Nick Robinson to Robert Jenrick: "It does suit you and Nigel Farage to change the subject nationally from the fact that Mr Farage took a vast donation of £5 million from someone living abroad and he wishes to connect that with his security when in fact it has nothing to do with it at all, it’s about a breach of parliamentary rules.”
https://t.co/aiD2XZ065Q
As Ed Balls accurately points out, Nigel Farage has been offered a level of protection that goes beyond that provided to most members of the cabinet. He may not feel that is adequate. But as I said yesterday, Zia Yusuf's claim that Reform are being offered zero state protection was utterly false.
Richard Tice all over the place on #newsnight
Farage turned down state funded security because he needs considerable security
Then He isn’t spending the £5 m because he doesn’t know how long he’ll be an MP and the lay security will fall away
Finally Reform is paying for security
Exclusive: Nigel Farage turned down taxpayer-funded security including a bodyguard, car and trained driver last year, The i Paper has learned.
The Reform UK leader was offered the protection following police advice on the threats he faced.
He had already been receiving publicly-funded security prior to this, and felt that his package had been downgraded.
It would have given Farage a similar level of security to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and some high-profile Cabinet ministers.
Farage declined the offer because he considered the protection to be inadequate.
A Reform spokesman suggested Farage needed stronger protection than the leader of the opposition, telling The i Paper he is “the most targeted politician in Britain and the only party leader who actually goes out to meet the public in huge numbers on the campaign trail”.
The spokesman also denied that Farage rejected protection, adding: “He declined a downgraded and inadequate package.”
By @singharj w/ myself and @kitty_donaldson
I have reported Dan Hodges to the police for harassment of @Nigel_Farage
Hodges has posted about Nigel Farage and Reform 52 times across approximately 43 posts and replies on X in just eight days. Many are direct quote-tweets and aggressive replies clearly targeting Farage personally.
A significant number of these posts accuse Farage and Reform MP's of politicising the murder of Ann Widdecombe, and repeated attacks on Nigel Farage’s security procedures and finances with personal derogatory comments, and appear to incite others against him and the party.
This sustained, highly targeted campaign goes far beyond the acceptable boundaries of legitimate journalism and constitutes obsessive online stalking, harassment and incitement.