Twenty-seven MPs – 26 Labour and independent Diane Abbott, formerly Labour – have written to the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission demanding a formal investigation into Reform UK for alleged Islamophobia, citing what they describe as “overwhelming evidence” that the party has breached its obligations under the 2010 Equality Act. Reform’s response was four words: “We stand by our comments. We will not be intimidated.”
The letter, headed by Labour MP Afzal Khan, claims: “Over the last few years, we have seen a number of Reform UK politicians and members make comments that are clearly racist and discriminate against ethnic minorities, and in particular, Muslims.” It adds: “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.”
What the MPs are alleging
The letter to the EHRC cites specific examples of what the signatories characterise as Islamophobic conduct. These include Nigel Farage’s criticism of a mass Muslim prayer event in Trafalgar Square and his suggestion that Muslim prayers could be banned from historic British sites.
The letter also criticises Reform MPs Sarah Pochin, Suella Braverman and Lee Anderson, as well as Reform members of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd.
Afzal Khan said: “Reform UK have consistently failed to tackle their growing Islamophobia problem” and accused the party of “consistent attacks on Muslim communities.”
Among the 27 signatories are Labour MPs Ian Byrne, Clive Lewis and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, as well as Mother of the House Diane Abbott, who sits as an independent after her suspension from the Labour Party.
The context – hate crime figures and the new definition
The EHRC complaint arrives shortly after the government announced a formal definition of anti-Muslim hostility in March, something Khan had campaigned for. The government stated at the time that 45% of all religious hate crimes are now targeted at Muslims – a record level and more than any other faith group – with significant underreporting acknowledged.
The scale of anti-Muslim hate crime in Britain, and its documented increase in the years since Brexit, provides the specific backdrop against which the MPs are making their complaint. The argument is not simply that individual Reform politicians have made offensive remarks – it is that those remarks form part of a pattern with documented real-world consequences for British Muslim communities.
The pattern the MPs are pointing to
The EHRC complaint connects to a documented pattern that has been building across the years of Reform’s growth. As we reported in our tracker of 99 Reform councillors kicked out, resigned or defected, the reasons for departures and suspensions include councillors sharing bomb-on-Mecca posts, Islamophobic content and material targeting Muslim communities. As we reported in our Makerfield candidate investigation, Reform’s Makerfield byelection candidate Robert Kenyon spread disinformation during the Southport riots that was specifically designed to direct anger at Muslim communities, amplifying figures in a network of far-right accounts during a period of violence that included attacks on mosques.
The EHRC letter names Suella Braverman as one of the Reform figures whose comments the MPs consider Islamophobic. Braverman, who previously served as Home Secretary under the Conservative government before defecting to Reform, has made multiple statements about Muslim communities and immigration that have attracted significant criticism and formal complaints.
Lee Anderson, whose own membership was suspended from the Conservatives after claiming London Mayor Sadiq Khan had been “handed” to Islamists, is also cited. Anderson subsequently joined Reform and has continued to make statements that critics characterise as Islamophobic.
What the EHRC can and cannot do
The EHRC has specific powers under the Equality Act 2010 to investigate organisations – including political parties – where there is evidence of unlawful acts or a pattern of conduct suggesting systemic breaches of equalities obligations. If it determines there is sufficient evidence, it can launch a formal investigation, which can result in legally binding undertakings, enforcement notices and potential court proceedings.
The most significant precedent is the EHRC’s investigation into the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership for antisemitism, which resulted in a formal finding of unlawful acts and a legally binding action plan. That investigation was the most consequential intervention by the EHRC in British political life in recent memory.
Whether the EHRC will take up the complaint against Reform depends on its own assessment of the evidence. The 27 MPs’ letter claims the evidence is overwhelming. Reform’s flat refusal to engage with the substance – “We stand by our comments” – does not amount to a defence on the legal merits.
Reform’s full response – and what it omits
“We stand by our comments. We will not be intimidated.”
The response does not address any of the specific examples cited in the letter. It does not dispute that the named politicians made the statements attributed to them. It does not explain how those statements comply with the party’s obligations under the Equality Act. It does not acknowledge the hate crime figures. It does not engage with the EHRC’s legal powers.
“We will not be intimidated” frames a legal complaint by elected MPs to the statutory equality watchdog as a form of intimidation – a characterisation that is itself revealing about how Reform views accountability mechanisms.
As we reported in our Reform governance first year piece, Reform’s response to scrutiny of its conduct in local government has consistently been to dismiss it as an establishment attack rather than engage with the substance. The pattern at national level follows the same template.
The Makerfield byelection connection
The EHRC complaint arrives three weeks before the Makerfield byelection on 18 June, in which Reform’s candidate Robert Kenyon faces Andy Burnham. Makerfield includes significant Muslim communities in Wigan and the surrounding area. As we reported in our full Kenyon investigation, Kenyon’s documented social media activity during the Southport riots included amplifying content that directed racialised anger specifically at Muslim communities, retweeting figures whose posts referenced “two-tier” policing in explicitly racialised terms.
Labour’s Anna Turley has said Farage needs to explain his candidate choices as we reported in our Kenyon sexist comments piece. The EHRC complaint adds a formal institutional dimension to that challenge.
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