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Lowe brands Farage a ‘stinking hypocrite’ over crime policies

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Reform UK has dominated headlines this morning, as the party kick off their six-week campaign on crime. During a central London presser this morning, Nigel Farage told journalists that his party will halve crime in Britain if it gets into government – insisting that all foreign criminals will be deported and serial offenders would have life sentences imposed. Strong stuff, eh?

But one right-winger in particular remains pretty unimpressed with the party’s latest law and order policies. Rupert Lowe, formerly of the Reform parish before he was ousted earlier this year, has taken aim at Farage on Twitter – attacking his ex-party leader for their use of the police force over his suspension. After Farage tweeted that ‘Reform UK will require the police to investigate all crimes’, he received a rather fiery response from his former colleague, who fumed:

The Reform leadership tried to put me in prison on false allegations, all because I bruised your ego. Wasting an incredible amount of police/CPS time, even leading to my family home being raided by armed police late on a Friday night. You’re a stinking hypocrite, Farage.

Crikey. There’s no love lost there, eh?

It’s not the first time Lowe has publicly denounced his onetime boss, branding Farage a ‘coward and a viper‘ in a statement released after the CPS announced it was not going to press charges against Lowe in relation to an allegation of threats towards the party’s then-chairman Zia Yusuf. And Lowe isn’t the only person Yusuf has found himself at odds with lately. Rael Braverman, the husband of former Tory home secretary Suella, quit the party last week after Yusuf attacked his wife over the Ministry of Defence leak scandal.

It’s been a rocky month for Reform after the parliamentary party found itself back down to just four MPs when James McMurdock lost the whip over allegation of Covid fraud. Farage’s group will have been hoping today’s swathe of announcements will have got them back on track – but, as ever, Lowe seems committed to taking the shine off…

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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