Britain has been devastated by the murder of another beloved politician. After Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, Ann Widdecombe has now been savagely killed in her own home. All three died without any personal protection. That is unacceptable in a country with an annual public budget of £1.2 trillion.
Ann was one of this country’s most formidable and courageous politicians. She inspired me and countless others. She was unwavering in her beliefs, and she made Britain a better place.
I cannot tell you why Ann was killed. That is a matter for the police and the courts. What I can say is that counter-terrorism officers are investigating her murder as a suspected act of terrorism.
I can also speak about the climate in which she was killed: a relentless narrative, promoted by politicians and the media, that Reform UK is a threat which must urgently be stopped. The rhetoric has become so extreme and persistent that it risks constituting incitement.
It is deeply uncomfortable to repeat some of the things that were said about Ann. But if we are serious about ensuring that this never happens again, those words cannot simply be forgotten.
David Lammy, now the Deputy Prime Minister, described Ann as a “poisonous bigot” who wanted to “drag us back to the 19th century” and “throw minorities out in the cold”. He declared: “We must stand up to them before it’s too late.”
Wes Streeting said: “If only science had a cure for Ann Widdecombe.”
Ed Davey declared: “The greatest threat to the Britain we love doesn’t come from Tehran or Moscow. It comes from within. I’m talking about Nigel Farage and Reform.”
The chairman of the Conservative Party likened Reform to the Nazis. Keir Starmer has described Reform’s policies as “racist” and “immoral”. Lucy Powell has described Nigel Farage as “a threat to democracy”.
Is it any wonder that, when such rhetoric is relentlessly directed at a political party, some people may believe they are justified in trying to eliminate that supposed threat through violence?
We learned on the morning of 10th July that Ann had died. Nine hours passed before it emerged that her death was being treated as murder.
By Saturday night, we knew that Ann, a high-profile Reform UK politician, had been murdered. We knew that the chief suspect was a man who had travelled more than 300 miles to her home. We also knew that nothing had been stolen.
Yet the police, the authorities and much of the media repeatedly appeared to rule out the possibility that the attack could have been politically motivated.
When Nigel Farage made the obvious point that the attack appeared to have been premeditated - a possibility that any serious observer had to consider - the media hounded him.
As more information has emerged, Nigel’s initial concerns appear increasingly well founded. Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: “I don’t understand why Devon and Cornwall Police were steering the public away from the idea that this was a terrorist case.”
Counter-terrorism police are now investigating what they have described as a “targeted attack” on Ann.
Nigel Farage lives under the ever-present threat of mortal danger. Since February, he has received 1,577 threats, including 597 death threats.
One individual sent six direct threats to him on Facebook, including a message telling him: “Get the fuck out of Wales before I just kill Nigel Farage. You can die at any fucking moment.” Another posted on X: “EXECUTE NIGEL FARAGE TODAY.”
Social media is awash with threats to kill Nigel. Yet, astonishingly, the authorities took the decision last autumn to cut the size of his security detail by 75%. Reform donors stepped in and the party covered the cost of restoring it to a level commensurate with the threat.
The toll of threats is severe enough for politicians themselves. What often affects them most, however, is the thought that their families could also be at risk. Whatever the danger, a politician makes a choice to enter public life. Their partners and children do not.
Several weeks ago, an extremely worried father begged the editor of The Times not to publish a photograph of his daughter’s home. Modern artificial-intelligence tools can make locating a property from a photograph little more difficult than conducting a Google search. Despite this father’s pleas, The Times published the photograph.
That worried and now devastated father was Nigel Farage.
Days later, Nigel was met at the airport by a Sky News camera crew, shortly after Sky had approached his daughter’s home. Nigel responded with a terse exchange with the reporter. The Guardian, The Mirror and a Conservative MP all described him as “rattled”.
But that was not a man who was politically “rattled”. It was the righteous anger of a loving father who had received 597 death threats since February and was worried sick about a daughter whose safety had been put in jeopardy for no legitimate reason.
Many politicians and members of the media are creating an environment of such hostility towards Reform UK that expressing perfectly reasonable political views is becoming unacceptably dangerous. That needs to end.
Politicians from other parties are entitled to disagree with and criticise our policies. But they must stop equating us with murderous regimes that butchered tens of millions of people and committed some of the greatest crimes in human history.
The media must continue to hold politicians to account. But it should do so without endangering them or their families.
Sir David Amess was murdered. Jo Cox was murdered. Now our dear friend Ann has been killed in her home.
Enough is enough. What happened to Ann must never happen again.
That is why Reform UK will introduce a new policy. If Reform wins the next general election, I will, as home secretary, ensure that every MP from every party is provided with round-the-clock protection. We will also allocate significant new resources to protect former politicians who remain active in public life.
No matter how strongly we may disagree with another politician’s views, every MP must be able to express those views without fear.
An attack on one politician is an assault on our democracy itself. Knowing Ann as I did, I know she would agree.
Ann was one of this country’s most formidable and courageous politicians. She inspired me and countless others. She was unwavering in her beliefs, and she made Britain a better place.
I cannot tell you why Ann was killed. That is a matter for the police and the courts. What I can say is that counter-terrorism officers are investigating her murder as a suspected act of terrorism.
I can also speak about the climate in which she was killed: a relentless narrative, promoted by politicians and the media, that Reform UK is a threat which must urgently be stopped. The rhetoric has become so extreme and persistent that it risks constituting incitement.
It is deeply uncomfortable to repeat some of the things that were said about Ann. But if we are serious about ensuring that this never happens again, those words cannot simply be forgotten.
David Lammy, now the Deputy Prime Minister, described Ann as a “poisonous bigot” who wanted to “drag us back to the 19th century” and “throw minorities out in the cold”. He declared: “We must stand up to them before it’s too late.”
Wes Streeting said: “If only science had a cure for Ann Widdecombe.”
Ed Davey declared: “The greatest threat to the Britain we love doesn’t come from Tehran or Moscow. It comes from within. I’m talking about Nigel Farage and Reform.”
The chairman of the Conservative Party likened Reform to the Nazis. Keir Starmer has described Reform’s policies as “racist” and “immoral”. Lucy Powell has described Nigel Farage as “a threat to democracy”.
Is it any wonder that, when such rhetoric is relentlessly directed at a political party, some people may believe they are justified in trying to eliminate that supposed threat through violence?
We learned on the morning of 10th July that Ann had died. Nine hours passed before it emerged that her death was being treated as murder.
By Saturday night, we knew that Ann, a high-profile Reform UK politician, had been murdered. We knew that the chief suspect was a man who had travelled more than 300 miles to her home. We also knew that nothing had been stolen.
Yet the police, the authorities and much of the media repeatedly appeared to rule out the possibility that the attack could have been politically motivated.
When Nigel Farage made the obvious point that the attack appeared to have been premeditated - a possibility that any serious observer had to consider - the media hounded him.
As more information has emerged, Nigel’s initial concerns appear increasingly well founded. Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: “I don’t understand why Devon and Cornwall Police were steering the public away from the idea that this was a terrorist case.”
Counter-terrorism police are now investigating what they have described as a “targeted attack” on Ann.
Nigel Farage lives under the ever-present threat of mortal danger. Since February, he has received 1,577 threats, including 597 death threats.
One individual sent six direct threats to him on Facebook, including a message telling him: “Get the fuck out of Wales before I just kill Nigel Farage. You can die at any fucking moment.” Another posted on X: “EXECUTE NIGEL FARAGE TODAY.”
Social media is awash with threats to kill Nigel. Yet, astonishingly, the authorities took the decision last autumn to cut the size of his security detail by 75%. Reform donors stepped in and the party covered the cost of restoring it to a level commensurate with the threat.
The toll of threats is severe enough for politicians themselves. What often affects them most, however, is the thought that their families could also be at risk. Whatever the danger, a politician makes a choice to enter public life. Their partners and children do not.
Several weeks ago, an extremely worried father begged the editor of The Times not to publish a photograph of his daughter’s home. Modern artificial-intelligence tools can make locating a property from a photograph little more difficult than conducting a Google search. Despite this father’s pleas, The Times published the photograph.
That worried and now devastated father was Nigel Farage.
Days later, Nigel was met at the airport by a Sky News camera crew, shortly after Sky had approached his daughter’s home. Nigel responded with a terse exchange with the reporter. The Guardian, The Mirror and a Conservative MP all described him as “rattled”.
But that was not a man who was politically “rattled”. It was the righteous anger of a loving father who had received 597 death threats since February and was worried sick about a daughter whose safety had been put in jeopardy for no legitimate reason.
Many politicians and members of the media are creating an environment of such hostility towards Reform UK that expressing perfectly reasonable political views is becoming unacceptably dangerous. That needs to end.
Politicians from other parties are entitled to disagree with and criticise our policies. But they must stop equating us with murderous regimes that butchered tens of millions of people and committed some of the greatest crimes in human history.
The media must continue to hold politicians to account. But it should do so without endangering them or their families.
Sir David Amess was murdered. Jo Cox was murdered. Now our dear friend Ann has been killed in her home.
Enough is enough. What happened to Ann must never happen again.
That is why Reform UK will introduce a new policy. If Reform wins the next general election, I will, as home secretary, ensure that every MP from every party is provided with round-the-clock protection. We will also allocate significant new resources to protect former politicians who remain active in public life.
No matter how strongly we may disagree with another politician’s views, every MP must be able to express those views without fear.
An attack on one politician is an assault on our democracy itself. Knowing Ann as I did, I know she would agree.
This is an edited version of a speech given by Zia Yusuf on 15th July. Watch the full press conference here.
