No place for groypers or anyone from far-right in Reform UK declares deputy leader

In the far-reaching interview, Tice also said if Reform take power there could be a “major clear-out” at the Foreign Office, and called for the proscription of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Muslim Brotherhood.

(L-R) Reform UK MP Danny Kruger, Reform UK chairman David Bull, Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice and Reform UK MP Lee Anderson listen as Former Conservative Party Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi speaks after being unveiled as a new member of Reform UK at a press conference in London on January 12, 2026. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Lord Finkelstein warned last week about the growth of antisemitism on the far right. There has been concern over the danger of the UK following the example of the US, where it is feared far-right supporters known as groypers haven been growing in number, many inspired by American influencer and political activist Nick Fuentes, who had declared himself on “team Hitler”.

Tice was emphatic that there was no place for groypers or any other far-right element in the party, saying: “The evidence already shows we've thrown people out … we just weren't prepared to tolerate it. And that sometimes upsets people. But isn't it funny, since we've done that, our polling has gone up, our membership has gone up, and the number of by-election wins has gone up”.

He continues: “It's about common sense, and it's about the values – family, community, country – that's the guiding philosophy that drives everybody from Nigel down, and when you listen to him, he always comes back to that. We don't want people in Reform who don't share those values, and who've got bad attitudes.”

Laila Cunningham, unveiled as the party’s candidate for the 2028 London Mayoral election, has been subject to abuse, with some right-wing commentators saying they would refuse to vote for her on the grounds that she is a Muslim. Tice said such comments are “appalling” and “absolutely bonkers”.

But the party has been dogged by claims Farage made antisemitic remarks – including hissing to mimic the sounds of the gas chamber and saying “Hitler was right”– to Jewish students while at Dulwich College nearly 50 years ago.

The refusal of Farage to apologise for the alleged remarks has been strongly criticised. Tice himself has also been challenged for telling the BBC’s Today programme in December that the complaints were “made up twaddle”.

He continued to defend his leader against the allegations, telling the JC: “Nigel stood up at press conference, and he read out one of numerous emails he's had from friends, former classmates, former school colleagues, confirming that that wasn't their recollection at all.”

He said that in his radio interview he had been enraged by interviewer Emma Barnett’s introduction to the subject: “I was asked on Radio Four by Emma Barnett, ‘could we talk about Nigel's relationship with Hitler?’ I mean, Nigel was born 19 years later. What a ridiculous question. I mean, it was so shocking, I nearly put the phone down, actually.”

However, he conceded that the reaction to the claims had not been perfect. He said: “Is this stuff difficult, of course. Do you sometimes, in the heat of the battle, when you're right under pressure, do you get every word perfect? Every answer perfect? Of course not. We're all human.”

He added that both he and Farage had a strong track record in standing up against antisemitism and for the Jewish community.

Richard Tice MP (second on the left) and London Assembly member Alex Wilson (third on the right) during a visit to CST (Image: Mark Shooter).[Missing Credit]

After the interview, the Reform deputy leader and other party members visit the headquarters of the Community Security Trust (CST). The organisation said that Tice had requested the meeting and “asked to see the vital work of CST” and that they in turn “highlighted the serious threats facing our community and discussed the measures needed to tackle them.”

But they too “raised concerns about past allegations of antisemitism relating to Reform Party leader Nigel Farage MP and urged them to find a resolution to this troubling situation."

Tice said he blamed the rise in antisemitism in the UK on “weak leadership” and had told supporters that, shortly after October 7 he was “one of the first people” to call for pro-Palestine marches to be banned after being “shocked” by the scenes he witnessed at a demonstration on High Street Kensington a mere two days after Hamas’ atrocities in southern Israel.

He rebutted criticism from fellow right-wingers who defended the right to protest: “I went straight back and said: ‘lawful, not illegal, not inciting hatred, violence and antisemitism’ … If you allow a vacuum to develop, then bad people fill it.”

Reform UK is currently the only major political party pledging to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation. It is designated as such by Middle Eastern countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Tice says that his party would also proscribe the IRGC, attacking Labour and the Conservatives’ failure to do so: “both main parties have talked about it and never done it”.

The Reform UK deputy leader has spent some time in Dubai where his fiancé, journalist Isobel Oakeshott, lives and he expressed a bafflement that the UAE takes a more robust position on the group that the British government.

“You now see a situation where the UAE is stopping funding students to go from the UAE to come and study in the UK, for fear of being radicalised ... which shows how wrong our leadership have got.”

One department he singles out is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: “Our Foreign Office is riddled with cowardice, and there needs to be a major clearout of this gutless approach to the difference between right and wrong.”

Incidents like the failure to spot the vile tweets of Egyptian prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah, and the fact that both Labour and Conservative governments campaigned for his release, cemented to him that: “you have to have people that actually, that believe in the cause of the national interest, that believe in the cause of discipline and sovereignty and borders”.

“It's quite clear in the Home Office and the Foreign Office, they've been captured by a totally different approach and but much of it is, is just cowardice and a perception that, ‘oh, I don't want to upset X or Y, or Z’. Well, actually, what about just focusing on doing what's right?”.

In their pursuit of what they say would be policies in Britain’s national interest, a Reform government wouldn’t shy away from withdrawing from international or UN bodies if they didn’t like what they were hearing.

“For example, some of the climate bodies. Nigel's spoken a number of times about our concerns about the management of the World Health Organisation.”

“It's fine to take advice from folks, but we have a clear view: advisors advise, directors decide. Or in this case, ministers decide. It's what you do in business, you listen to – and you can listen to competing advice – and then you, as the director, make it a choice. And it should be the same with the minister, secretary of state and the prime minister”.

At the meeting, Shooter, the party’s first London councillor, was joined by his wife Melissa, with bagels, shakshuka and burekas served up for the local party faithful.

Also joined by the party’s London Assembly member Alex Wilson, Tice said that Reform would be “standing up for the Jewish community, loudly and squarely” and talked up the party’s chances of success in heavily Jewish areas at this May’s London-wide council elections.

One supporter told the JC: “They're showing absolute support for the Jewish community and for people who are living in this country at the moment are feeling fearful about the future.”

Tice told the score of mostly Jewish group of activists and supporters that he’s currently reading the book ISResilience: What Israelis Can Teach The World by Michael Dickson and Dr Naomi L Baum.

He said that the Israeli mindset of “hope and optimism” is something both he and Farage are bringing to what they say are the challenges facing the country, especially economically.

Attacking the Labour government for presiding over an economy that is “flatlining”, he warned: “The country is for intents and purposes, heading towards bankruptcy.”