Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was right to sound the alarm about the escalating threats facing Reform politicians, as the government finally agrees to discuss his security arrangements and new figures have shown the scale of the threats against him.
Reform UK revealed today that Farage receives more than 300 threats a month, including dozens of death threats. The party recorded 1,577 threats against Farage since February, of which 597 were death threats. Farage has also been physically assaulted three times while campaigning for the Brexit Party and Reform UK.
These figures emerge after counter-terrorism police took over the investigation into the murder of Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe last week, prompting renewed questions about the security available to prominent Reform UK figures.
Farage has faced criticism for warning that Widdecombe’s death demonstrated the growing dangers confronting people in public life, particularly those associated with Reform UK. But as Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf pointed out in response to the latest developments in the Widdecombe investigation: “NIGEL WAS RIGHT.”
Yusuf had previously warned that the state was providing Reform MPs with “no protection whatsoever”, forcing the party to fund private security. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle rejected that, insisting in the House of Commons that Reform MPs were treated in the same way as members of other parties.
Now, however, Mahmood has offered Farage a meeting with the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which assesses the security needs of prominent public figures.
Farage has accepted the invitation and said he will use the meeting to discuss the protection of all Reform UK politicians, including those who do not sit in Parliament.
But Reform UK Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick said the offer had come far too late. “The government chose not to give Nigel the security that he needed”, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Jenrick said Farage had initially been offered a “comprehensive plan” for his protection, only for those arrangements to be substantially downgraded after his election to Parliament.
“It shouldn’t have taken the death of Ann Widdecombe” for Farage to be offered a meeting with the relevant security committee, he said.
“The Home Secretary could have offered that meeting a year ago, two years ago. She chose not to”, Jenrick added. “That, I’m afraid, is playing politics with the safety of politicians.”
Farage rejected a taxpayer-funded security package last year, because it simply wasn’t enough to protect him from the many threats he faced. A Reform UK spokesperson said that, just days after the assassination of American Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the security that Farage declined was “downgraded and inadequate”, representing a reduction of around 75% in the protection he already had. As such, the party was unwilling to “gamble with his life” by accepting it.
With Farage now facing hundreds of threats against him each month, Reform UK’s warning can no longer be ignored.
Reform UK revealed today that Farage receives more than 300 threats a month, including dozens of death threats. The party recorded 1,577 threats against Farage since February, of which 597 were death threats. Farage has also been physically assaulted three times while campaigning for the Brexit Party and Reform UK.
These figures emerge after counter-terrorism police took over the investigation into the murder of Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe last week, prompting renewed questions about the security available to prominent Reform UK figures.
Farage has faced criticism for warning that Widdecombe’s death demonstrated the growing dangers confronting people in public life, particularly those associated with Reform UK. But as Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf pointed out in response to the latest developments in the Widdecombe investigation: “NIGEL WAS RIGHT.”
Yusuf had previously warned that the state was providing Reform MPs with “no protection whatsoever”, forcing the party to fund private security. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle rejected that, insisting in the House of Commons that Reform MPs were treated in the same way as members of other parties.
Now, however, Mahmood has offered Farage a meeting with the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which assesses the security needs of prominent public figures.
Farage has accepted the invitation and said he will use the meeting to discuss the protection of all Reform UK politicians, including those who do not sit in Parliament.
But Reform UK Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick said the offer had come far too late. “The government chose not to give Nigel the security that he needed”, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Jenrick said Farage had initially been offered a “comprehensive plan” for his protection, only for those arrangements to be substantially downgraded after his election to Parliament.
“It shouldn’t have taken the death of Ann Widdecombe” for Farage to be offered a meeting with the relevant security committee, he said.
“The Home Secretary could have offered that meeting a year ago, two years ago. She chose not to”, Jenrick added. “That, I’m afraid, is playing politics with the safety of politicians.”
Farage rejected a taxpayer-funded security package last year, because it simply wasn’t enough to protect him from the many threats he faced. A Reform UK spokesperson said that, just days after the assassination of American Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the security that Farage declined was “downgraded and inadequate”, representing a reduction of around 75% in the protection he already had. As such, the party was unwilling to “gamble with his life” by accepting it.
With Farage now facing hundreds of threats against him each month, Reform UK’s warning can no longer be ignored.
