Under scrutiny, the wheels are coming off Reform

Editorial: As Nigel Farage refuses to backtrack on his fanciful claim that the West provoked Putin to invade Ukraine, it has become clear that the party he leads – from its bizarre policies and unattainable spending plans to the extreme views of certain candidates – cannot bear very much reality

Nigel Farage’s party is no longer banging on about the EU – it is a bin for protest votes (Getty)

According to the Reform UK website, its candidate for Bournemouth West, Ben Aston, has previously been active in grassroots campaigning for Brexit; believes the state is “an inefficient, coercive, necessary evil”; and is a competitive cyclist. He also appears to be someone whose views would ordinarily disqualify him from being a candidate for any decent political party.

As has been reported, Mr Aston has made comments on social media that could fairly be described as racist: he has suggested that Jews are responsible for Muslim migration to the UK, and accused the government of intentionally “injecting” Britain with African men.

In a now deleted post discovered by the media, Mr Aston wrote: “Many of the powerful groups agitating for the mass import into England of Muslims from the Third World are Jewish.”