because they believe in the fundamental values of racism, misogyny, nationalism and division,

I agree.

Reminds me a little of holocaust denotes or people who think the world is flat.

They are so so far down the rabbit hole, I doubt there is hope of rescue.

In my humble opinion, the most ardent supporters of both Farage and Trump are “cultish”

There was talk about when “Nige is in power, a department very similar to ICE will be created”.

The was so much talk around “shooting” from several of these lovely men!

I know in the scheme of things it isn’t terribly important, but the language startled me. There is no one I know uses such language. Why on earth do they feel the need to do so?

Indeed, LemonJam. In my posts, I refer to safeguarding and am astonished to see online continuing support for Reform, in the premise that they will " stop the boats", and, thereby " keep our women and children safe".
Irony at it's finest .

Indeed.

And they ignore that our government are actually doing more and more, as instanced for example in our firm boundary drawn on Eritreans.

"The UK government has issued a strict ultimatum to Eritrea, implementing a geographic boundary restriction on its diplomats in London as part of a wider dispute over the repatriation of irregular migrants and foreign national offenders
Starting in October 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that Eritrean diplomats are barred from traveling more than 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside of London without express permission from the Home Office. (and more - go google)

Save Ar Kids.

greyfur16

Save Ar Kids.

🤣😂🤣