'Makes me angry': Rishi Sunak on being called 'Paki' by Reform UK Party campaigner
London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his outrage after a supporter of Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party directed a racist slur at him, media reported.
A news channel reported the incident, airing a recording of a campaigner using the derogatory term "Paki"—a racial slur targeting people of South Asian descent—in front of Sunak's daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.
Sunak, Britain's first ethnic minority prime minister, addressed the media while on his election campaign trail.
"It hurts, and it makes me angry. I don't repeat those words lightly. I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is," he was quoted as saying by the media.
"When you see Reform candidates and campaigners, seemingly using racist and misogynistic language and opinions seemingly without challenge, I think it tells you something about the culture within the Reform Party," the 44-year-old added.
Reform UK party leader Farage condemned the remarks as "appalling" and distanced himself from the comments made by campaigner Andrew Parker.
Running for Parliament, Farage admitted that a few individuals had "let us down" and asserted that such sentiments did not reflect the views of the party or its supporters.
"The appalling sentiments expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views, those of the vast majority of our supporters or Reform UK," Farage said in a statement.
Due to the early election announcement, the Reform UK party has faced difficulty in selecting candidates.
Amid these challenges Farage remains confident that his party will emerge as a strong opposition against the anticipated Labour government.
According to the anti-racism organization Hope Not Hate, Reform UK has withdrawn 166 candidates since the beginning of the year, many due to racist or offensive remarks.
Sunak cautioned voters that backing Reform UK might unintentionally help the Labour Party, which he criticized for its tax policies.
He also condemned Farage for saying that Western actions provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine, describing such comments as harmful and appeasing to Vladimir Putin.
The UK will go to polls on July 4.
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