Reform says it has reported ITV to the police over undercover investigation

Reform UK said it has reported ITV to the police following the broadcaster’s expose which revealed racist remarks by members of the party.

Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, announced the party would also launch a legal challenge against the multiple ITV journalists and the broadcaster’s board of directors it reported to the police.

The undercover investigation by ITV included councillors and candidates within Reform using racist language. In one excerpt, black children were referred to as “animals”, while in another a Reform member said his area had become “infested” with Asian families.

In a video posted on social media site X, Mr Yusuf said the party was now reporting individual journalists to the police, as it believes they have breached fraud and elections 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 which 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.”

As previously reported by The News, the undercover ITV reporters recorded demonstrators chanting “kill the p****” during a march in Portsmouth.

It also recorded Reform leader Nigel Farage arguing to keep Chris Parry, the Reform mayoral candidate for Hampshire and the Solent, in the party after he last year told the then deputy prime minister David Lammy to “go home to the Caribbean”.

The programme also delved into the relationship that Hampshire County Council’s Reform group leader and city councillor George Madgwick has with the Portsmouth Patriots group, who he said “literally come out flyering with us” during the May 2026 local elections.

He has also shared a post on social media saying he has reported ITV, the production company and two reporters to police in Portsmouth who “clearly broke the law”.

In his statement, Mr Yusuf has claimed ITV had engaged in “a form of psychological warfare” with its actions.

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 has made the report to. The party was contacted for comment.

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.”