27 MPs call for probe into alleged Islamophobia in Reform UK party

Will Meakin-Durrant, Press Association Political Staff

Twenty-seven MPs have called for the equalities watchdog to investigate alleged Islamophobia in the Reform UK party.

In their letter to Mary-Ann Stephenson, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the group called for a “formal investigation” into Nigel Farage’s party.

They said Reform UK had potentially breached its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and claimed it had no adequate disciplinary process for people in the party to raise their concerns.

Afzal Khan, the Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme, who co-ordinated the letter, said: “Reform UK have consistently failed to tackle their growing Islamophobia problem.”

He warned that “consistent attacks on Muslim communities are putting Muslims in Britain in danger and social cohesion at risk”.

The letter’s signatories include 26 Labour MPs, including Mr Khan, Clapham and Brixton Hill MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, Stoke-on-Trent South MP Allison Gardner and Stroud MP Simon Opher.

Also listed is the independent MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Diane Abbott, who was previously Labour MP.

“The prevalence of racism within Reform UK does not exist in a vacuum and has real-world consequences for the millions of British Muslims in our country,” the MPs wrote in their letter, first reported by Sky News and seen by the Press Association.

“When elected politicians – be they councillors or members of Parliament – make comments that seek to spread hatred against Muslims because they are Muslim, this leads to a culture of intolerance and discrimination against Muslim party members and voters and has an impact on social cohesion across the country.”

At the end of their letter, the MPs listed comments they described as Islamophobic, made by Reform UK MPs, members of the Scottish Parliament, members of the Senedd, councillors and parts of the wider party – dating as far back as 2014.

Among them was Mr Farage’s call to ban mass religious observances after a Ramadan event in Trafalgar Square, London, earlier this year.

The party leader described it as “an attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life”, when he spoke at a Reform UK event in Scotland.

Asked in March whether he backed banning all mass religious observances, he told PA: “Yes.”

‘Ban the burka’

The letter also referred to a Prime Minister’s Questions session in June 2025, when Reform UK MP for Runcorn and Helsby Sarah Pochin asked Sir Keir Starmer whether he would “ban the burka”.

The EHRC and Reform UK have been contacted for comment.

According to Sky News, a Reform spokesperson said: “We stand by our comments. We will not be intimidated.”