Non-Christians must eat bacon for a month, says Reform candidate

At this time of year, it’s only right for faiths to reach out to one another – which one senior Reform candidate has done by, er, telling non-Christians that they should eat bacon for a month.

In comments which have just emerged, Chris Parry, the party’s candidate for mayor of Hampshire and the Solent in next year’s election, wrote on X in October that “People from other religions should eat bacon for a month to prove their Christian sincerity and credentials.”

Warming to his theme, he returned to it last month, suggesting that asylum seekers claiming to be Christian should eat sausages to prove their faith. He wrote: “As I’ve said before, potential converts should have to eat bacon and sausages for a month before being accepted for baptism.”

Pork goods seem to be something of an obsession for the former Royal Navy officer. In another post in October, he shared an image on X of a microwave with a sign on it reading ‘Due to religion reasons, this microwave is for Halaal food only’, saying that sausages should be put in it.

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Explaining his strange banger crusade, Parry told the Daily Mirror: “I firmly believe that all asylum claims made on religious grounds need to be fully verified, with the onus on claimants to prove their sincerity. If woke lefties cannot cope with such banter, I suggest they protect their mental health by staying off social media.”

It is not the first controversy Parry has sparked since being selected as Reform’s candidate in Hampshire. Earlier this month he said that deputy prime minister David Lammy, who was born and brought up in London, should “go home” to the Caribbean where his “loyalties lie”. Defending his comments, he said: “Well, home is where the heart is. That’s the point.”

He has also described Enoch Powell as “unfulfilled”, Birmingham as “a failed colony”, four female colleagues as “harpies” and suggested Parliament would be filled with Muslim MPs by 2035. What an absolute charmer!

Meanwhile, don’t expect Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, to intervene over Parry’s antics – he’ll be busy. Tice tells today’s Times that watching Top Gun: Maverick is a tradition in his household on Christmas evening as “it reminds me of when I flew helicopters in my youth”. A tradition, presumably, that goes all the way back to 2022, when the film was released.