The bitter war of words between Nigel Farage and Reform MP Rupert Lowe has dramatically escalated with the pair launching fierce new personal attacks on each other.
Mr Farage revealed accusations of bullying by Mr Lowe and accused him of falling out with all his fellow Reform UK MPs, with too many “outbursts” using “inappropriate language”.
And he took the highly unusual step of quoting a Labour minister, Mike Kane, who said after a confrontation with Mr Lowe in the Commons that his anger “showed a man not in charge of his own faculties”.
On Friday, party chairman and Farage lieutenant Zia Yusuf and chief whip Lee Anderson MP disclosed accusations that two female workers had complained of “serious bullying” in Mr Lowe’s offices, and said he had been reported to police over allegations he threatened Mr Yusuf with physical violence.
Mr Lowe, who has been suspended by the parliamentary party, denied the claims.
The worsening of the feud between the Reform UK leader and the millionaire MP for Great Yarmouth came in articles in The Sunday Telegraph in which they both furiously attacked each other.
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Mr Lowe stepped up his verbal onslaught on Mr Farage by claiming that a “witch hunt” against him risked destroying Reform’s attempts at removing Labour from power.
And he claimed that at a time when Reform UK’s poll ratings were rising the attacks on him by the party would be a turn-off to voters, declaring: “Infighting failed the Tories – and it’s failing Reform.”
Mr Farage also began his Telegraph article by claiming: “If the last general election taught us anything, it is that the public does not like political parties that engage in constant infighting.”
But he claimed that thanks to Mr Lowe “unloading a barrage of criticisms against our operations and its main actors”, Reform’s unity has been dented.
‘Containment strategies invariably fail’
Mr Farage said Mr Lowe had “managed to fall out with all his parliamentary colleagues in one way or another”, adding: “We did our best to keep a lid on things but, in the end, containment strategies invariably fail.”
He then referred to a Commons clash with Mr Kane just before Christmas, after Mr Lowe staged a debate about a damaged ship containing toxic cargo docked in his Great Yarmouth constituency.
“Mr Lowe was unhappy with the answer that he received from Mr Kane and, at the end of the debate, he crossed the floor to make his feelings known,” Mr Farage wrote.
“A confrontation ensued. Heated language was heard. The minister’s shoulder was pushed. In the end, the Serjeant at Arms had to step in to calm things down between the two parliamentarians.
“Commenting on Mr Lowe’s conduct later, Mr Kane (said) ‘the anger displayed towards me clearly showed a man not in charge of his own faculties’. Nobody in Reform UK said anything publicly about what had happened. Instead, we carried on.
“Yet the fact is that, sadly, there have been too many similar outbursts from Mr Lowe, often involving the use of inappropriate language, to the despair of our chief whip, Lee Anderson.
“I have been surprised and saddened at this behaviour. Certainly, I never saw anything like it in the European Parliament in 2019 when I was the leader of the Brexit Party and Mr Lowe was an MEP colleague.”
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On bullying allegations, Mr Farage wrote: “Last week, the chairman of Reform UK, Zia Yusuf, showed me two letters sent by female members of staff to our party headquarters. Each letter contained an accusation of workplace bullying involving Mr Lowe.
“One of the incidents in question is alleged to have taken place within the parliamentary estate. Both women’s letters stated that these allegations had been reported to the parliamentary authorities.
“As a responsible political party, Reform UK has a duty of care to every single member of staff, whether they are employed by us directly or indirectly.
“With that in mind, I believe that our chairman was entirely right for Reform to appoint a KC to conduct an independent inquiry. It is inconceivable that we could simply ignore such allegations.”
‘I will not tolerate these falsehoods’
In his Telegraph article, Mr Lowe repeated his claim that there is no credible evidence against him and he was removed from the party before any investigation had started.
“I will not tolerate these falsehoods, and discussions have already taken place with my legal team,” he wrote. “Is it a surprise that these allegations were made public the day after I made reasonable criticisms of Nigel Farage and the Reform leadership?
“It is a witch hunt, plain for all to see. I have been entirely frozen out of the Reform machine over the last few months, in a deliberate and calculated way.”
Without naming Mr Farage, deputy leader Richard Tice or Mr Yusuf, he said the Reform UK leadership was unable even to accept the most mild constructive criticism.
Turning on Mr Yusuf, he wrote: “The allegations against me from the chairman relate to an incident in December, but he only reported them to the police the day after my reasonable questioning was published.
“Take from that what you will. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for the millions of decent British men and women who put their faith in Reform. They deserve better than this vicious charade.”
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And warning of the damage the feuding was causing, Mr Lowe said: “Everything has been put at risk. Everything. The future of the Right in Britain is now in peril. How can Reform claim to be a party awaiting government when they can’t even follow basic process?
“Reform has been rising in the polls for months. But this spectre of infighting will leave the party looking unserious and turn voters off. Infighting failed the Tories – and it’s failing Reform.”
But Mr Lowe concluded with an olive branch. “On multiple occasions, I have invited Nigel Farage for dinner over the last few months,” he revealed. “Every single one has been refused or ignored.
“Again, I offer a public invitation to Nigel. Let’s have dinner and resolve this in the matter that our members, supporters and country would expect. Any time, any place.”
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He added: “I want Reform to be professional, to be fair, to be serious. We must offer a credible alternative to the uniparty that has so failed so spectacularly.
“The leadership’s behaviour this week has undermined that cause, not only in the eyes of the electorate, but also in those of serious individuals across business and industry that any party of government needs to win over.”
