Farage threatens vetting company with legal action for ‘stitch up’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has threatened to sue the company responsible for vetting Reform UK’s candidates, accusing the firm of “stitching up” his party.
Reform UK claims to have paid Vetting.com £144,000 in April to weed out prospective candidates with extremist views and far-right connections by going through their social media accounts.
But the general election campaign has already revealed a litany of instances in which Reform UK candidates have been found to have connections to—or voiced support for—far-right movements.
Last week it was revealed that nearly one in 10 of the party’s representatives in England are Facebook friends with Gary Raikes.
Raikes is the founder of the New British Union, a movement modelled after Oswald Moseley’s British Union of Fascists, whose members refer to themselves as “blackshirts.”
A candidate running in Bexhill and Battle has been forced to apologise for claiming the UK would be “far better” if it had “taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality” instead of fighting the Nazis in World War Two.
Reform UK originally defended the stance, saying it was “probably true”.
A third has refused to apologise for calling the Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad “gentle in nature” and referring to Hitler as being “brilliant” at using his personality to “inspire people to action”.
Farage claimed Reform has been “let down” by Vetting.com and has instructed lawyers to advise him on potential legal recourse, raising suspicions about the co-owner of the firm’s connections with the Conservative Party.
Richard Tice, the Reform UK chairman who led the party until Farage announced his return shortly into the general election campaign, said: “A professional vetting company was paid a six-figure sum in April to vet Reform candidates.
“They promised a deep dive, particularly on social media, and adverse press checks, received our candidate data but then delivered absolutely nothing.
“Suddenly, a round of stories appear in The Times and elsewhere after nominations close, including some stories that are 15 years old. Something feels very wrong, and I have instructed lawyers to pursue this matter vigorously.”
There is no evidence to suggest Vetting.com briefed or released any of the information to either the Conservative Party or the media.
Vetting.com was approached for comment.