Reform UK has reported ITV, its board and undercover reporters to the police over a covert investigation that captured two of the party’s councillors appearing to advocate the execution of alleged grooming gang perpetrators, escalating a political dispute into a potential legal confrontation.
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s foreign affairs spokesman, announced the complaint on social media, accusing the broadcaster’s reporters of offences including passport forgery and electoral interference. He claimed the alleged conduct could have affected results in closely contested wards, although the accusations have not been independently established.
“Some of the crimes carry up to 10 years in prison,” Yusuf wrote. “They forged a passport. They directly interfered in elections and almost certainly altered the results.”
He added that the reporters misrepresented their military service to a veteran, leaving him feeling “violated”, and warned that the party would pursue those responsible in court.
“The police are now involved,” Yusuf said. “Scrutiny of political parties is one thing. But anyone breaking the law to try and ruin the lives of Reform’s staff, members or volunteers will be reported to the police and pursued relentlessly in the courts.”
ITV had yet to respond publicly to Reform’s announcement at the time of writing.
The complaint follows an undercover investigation by ITV News that secretly recorded Reform councillors Adam Parkins and David Kerr, both of Hounslow in west London, making remarks about using lethal force against people accused of involvement in child sexual exploitation.
Parkins allegedly told an undercover reporter he would “quite happily do Sunday morning Rose Garden executions” of grooming gang members, adding that he would shoot them without hesitation.
Kerr reportedly said he could reduce offending by lining up thousands of alleged perpetrators and machine-gunning them.
The recordings have placed Reform in a difficult position as the party seeks to present itself as a credible alternative to Britain’s established political parties. The comments risk shifting attention from its policy agenda towards the conduct and judgment of its elected representatives.
Yet the party has indicated that it will not impose further disciplinary action against the two councillors.
A Reform spokesman said investigations had been opened into members and activists whose behaviour was considered inappropriate, with suspensions imposed in some cases. Parkins and Kerr, however, were expressing personal views on capital punishment in what they believed to be a private conversation, the spokesman said.
“No further action will be taken” against the pair, he added.
The competing allegations raise questions about both the methods used by undercover journalists and the conduct of politicians captured by their investigation. Reform’s accusations against ITV remain allegations, while the legal implications of the recordings have not been established.
The police complaint now threatens to extend a damaging political controversy into a wider dispute over journalism, electoral integrity and the limits of undercover reporting. Whether it produces a formal investigation or further legal action remains unclear.
For Reform, the challenge is to defend its allegations against the broadcaster while containing the fallout from the remarks that prompted the investigation in the first place.
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