The UK government has been “blasé” about protecting Reform UK politicians and has dragged its heels on security arrangements because they hold the wrong political opinions, party spokesman Robert Jenrick said.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has invited Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to meet with the Home Office’s Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) following the alleged murder of party spokesman Ann Widdecombe in what police have described as a “targeted attack.”
Farage has accepted the invitation. But Jenrick pointed out Farage has needed this meeting for years, not just days — and accused the government of playing politics with the lives of his colleagues.
“The Home Secretary is not powerless… I think it’s in her power to overrule [advice] should she wish to, and I know of instances where Prime Ministers have chosen to provide security to individuals… I think it is basic that if you have someone in the level of danger that Nigel Farage is in, the Home Secretary should provide them with security.”
Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, Jenrick referred to the government’s decision last year to slash Nigel Farage’s police security detail in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination.
The government has insisted it is not to blame for Farage being refused adequate security, claiming these decisions are dealt with by an independent committee. Jenrick dismissed this claim, stating the Home Office could intervene at any time if it wished to do so.
Jenrick said Reform politicians are not asking for special treatment. But their willingness to tackle controversial political issues that many legacy-party representatives avoid puts them in greater danger from political extremists.
The politician briefly cited Reform’s track record of speaking out on radical Islam. On the small migrant boats crisis, Jenrick recalled “a small boat migrant is now in jail for threatening to kill him.”
On the government’s refusal to discuss security for Farage until now — a long-running issue that has led to Farage self-funding his own protection and, in turn, media attacks on cash donations — Jenrick concluded:
“…the government chose not to give Nigel the security he needed, they have now as a result of Ann Widdecombe’s appalling murder offered him a meeting. The Home Secretary could have offered that meeting a year ago, two years ago. She chose not to. That, I’m afraid, is playing politics with the safety of politicians and, I suspect, that is because they don’t like the views that Reform politicians take forward because we are not mainstream politicians, we are politicians who are fighting the establishment every single day and we’re not backing down.”
Illustrating the level of vitriol launched against Farage — who has been physically assaulted several times while campaigning — the Brexiteer revealed he receives more than 300 threats a month.
According to The Times, Reform UK’s security team has recorded 1,577 threats against Farage since February, including 597 death threats. There is a particular group of dedicated individuals “believed to be fixated on the idea of killing him.”
The final public act of slain veteran lawmaker and Reform spokesman Ann Widdecombe last week before she was allegedly murdered was to speak in defence of Farage as a guest on current affairs talk shows on Wednesday.
One, with TalkTV, was broadcast. A second was taped and never released. A third booking to appear on television that day was due to take place shortly after police say Widdecombe was killed.
The unreleased second recording was for Christian broadcaster TWR-UK and saw Widdecombe warn of the “politics of personal destruction” being unleashed against her colleague Nigel Farage.
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