Sunak speaks of hurt and anger at Reform campaigner's racist slur

Rishi Sunak has said he was hurt and angry to hear a Reform UK canvasser using a racial slur against him, saying Nigel Farage "has some questions to answer".

- Rowena Mason ,Kiran Stacey

The prime minister responded after a Channel 4 undercover investigation found a Reform campaigner had called him a "fucking [P-word]". Sunak repeated the slur and said he had done so because it was important to call it out for what it was.

His response came as Essex police said they were "urgently assessing" racist and homophobic comments made by Reform campaigners in broadcast footage.

"We are aware of comments made during a Channel 4 News programme and we are urgently assessing them to establish if there are any criminal offences," a spokesperson said.

On a campaign visit to a school in Teesside, the prime minister told broadcasters: "My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing [P-word]. It hurts and it makes me angry, and I think he has some questions to answer.

"I don't repeat those words lightly. I do so deliberately, because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is."

Asked whether he was frustrated that some former Conservative voters were leaning towards Reform UK when Farage's party's activists were making racist and homophobic comments, Sunak said: "When you see Reform candidates and campaigners seemingly using racist and misogynistic language and opinion, seemingly without challenge, I think it tells you something about the culture in the Reform party."