Ex-Reform UK candidate apologises over comments after being removed from Shropshire contest
A former Shropshire candidate for the Reform UK has apologised for offensive remarks made on social media that led to him being removed as the party's candidate at the next General Election, but says his comments were "taken out of context".
Pete Addis, a refrigeration engineer from Ludlow, had been standing as the party's candidate in South Shropshire, to compete for the seat soon to be vacated by Tory Philip Dunne MP, who is stepping down.
However, Reform UK has now dropped Mr Addis as its candidate after remarks came to light following a national newspaper investigation at the weekend.
The Mail on Sunday discovered Mr Addis had said that Sir David Attenborough should be “killed off” and had been banned from Facebook for using a racist slur to describe Chinese people. He also made and had said "brown babies" were the result of anal sex.
He had also made sexist remarks about Labour MP Angela Rayner and a female journalist.
