Nigel Farage hit back at Rupert Lowe after the ousted MP accused him of a “witch hunt”. The Reform leader claimed that there had been ongoing behavioural issues with the Great Yarmouth MP.
Mr Lowe had the Reform whip suspended and was reported to police last week over claims of threatening violence against the party chairman and allegations of office bullying, which he denies. Reform said an independent KC had been appointed to look into the bullying claims. Splits had emerged a day earlier when he questioned Mr Farage’s leadership in an outspoken interview.
Asked about Mr Lowe’s “witch hunt” comment, Mr Farage told GB News: “What I do know for a fact is that on February 29 Mr Lowe was informed that there was a parliamentary investigation into two separate allegations of bullying.
“We didn’t know that at the time. Shortly after that he gave that interview to the Daily Mail.
“When we found out one of our MPs was facing these accusations without prejudging anything we decided to appoint an independent KC to take a look at the situation ourselves. Since that moment things have got a little bit out of control.”
Pressed on the timing of Reform chairman Zia Yusuf’s report to the police, Mr Farage added: “I think that particular accusation comes from our party chairman and that didn’t just happen months ago, it’s actually happened in the space of the last few days as well.
“That’s obviously a very serious thing, the police are following this up and they are conducting a full investigation.
“Look there is a behavioural problem here. There has been a behavioural problem for some months. Outbursts, anger, that kind of thing.
“Frankly I tried to put it to the back of my mind, we’ve all tried to put it to the back of our minds.”
Mr Farage also denied that he was the problem in the rift.
He said: “I don’t fall out with anybody, they fall out with me. Most of the team I work with in this party are people that have been around me for over a decade. I am a team player, I do work with people, I do it for the long-term.”
The Clacton MP added that he “could do without” the civil war that has engulfed his insurgent party.
He said: “It’s a huge distraction for the party, for me, for everybody. I’ve spent seven months since the general election trying to get this party match fit to fight the local elections in England on May 1 and that is still my focus.”
Mr Farage’s comments come after Mr Lowe claimed he had been kicked out because he questioned Mr Farage’s leadership.
He wrote on X: “It is a vindictive witch hunt, all because I asked awkward questions of Nigel.”
