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.

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 Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) 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, that Britain has an absolute right to defend itself.

"His views cannot be brushed under the carpet as a "vetting oversight". He's one of the most senior figures in the party. Given his national role within Reform we must question the patriotism of the party itself."

 When approached by the LDRS, Mr Kelly defended his comments.

He said: "I was merely highlighting that wars, necessary though they may be, and in the case of the Falklands entirely necessary, can also be used by politicians to bolster their political position.

"Anybody who shouts 'patriotism!' as a political device, as Mr Athans is doing, is merely proving that. He seems to think that people and situations are as one dimensional as himself, they are not.

"I bow to no one in honouring those that served and were killed and wounded in the Falklands, but I am also a realist, something the Tory candidate who supports a party that has cut military spending in real terms in the last 14 years clearly isn't."

Hazel Grove is a marginal seat with a 4,000-vote majority based in the borough of Stockport.

Polls suggest the Lib Dems could win the seat on July 4, but it has had a Conservative MP since 2015.

The Reform UK candidate said he began his political career in the Labour Party, and was later involved with UKIP and the Brexit Party.

The Lib Dem candidate in Hazel Grove, Lisa Smart, has also faced criticism this week for an anti-Liverpool comment she made while speaking to voters on the doorstep.

When she spoke to a woman who said she's registered to vote in Liverpool, Ms Smart said: "Ah, understood – so you've just been nicking stuff while you're here."

She apologised for the remark.

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