London, UK
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, reacting to a racial slur made about him by a Reform UK party supporter, on Friday (June 28) said he was deeply hurt and infuriated by the clipping.
Expressing his disapproval of the act, he said that he was anguished upon having to witness his two daughters see and hear what the people campaigning for Nigel Farage said.
Sunak, who was born in the southern English port city of Southampton in 1980 to Hindu parents of Punjabi Indian descent, was called a "f*cking Paki" by Reform canvasser Andrew Parker in a secretly filmed video by Channel 4 News.
"My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing Paki. It hurts and it makes me angry, and I think he has some questions to answer," Sunak responded to comments broadcast by Channel 4 News.
UK's first ethnic-minority PM said that the Reform activist's racial slur was "too important not to call out".
"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 added.
In Channel 4's video, Parker can be heard saying, "I've always been a Tory (Conservative) voter but what annoys me is that f*cking Paki we've got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He's just wet. F*cking useless."
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No one at the Reform Party was aware of my personal views, says Parker
Parker released a statement apologising to Nigel Farage and the Reform Party stating that his personal views on the immigration problem were not intended to bring disrepute to the party.
"I would therefore like to apologise profusely to Nigel Farage and the Reform Party if my personal views have reflected badly on them and brought them into disrepute as this was not my intention," he said.
"I offered to help the Reform Party on their canvassing as I believe that they are the only party that offers the UK voter a practical solution to the illegal immigration problem that we have in the UK."
Amid the controversy over Parker's statement, Farage took to his X handle late on Thursday (June 27) and said that he was disturbed by the kind of words that the Reform activist used.
"We now learn that he is an actor by profession. This whole episode does not add up," Farage said on Friday (June 28).
(With inputs from agencies)