Streeting accuses Reform of ‘return to age old racism’ after by-election candidate’s comments about being British

Exclusive: Wes Streeting appears to have distanced himself from claims – made by both Nigel Farage and Sir Keir Starmer – that the Gorton and Denton by-election was fought on ‘sectarian’ lines NewsUKUK PoliticsStreeting accuses Reform of ‘return to age old racism’ after by-election candidate’s comments about being BritishExclusive: Wes Streeting appears to have distanced himself from claims – made by both Nigel Farage and Sir Keir Starmer – that the Gorton and Denton by-election was fought on ‘sectarian’ lines Millie Cooke Political Correspondent Wednesday 04 March 2026 17:44 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverKeir Starmer speaks out as Labour defeated in Gorton and Denton by-electionYour support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreWes Streeting has accused Reform UK of a "return to age old racism that I thought we had consigned to the 1970s and 80s” and an attempt to delegitimise Muslim voters in the wake of the Gorton and Denton by-election. The health secretary hit out at Reform candidate Matt Goodwin after the politician was criticised for claiming that UK-born people from black, Asian or other immigrant backgrounds were not always British. Mr Streeting also accused Mr Goodwin of “saying that if you don’t look like me, even if you were born here, you can’t really be British” after the Reform candidate said “it takes more than a piece of paper to make somebody ‘British’”.Claiming this marked a "return to age old racism that I thought we had consigned to the 1970s and 80s”, he continued: “That is just about the most un-British thing I can think of....All of us have a responsibility to stand against that kind of hatred and discrimination.” Meanwhile, in what appears to be a broadside at claims made by both Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage that the contest was fought on “sectarian” lines, the health secretary emphasised the importance of defending the "rights, the voice, the space of Muslims in our country to participate in our democracy on equal terms, with equal votes, and equal voices”. Mr Streeting made the intervention at the Big Iftar in Parliament hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, amid growing speculation that he is preparing a leadership bid to challenge Sir Keir. open image in galleryWes Streeting emphasised the importance of defending the ‘rights, the voice, the space of Muslims in our country to participate in our democracy on equal terms’ (Martin Rickett/PA Wire)It comes after concerns were raised about people forcing family members to vote in a certain way in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, with Nigel Farage claiming the contest was a victory for “sectarian voting and cheating” after Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer won the seat.He also claimed that Reform’s candidate Matt Goodwin would have won if only British citizens had voted, saying his party would limit voting in national elections to British passport holders and remove the right from those with Commonwealth citizenship who qualify as UK residents. Meanwhile, in the wake of the election - which saw Labour slump to third place behind the Greens and Reform in a seat which they previously won with more than half the votes - the prime minister wrote to Labour MPs and accused the Greens of embracing a “divisive, sectarian” form of politics. Branding the Green Party’s policies “extreme”, the prime minister claimed they had shown they were “not the harmless environmentalists they pretend to be”. But in his address at the Big Iftar in Parliament, Mr Streeting took a very different tone. "We’ve seen in recent days - as Muslims have upheld British values, gone to the ballot box, cast their votes, taking part in democracy - attempts to delegitimise them, to suggest that their votes and their voices count less than others”, he said. "When Nigel Farage said Reform won the Gorton and Denton by-election among British-born voters, what he was saying was that he won the by-election amongst people who look like him. open image in galleryNigel Farage pictured campaigning with Matt Goodwin, his party’s candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election (PA Wire)"We know that one of the reasons the Greens won in Gorton and Denton was because lots of people in the Musl