Oh dear, it looks like the civil war engulfing Reform UK is showing no sign of simmering down.
On Friday, the political party currently leading in the polls went into complete meltdown after it announced that it had reported one of its MPs, Rupert Lowe, to the police and was suspending the whip. Party chairman Zia Yusuf and chief whip Lee Anderson alleged that they had received complaints about serious bullying from Lowe, and accused him of making ‘threats of physical violence against our Party Chairman.’ For his part, Lowe has completely denied the allegations which he says are ‘untrue and false’ and says he is seeking legal advice. He also argued that it was ‘no surprise’ that the party had made this statement after he had asked ‘reasonable and constructive questions of Nigel and the Reform structure.’ Earlier in the week, Lowe told the Daily Mail that he ‘didn’t know’ if Nigel Farage would make a good prime minister.
As of this weekend, it looks like the battle between Farage and Lowe has opened up on a new front: the pages of the Telegraph. Both men have articles in the paper today – and it seems fair to say that reconciliation is not yet on the table.
In his article, Farage argues that his party has acted responsibly in dealing with Lowe. He writes that while Lowe has made some excellent contributions since the election:
What many people may not have realised, however, is that in that time he has also managed to fall out with all his parliamentary colleagues in one way or another.
Farage also accused Lowe of confronting the transport minister Mike Kane at the end of a Commons debate, with the Serjeant at Arms having to step in to calm things down. Farage writes:
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.
In his article, meanwhile, Lowe argues that he has been the victim of a witch-hunt and says he has been frozen out of the Reform machine ‘in a deliberate and calculated way.’ He goes on to say that:
I have been betrayed many times in my life, but never so ferociously by individuals I once called friends. Nobody even bothered to call me to ask me what really happened.
Both Farage and Lowe, while trading blows in the broadsheets, have pointed out that infighting could well destroy the party.
Still, could the two men kiss and make up? Lowe ends his piece by offering to meet Farage for lunch, ‘any time, any place’ to resolve the feud in a more amicable manner.
Given the way this row is playing out, it seems we’re more likely to see pistols at dawn than a pleasant spot of lunch…
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