It was Alastair Campbell who declared that ‘if a story stays front page news for more than ten days, the chances are it is a real issue.’ Well, we are now on day five of the great Reform fall out and it is still making waves. Nigel Farage spoke to ITV Anglia about Rupert Lowe last night, saying that ‘there is a behaviour problem here – outbursts, anger, that kind of thing’ with regards to ‘these allegations of a bullying culture going on in his offices.’ He added that ‘I could do without this, it’s a huge distraction for the party, for me.’ You suspect Lowe could do without it too…
And, this morning, the Honourable Member for Great Yarmouth has hit back in his own inimitable way. An open letter, signed by all seven members of Lowe’s parliamentary office, has been published on his X account. Beginning with a declaration that ‘Rupert has had no involvement in the organisation or drafting this letter’, it states ‘unequivocally’ that ‘Rupert is a good, decent and honest man.’ They write that they have ‘never seen any violent or vicious behaviour’ and ‘nor have we heard any concerns.’ They continue by claiming that ‘wider allegations of “bullying” are entirely untrue’ and are merely ‘vexatious complaints complaints, sadly submitted to cause as much damage as possible.’
The septet finish by saying that ‘processes designed to protect staff’ have been ‘weaponised’ and that ‘nobody from Reform has ever raise laws these concerns, or any about Rupert, with any of us before “the investigation”.’ They offer to talk to any official investigation and confirm that they are yet to receive any contact from ‘relevant official Parliamentary schemes or processes.’
Over to you, Reform HQ…
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