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Rupert Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, made an antisemitic comment during a meeting in parliament earlier this year, the Guardian can reveal.
Lowe, who was suspended from Reform UK earlier this year after a fallout with Nigel Farage, made the remark at a meeting where parliamentary staff were present.
In a leaked recording, Lowe can be heard remarking on the size of the camera being prepared to take footage of him. “In days gone by you’d call it a Jewish camera, but that would be politically incorrect. Because it’s so small,” Lowe said.
His comment triggered laughter in the room, and the person filming appeared to reassure him that the video would be edited. Someone out of shot said “career over in a second”, and Lowe laughed and repeated “career over in a second”.
Contacted for a response, Lowe said: “I don’t recall saying that, but if it was said, it was clearly a joke as anybody reading it can understand.”
A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: “This is bizarre and outdated antisemitic language which has no place in our politics. Mr Lowe should apologise for the offence this remark has caused.”
Reform declined to comment. The video is understood to have been recorded in February or March.
Since he was suspended from Reform in March, Lowe has sat as an independent and has been toying with the idea of starting a new rightwing political party or joining the Conservatives.
Lowe indicated to BBC Newsnight last week that he was interested in either starting a new venture with funding from the US billionaire Elon Musk or joining a “reformed Tory party”. “I could join the Tories tomorrow if I wanted to. I don’t have an issue with the Tories,” he said.
But he added he would “make sure there’s an alternative” to the existing parties and that he thought Musk “broadly, would consider supporting us”. “I can’t speak for him, but would I be grateful and would I feel good about his verbal support? Yes. Financial support? Yes. If he chose to do that, it would be fantastic,” Lowe said.
Lowe, a former Brexit party MEP, lost the Reform whip a day after giving an interview where he criticised Farage and said that under his leadership Reform was a “protest party led by the Messiah”.
Announcing his suspension, Reform made a string of allegations against Lowe, including that he was the subject of bullying complaints and had threatened the party chair, Zia Yusuf, with violence. The Crown Prosecution Service said last week it had decided not to press charges over the alleged verbal threats.
Lowe has always denied wrongdoing and claimed to be the victim of a witch-hunt. He has tried to clear his name, including by pursuing legal action against Farage and Reform. He has claimed that Farage turned against him after Musk appeared to endorse Lowe to replace him as the leader of Reform.
Musk said in January that Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead Reform and appeared to suggest Lowe was a better candidate. “I have not met Rupert Lowe, but his statements online that I have read so far make a lot of sense,” Musk said at the time.
