Reform’s Makerfield candidate under fire for resurfaced Russia Crimea comments

Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleReform UK's Makerfield by-election candidate, Robert Kenyon, is facing scrutiny over resurfaced social media comments from 2014 where he suggested Russia was “within their rights” to annex Crimea. In an online forum, Kenyon agreed with a post comparing Russia's actions in Crimea to the UK's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, calling it “democracy in action”. A Reform UK spokesman defended Kenyon, stating he did not explicitly support Russia's actions in Crimea and is fully opposed to the current invasion of Ukraine. Further resurfaced online posts linked to Kenyon include “degrading” and “sexist” remarks about women, objectifying European women and criticising female sports presenters. Reform UK dismissed these comments as “locker room banter”, while other allegations against Kenyon include sharing transphobic slurs, Covid misinformation, and a sexually explicit post about Carol Vorderman. In fullRussia ‘within their rights’ to take Crimea, Reform’s Makerfield candidate said as he compared it to FalklandsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

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