Pushing the message that Reform UK and its politicians are a neo-fascist threat that needs to be urgently stopped is “so relentless it constitutes incitement” and could lead some impressionable people to believe acts of murder would be justified, the party warned in the wake of the alleged murder of Ann Widdecombe.
Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf has warned that the “relentless” rhetoric of the legacy political parties and media portraying Nigel Farage and his party as an exceptional threat to Britain is inciting would-be killers. Noting that three politicians had been murdered in the past decade and that none of them had any security measures at the time of their deaths, Yusuf said Britain’s democracy must be protected and vowed that a future Reform party government would totally rethink and expand the protection of the people’s democratically elected representatives.
Speaking as police continue to investigate the alleged murder of Reform UK spokesman Ann Widdecombe, a veteran British lawmaker who, over 40 years, served as a Member of Parliament, Member of the European Parliament, and government minister, Yusuf said it was unacceptable that a government with a £1.2 trillion budget was not allocating funding to safeguard its own democracy from terrorism or lone-wolf killers. He further called out the persistent and years-long drumbeat of accusations of “fascism” that he said went well beyond robust political debate and strayed into encouraging violence. Yusuf said on Wednesday:
I cannot tell you why Ann was killed. That is for the police and the courts, but I can tell you that counter terrorism police are investigating her murder as a suspected act of terrorism, and I can tell you about the climate in which she was killed. A relentless narrative from politicians and the media that Reform UK is a threat, a threat to be urgently stopped. A narrative so relentless it constitutes incitement.
And why are we targeted like this? Because we say things that are unfashionable among many in Westminster, but are popular among the country at large.
…David Lammy, now the deputy Prime Minister described Ann as a ‘poisonous bigot… who wants to drag us back to the 19th century’ and ‘throw minorities out on the way’. He boldly declared ‘we must stand up to them before its too late’… A woman on Twitter said ‘Ann Widdecombe better go this week, she is a little fascist beast’.
This woman happens to have been, until just a few months ago, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips. Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats made the inflammatory declaration that ‘the greatest threat to the Britain we love doesn’t come from Tehran or Moscow, it comes form within. I’m talking about Nigel Farage and Reform’.
Vladimir Putin has murdered people with poison on British soil. The Iranian regime has attempted multiple attacks on British soil. Is it any wonder with with such rhetoric relentlessly levelled at Reform, some may be moved to try and eliminate that supposed threat through lethal violence?
Yusuf cited the concept, discussed in security and counter-terrorism circles, of Stochastic Terrorism. Brought to wider public attention after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in the United States, Stochastic Terrorism describes the process by which a concerted whisper campaign can eventually incite lone wolf violence through sheer statistical probability.
This is evidently in play, Yusuf said, given the frequent comparisons of Reform and Nigel Farage to “the most murderous and brutal regimes in history” and “irresponsible” assertions by the most senior, high-profile politicians in the country that Farage is “an urgent threat to be stopped”. The Reform UK spokesman reflected: “If we are this huge, supposed threat, if we are truly ‘Neo Fascist’ as one prominent politician described us… Then how can we be remotely surprised when there are some people in this country who might take it upon themselves to extinguish that threat with lethal force.”
Meanwhile, specialist counter terrorism police continue to probe the murder of Ann Widdecombe. After it was stated that the suspect had quantities of left-wing material in his home, a police spokesman confirmed the force is investigating digital devices and other evidence to determine whether further attacks on other politicians were planned.
After earlier communication fumbles by police, the spokesman was crystal-clear in stating that, while potential plots against other Reform politicians are being investigated, at this time he couldn’t say whether “there is or there isn’t at this stage”, merely that it was being considered.
The officer said: “We are still working to understand the extent of any planning or preparation, and the motivation that sits behind that attack… part of our responsibility when investigating offences of this nature is to assure ourselves and therefore the public and others of any extent of threat.
“That will form a line of investigation to ensure that we are putting all appropriate measures in place to mitigate any threat, should it become apparent.”