- Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, defended the party's vetting process following a series of controversial incidents involving candidates, stating that "sometimes people lie" despite checks.
- The defence came after a Welsh Senedd candidate, Corey Edwards, stepped down when a photo of him appearing to perform a Nazi salute surfaced online, which he apologised for, explaining it as an imitation of a footballer or Basil Fawlty.
- Farage acknowledged that the party's vetting was not up to scratch in the past, particularly during the last general election due to his late involvement and lack of resources, but claimed current scrutiny is higher than for other parties.
- Another incident involved a candidate branding the former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf an "Islamist moron," and Hampshire mayoral candidate Chris Parry was suspended for likening a Jewish neighbourhood watch group to "Islamists on horseback."
- Reform UK's home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, also defended the process, stating that out of 8,000 candidates vetted, even a 99.9 per cent success rate means a handful of problematic individuals might still slip through.
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