Damning expose, which revealed racist remarks, breached fraud and election law, party claims
WATCH: Reform UK reports ITV to the police
Reform UK has reported ITV to the police following an undercover investigation by the broadcaster. Reform’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said the party would also launch a legal challenge against the multiple ITV journalists and the broadcaster’s board of directors.
The expose by ITV revealed racist remarks by members of the party. In a video posted on X, Mr Yusuf said Reform was now reporting individual journalists to the police, as it believes they have breached fraud and election law in the course of making the documentary.
He said: “We have reported multiple ITV journalists and their board of directors to the police, and will be taking legal action against all of them.
“Journalists are supposed to report the news. These ones set out to create it.”
Mr Yusuf claimed that the undercover ITV reporter who became employed as a Reform press officer had “doctored” her passport to gain the job.
He also said two undercover reporters who joined Reform members campaigning in Portsmouth had been reported to the police, as it is illegal to pay someone to canvass for a candidate.
Reform has also reported ITV’s board to the police as the organisation that paid the two reporters, he said, adding that the party would bring “civil proceedings” against them, too.
He said: “We will pursue this through the courts relentlessly. I want to be frank about why we feel so strongly: Many Reform staff members and volunteers were psychologically manipulated and damaged by ITV’s undercover reporters.”
Mr Yusuf later claimed ITV had engaged in “a form of psychological warfare”.
He added: “It was designed to demoralise, to inject paranoia into our volunteers, our activists, and our employees, and to make ordinary people afraid to take part in politics.”
It was unclear which police force, or forces, Reform made the report to.
An ITV spokesperson said: “ITV stands by its journalism. The programme Undercover: A Year In Reform was produced in compliance with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, relevant laws, and its broadcast is in the public interest. All journalists were instructed to operate within this framework and did so under the supervision of the programme’s producers. Should the police get in touch we would fully cooperate.”