Nigel Farage has rowed back on his claim that he received official parliamentary advice against holding in-person surgeries for his constituents.
The Reform UK party leader said last month he had been advised by officials not to have physical meetings in his Clacton constituency. Parliamentary sources had disputed the claims, saying no such advice would have been given by the office of the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, or the security team as it would interfere with MPs’ democratic duties.
Asked about the row on Monday, Farage told a Reform UK press conference held for other reasons: “The speaker’s office is always right.”
The Reform leader has been the focus of criticism in Clacton for not holding constituency surgeries, while some residents have complained of trying to reach him without success. He made his original claim during a phone-in on LBC in September, where he recalled the murder of the Conservative MP David Amess at a surgery in Essex three years ago.
Farage was speaking on Monday at an event where he announced that Reform MPs had written to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, threatening to launch a crowdfunded private criminal prosecution of the alleged assailants of police during an incident at Manchester airport this year if the men were not charged by the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS). Four suspects remain on police bail in connection with the incident.
Reform’s five MPs alleged “a very senior person” in Greater Manchester police (GMP) “or above” made a deliberate decision not to release the full CCTV footage of the incident despite junior officers recommending they do so. “This significant decision led to misinformation circulating, protests and utterly false allegations against the police officers and the GMP,” they added in the letter to Cooper. They repeated a claim that the public had concerns about “two-tier policing and two-tier justice”.
A GMP spokesperson said: “Following an investigation led by the GMP major incident team, a comprehensive file of evidence was sent to the CPS in mid-August, and we await a charging decision. We have avoided providing ongoing commentary on the case, including releasing footage, to ensure that justice can be served without the risk of prejudicing proceedings. We continue to support the officers involved.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “There is no such thing as two-tier policing. We expect high standards of conduct from police officers and they must equally be able to carry out their jobs without disruption. It is right that the CPS and the IOPC [Independent Office for Police Conduct] are both able to carry out their investigations independently, without fear or favour.”
The move by Reform UK echoes statements by its MPs after the killing of three young girls in Southport, when Farage suggested police were withholding information about who was responsible.
An investigation by the police watchdog is under way into the incident at Manchester Airport in July and is expected to conclude in the next three months. Video footage showed a police officer kicking and stamping on the head of Muhammed Fahir, 19, as he and his 25-year-old brother were restrained by officers. It led to protests in Rochdale and Manchester city centre.
More footage, obtained by the Manchester Evening News, emerged days later that appeared to show the lead-up to the disturbance, when two female police officers were knocked to the ground.
The IOPC said two police officers remained under criminal investigation for assault and were being investigated for potential gross misconduct for alleged breaches of police professional standards.
