Farage faces calls to suspend his candidate who claimed Jews were responsible for Muslim immigration

Nigel Farage is facing calls to suspend a Reform Party UK candidate who accused powerful Jewish groups of “agitating” to bring “Third World Muslims” to Britain.

This claim was made by Ben Aston, who stood for election in Bournemouth West, in a now-deleted post in which he denounced Jewish voices who felt unsafe due to the pro-Palestinian protests in that country.

When asked “how can Jews feel safe in Britain?” Ashton replied: “This endless abuse of Jews is appalling. Many of the powerful groups that are advocating the mass importation of Muslims from the Third World into England are Jews. The resulting social problems have been visible for decades.”

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In a response to The Times, which spotted Ashton’s anti-Jewish tirade, a Reform Party spokesman said its candidates were “not party-political zombies” and the party was “proud that they think and speak like the ordinary people they are.” Aston, who is gaining support in the constituency, replaced Reform candidate Peter Storms, who was voted out after sharing content from the far-right group Britain First.

Nigel Farage

Sir Conor Burns, Northern Ireland Secretary under Boris Johnson and Business Secretary under Liz Truss, who won the constituency for the Conservatives in 2010, confirmed that he had now written a letter to Farage complaining about Ashton’s post.

He told the Times: “These comments are anti-Semitic and highly offensive. Decent people will be repelled by them. Reform raises perfectly legitimate questions and I have some sympathy for some of them. But Aston is clearly a vile bigot.”

“I have known Nigel Farage for nearly three decades and I know he will have nothing to do with them. He can act decisively and suspend his candidate, condemn his comments and urge his supporters not to vote for Aston in Bournemouth West.”

Aston, 43, works for an online advertising company and stood as an independent candidate in the neighbouring Bournemouth East constituency in 2019.

Meanwhile, the BBC also reported that eight candidates from the Reform UK party had made numerous offensive comments about women online in the past.

The comments include derogatory remarks about murdered MP Jo Cox, former Prime Minister Theresa May and a black reality TV contestant.