Reform candidate admits Lammy post was 'clumsy'

A Reform mayoral candidate who suggested David Lammy should "go home" to the Caribbean has admitted the remarks were clumsy.

Chris Parry, who is set to stand in Hampshire and the Solent in 2028, posted on X in February that the deputy prime minister, who was born in London to Guyanese parents, should "go home to the Caribbean" where his "loyalty lies".

Parry released a statement saying it was "clumsily worded" and apologised for "any distress and offence caused".

Lammy, who was born in London to Guyanese parents, previously branded the comments as "1950s style hate".

Parry's statement came after Reform Party leader Nigel Farage said he should apologise, describing the comments as "over the top".

Questions were first raised about the post in December, shortly after the rear admiral announced he would be standing as Reform's candidate in the mayoral election.

When asked about the timing of his apology, he told the BBC: "I thought it made sense to let it die down for a while, have a reasoned discussion and then I could apologise properly."

In his statement, he said the post had followed Mr Lammy's visit to the Caribbean when he was foreign secretary and was about the "vexed issue" of reparations for former colonial nations affected by slavery.

Pressed on whether he understood why the post could have been seen as racist, he said: "It was a clumsy tweet, there's no question about that.

"It was about reparations, it wasn't about race. It was entirely to do with my belief the foreign secretary of Britain shouldn't be advocating strongly for the interests of other countries while serving in one of the great offices of state.

"I would not have joined the party if I thought it was racist, it's as simple as that."

Following Parry's apology, a Labour Party post on X said: "Nigel Farage should stop being so weak and throw Chris Parry out of Reform UK today."

Lammy previously called on Farage to "stamp out this 1950s-style hate" from Reform.

He wrote: "I will never be cowed by racism.

"But I will call it what it is. Nigel Farage, you need to clean up your party and stamp out this 1950s-style hate."

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