Reform candidate Angela Carter-Begbie says ‘Jews run the banks’ as party remains silent on calls for her suspension

• The candidate previously compared the Covid-19 vaccine rollout to the Holocaust
• Conservative MP Samia Hersi said there should be no place for anti-Semitism in politics.
• The Campaign Against Antisemitism has declared that “tropes have no place” in today’s world

Tonight, the Reform Party remained silent on calls to suspend a candidate who claimed on social media that banks were “Jewish-owned.”

Angela Carter-Begbie will stand in the Queen’s Park and Maida Vale elections, despite calls from her Conservative opponent Nigel Farage to withdraw the party’s support for her.

The Reform candidate, who was denounced last month for comparing the Covid-19 vaccine rollout to the Holocaust, said last year during a debate on financing the country: “Because the banks want to make it a new country. They belong to the Jews.”

Samia Hersi, her Conservative rival in the London constituency, said: “The Reform Party and Nigel Farage must suspend Angela Carter-Begbie as a candidate in light of these racist and anti-Semitic comments.

“It’s horrible and there should be no place for anti-Semitism and racism in politics.”

A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Jewish community has long been subjected to accusations of a medieval conspiracy that it controls the banks and the economy.

“Such clichés have no place in 21st century Britain.

“The Party must investigate urgently.”

Neither the Reform Party nor Ms Carter-Begbie could be reached for comment yesterday.

Nigel Farage has expressed “regret” that Reform UK “let some of the wrong people” stand as candidates in the election.

He sparked outrage last month when he suggested the West had provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the expansion of the EU and Nato.

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Rishi Sunak later said Mr Farage was a “conciliator” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Boris Johnson branded reformists “Putinists” earlier this week.

Ms Carter-Begbie has also described the king as “weak” on social media in the past, suggesting he was under the control of global elites.

Last April, she commented on the vaccine rollout: “I said that the behavior of the vaccinated is slowly repeating the movement of the Holocaust. Putting people in camps, making them lose their jobs, making them homeless.

“The Holocaust is the name of a movement.”

It comes as fellow Reform candidate Darren Ingrouille, running in Chelmsford, was accused of comparing autistic people to “vegetables”.

In response to a user who described himself as an “autistic father of twins,” the candidate said in a now-deleted post: “I can understand that you have learning difficulties, many of us reasonable humans would have a better perspective on this issue… Keep pushing; or just keep prioritizing your fellow human beings; vegetables.”

Former cabinet minister Vicky Ford, the Conservative candidate in Chelmsford, said on Wednesday night: “My whole being is disgusted by this. I have no words.”

Mr Ingrouille had also previously told a woman: “Please don’t reproduce, whatever you do.”

He did not respond to a request for comment last night, but shared a message on Tuesday saying: “There is now a coordinated campaign by the Tories via CCHQ, with the collaboration of the corrupt MSM (mainstream media), to discredit Reform UK.”

The party has already rejected several candidates over offensive comments or past support for far-right organisations, with Mr Farage accusing a background check company of failing to conduct a background check on him.

The Reform Party leader said last night: “Everything has gone wrong in the last few months. I regret that I did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the problem a month ago, but I will fix it.”

“I’ve dealt with it within UKIP, I’ve had no problem with it within the Brexit Party. From Friday, my first two big tasks will be to professionalise the party and to democratise it.”