David Joyce

David Burgess-Joyce previously stood by the comments but Labour said the remarks were “grim”.

Labour are calling for Nigel Farage to “take action” over leaked Whatsapp messages from a top Reform figure in Merseyside. David Burgess-Joyce previously stood by the comments but Labour said the remarks were “grim”.

The ECHO has seen messages from inside a group chat called Wirral Patriots Forum that appears to be linked to Wirral Reform and key figures within the party. In one message attributed to local party chairman Mr Burgess-Joyce, he said “Labour’s back-bench ret**ds” were “failing to realise other peoples’ money runs out”.

Another message responding to comments made by Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy about Reform leader Nigel Farage in 2025 referred to “the ret****d Lammy”, adding: “To accuse Nigel of flirting with the Hitler Youth, an entity that died 19 years before he was born, is beyond belief."

The word in question was historically used in a medical context but is now considered obsolete and a highly offensive epithet used to describe someone with an intellectual disability.

Another message seen by the ECHO appears to refer to Mr Lammy again while he was Foreign Secretary. This message, again attributed to Mr Burgess-Joyce, said: “These pygmies use your money to ingratiate themselves on the world stage”, adding: “Of all the insults the British people have had to endure by this Marxist government this moron as Foreign Secretary is the most egregious”.

Pygmies can be an offensive and derogatory term used to describe “an abnormally undersized person” or “a person of little importance or significance”. The term is also used to describe certain ethnic groups in central Africa, although such usage is often considered pejorative.

A Wirral Labour spokesperson said: “This is exactly the type of toxic rhetoric Reform have become synonymous with. Mr Burgess-Joyce should apologise.

“It’s astounding Nigel Farage has allowed these grim remarks to become commonplace in his party. If he had any backbone, he’d take action.

“Labour will continue to take on Reform’s divisive politics. They offer anger, but no answers.”

The ECHO made several attempts to contact Reform for comment. No response was received at the time of publication.

When asked about the messages previously, Mr Burgess-Joyce said: “To dispel any confusion, I am the chairman of Wirral Reform UK, not the chairman of the David Lammy Appreciation Society!

“I believe this government to be utterly incompetent, and an embarrassment to Britain on the international stage. Lammy has, in my opinion, just like all the other members of the front bench, precious little ability to run our great country well, and who has clearly enjoyed the trappings and lifestyle of occupying one of the great offices of state.

“As a politician, he is not immune from any criticism by a member of the public, such as me, on a private forum, and I shall continue to do so until he is removed from office.”

Mr Burgess-Joyce previously made controversial remarks when he accused Mr Lammy “of doing more damage to community cohesion than any Klu Klux Klan member” while a Conservative councillor in 2019. Mr Burgess-Joyce was temporarily suspended and later apologised, suggesting he “may have been fatigued and troubled by a family bereavement at the time of the tweet”.