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Reform UK councillors and candidates filmed making racist remarks in ITV footage

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly center (67%).

7 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

ITV News has broadcast undercover footage, gathered over a year, of Reform UK councillors and candidates making racist, violent and sexist remarks. Several have resigned, and Reform says everyone filmed is under investigation or has been suspended. Nigel Farage said the party vets “to a much higher standard than other parties” but that “you can’t vet for future comments.” Reform says it has improved and prioritised its vetting procedures and denies that a former candidate failed vetting in the first place, as he claims in the footage. The Guardian reports that the footage also shows a senior Reform official telling Farage he was “protecting” Chris Parry, a mayoral candidate who said David Lammy should “go home to the Caribbean.” Reform suspended Parry in March.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Undercover footage gathered by ITV over a year shows Reform UK councillors and candidates using racist, violent or sexist language.

    Reported byLeft1Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Center
    BBC News, Financial Times

  2. Several councillors and candidates have resigned, and Reform says everyone filmed is under investigation or has been suspended.

    Reported byLeft1Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Center
    BBC News, Financial Times

  3. A Reform councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull was recorded calling Asian homeowners “parasites.”

    One outletBBC News· Center

  4. Farage said Reform vets to a much higher standard than other parties but that “you can’t vet for future comments.”

    One outletBBC News· Center

  5. Reform said it has improved and prioritised its vetting procedures and denies that a former candidate failed vetting in the first place.

    One outletBBC News· Center

  6. According to the Guardian’s report on the footage, a senior Reform official told Farage he was “protecting” Chris Parry, a mayoral candidate who said David Lammy should “go home to the Caribbean.”

    One outletThe Guardian· Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • Reform’s candidate vetting kept out people with racist or extreme views.

    Farage says the party vets to a higher standard than others but that future comments cannot be vetted for. Reform says it has improved vetting and denies that a former candidate failed it. The footage includes that candidate’s claim that he failed vetting twice and was still allowed to stand.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All sides report that ITV undercover footage shows Reform UK councillors and candidates making racist remarks, and that several have resigned. The Guardian stresses Farage’s handling of a mayoral candidate, while BBC and FT coverage focuses on Reform’s vetting and its response.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    Guardian headlines lead with the racist remarks and with Farage’s handling of a candidate, presenting the affair as a fresh crisis for the party.

    Reform UK councillors and candidates filmed making racist and Loaded modifier“extreme”The word adds a judgement about the comments that the footage itself does not state, since the headline already describes them as racist.More neutral: offensiveDisagree with this highlight? comments
    The GuardianLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    2 outlets

    BBC and FT headlines name the racist remarks and Reform’s response, with BBC headlines focusing on Farage’s defence of vetting and questions about it.

    Farage defends Reform's vetting after councillors filmed making racist comments
    BBC NewsCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    extreme

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right

    Has not covered this story.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded modifier

    extremeMore neutral: offensive

    The word adds a judgement about the comments that the footage itself does not state, since the headline already describes them as racist.

    Reform UK councillors and candidates filmed making racist and extreme comments

    Used byThe Guardian (Left)

Words quoted from someone else (1)Hide the quoted words

Loaded words that outlets reported someone else saying. They show what was said, not how the outlet chose to say it.

  • Hateful rhetoric

    Quoted

    parasitesMore neutral: a derogatory remark about Asian homeowners

    Likens a group of people defined by race to parasites, a term that dehumanizes them.

    Attacks or dehumanizes a person or a group because of who they are: their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.

    …councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull is recorded calling Asian homeowners "parasites".

    Quoted byBBC News (Center)

    These are a Reform councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

  • racist and extreme remarks
  • Farage’s handling of Chris Parry
  • fresh crisis for Reform

Leaves out

  • Reform’s statement that those filmed are under investigation

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Farage’s defence of vetting
  • Reform’s response and investigations
  • questions over candidate vetting

Leaves out

  • Chris Parry and the claim that Farage was told he was protecting a candidate

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The Guardian, Oct 14, 3:36 PM EDT

  • Center

    2 hr 59 min later

    Its first report, Oct 14, 6:34 PM EDT

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The GuardianLeftOct 14, 3:36 PM EDT
  2. BBC NewsCenterOct 14, 6:34 PM EDT
  3. Financial TimesCenterOct 15, 6:02 AM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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