Nigel Farage’s Reform UK say they’ve been cleaning up their act since dozens of fascists, racists and other extremists were found in their ranks in the general election, and expelled. But it seems nobody has told them about the party organisation in the southwest. Local anti-fascists in Exeter and Teignbridge have exposed a snake pit of extremists running the show.

This, for instance, is Daryll Hawke. Daryll worked as an organiser for Reform during the general election, but is seen here offering a glimpse perhaps of where his true sympathies lie.

Another interesting character who has joined Reform recently is Frankie Rufolo, whom Searchlight had cause to write about during May’s Exeter council local elections when he ran as an independent candidate in the Exwick Ward.

He infamously burned a copy of the Quran in an Exeter pub; joined up with Ann Marie Waters’ anti-Muslim For Britain party (pic); attended a ‘defend our heritage’ event near Exeter College with an assortment of football hooligans and a (now) Conservative councillor; expressed support online for Tommy Robinson (‘a hero’), Hindu political extremists, and Liberty Hangout (a far right platform accused of promoting Holocaust revisionism); and attended a rally in Exeter with Katy Hopkins where fascist thugs screamed abuse at EU supporters.

Another old chum of the Islamophobic Ann Marie Waters is Jason Shopland, who is also now listed as a member of the Plymouth Reform UK branch. Jason has been at it for years. After standing as a UKIP candidate in 2015, he formed Plymouth Independents in 2016. That didn’t last long – his extremism was too much for them and he was expelled for racists statements in 2016.

In 2018 he hooked up with Ann Marie Waters (pics below) and her racist For Britain outfit, organising a meeting at which she was due to speak. Sadly for them the pub he had booked cancelled the meeting when they found out who was organising it.

After that he set up Active for Plymouth which publcily supported the far right Democratic Football Lads Alliance and ‘Tommy Robinson’.

Jason has also been active on the antivaxx front and is a conspiracy obsessive. Recently he’s been campaigning against the 20-mph hour speed limit introduced in Plymouth. He runs his own taxi business, so no vested interest there…

And catch this from Andy Gibbons, a Plymouth Reform candidate in this year’s local elections. During the racist post-Southport riots he posted on Facebook:

“Long may the rioting continue until this Country gets back to some point of WHITE normality that it once used to be.”

So, Mr Farage, you’ve got a bit of work to do cleaning up this little lot…

With thanks to ‘Really Free Speech’ and Exeter and Teignbridge Antifascists.