Reform UK candidate says he would ‘slaughter’ migrants arriving on small boats

A Reform UK candidate said he would “slaughter” migrants arriving on small boats and “have their family taken out” in a vile social media post uncovered just days before the General Election.

Leslie Lilley, who is set to contest Southend East & Rochford, made the threats on the official Facebook account he uses to run his local campaign.

In a post in June 2020, Lilley reacted to the news of a small boat arriving in Dover saying: “I hope I’m near one of these scumbags one day I won’t run away I’ll slaughter them then have their family taken out.”

The same month, Lilley, now 70, railed against “more scum entering the UK”, adding “I hope your family get Robbed, Beaten or attacked”.

The comments come as Nigel Farage faces pressure to suspend candidates with extreme views after the party leader said Reform UK had been “stitched up” over vetting.

Farage said Reform had paid a “large sum of money” to a vetting firm, but claimed the party had been let down.

He told LBC Radio: “Have we had trouble with one or two candidates? Yes, we have.

“We paid a large sum of money to a well-known vetting company, and they didn’t do the work.

“We have been stitched up politically, and that’s given us problems. And I accept that and I’m sorry for that.”

One candidate, Jack Aaron, who is standing against Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in Welwyn Hatfield, hit the headlines over comments about Hitler’s personality traits.

Mr Aaron said in a social media post in 2022 that Hitler “was basically incoherent in his writing and rationale” but was “brilliant” at using specific personality traits “to inspire people into action”.

Asked about the suggestion that Mr Aaron thought Hitler was “brilliant”, Mr Farage said: “This is utter nonsense. It’s rather like… if you asked me, you know, was Hitler a good public speaker? And I say yes – suddenly I’m a supporter.

“This is nonsense.”

Mr Aaron told The Times: “Yes, Hitler was as brilliant as he was utter evil. How is that controversial to say, given that he was able to turn the Germans to such destructive acts, including killing many members of my own family?

“I strongly believe, as a psychologist, in separating intelligence and talent from morality, so that we can adequately diagnose problems and help people.”

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.