'Outrage' at Reform UK candidate's Falklands War comments

Reform UK's candidate in Hazel Grove has come under fire over "outrageous" comments about the Falklands War.

John Kelly - Reform's northern area manager - made the remarks in an interview set up by Kiki's Retro Bar in Marple, where he faced questions about his views and plans if elected. The bar recorded a series of interviews with candidates in Hazel Grove from different political parties.

Mr Kelly said the current conflict between Israel and Palestine is being used by some politicians for personal gain - something which he accused ex-Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher of doing with the Falklands War.

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In the interview he said: "We have a situation where politicians, and I would call them political trash, in certain parts of the world are using that situation in Palestine and Israel to enhance their own prospects in the same way as Margaret Thatcher used the Falklands to make sure she got re-elected. Tony Blair did the same with the Gulf War."

He added that the situation in Palestine is "utterly horrific" and that "in the end we will have to force a two-state solution."

The comments sparked backlash from Tory candidate Paul Athans, who is an army veteran. He told the MEN that the remarks were "an affront to every single veteran of that war."

He said: "I am outraged by the Reform candidate's re-writing of history. To suggest that the Falklands War was concocted by Margaret Thatcher to win the 1983 election is ignoring the very simple fact that it was Argentina that invaded first.

"His comments are an affront to every single veteran of that war, the people of the Falkland Islands, and all the people of Hazel Grove who agree with me,