Tensions have erupted between Rupert Lowe and Reform UK after it emerged he was under investigation for threats against the party’s chairman Zia Yusuf and accusations of bullying. The Great Yarmouth MP, who denies all allegations, was accused of refusing to cooperate with the investigation and had the whip suspended.
Mr Lowe said the investigation was announced before it even started, and claimed he was really being “frozen out” of Reform for criticising its leader, Nigel Farage. He said he had been continually “frozen out of meetings, policy discussions, press conferences and more” and accused Mr Farage of putting “a knife in [his] back over false allegations”.
Mr Lowe later added that he was being attacked for backing mass deportations and forcibly removing over one million people from the UK.
He said: “If you are here illegally, you should be deported. That has to be the objective. If that results in one million plus deportations being the eventual aim? Then so be it. It may be uncomfortable to some, but there is no other way.”
This came after Mr Lowe refused to confirm whether he would be a Reform MP at the next election and suggested Mr Farage might not be a good prime minister during an interview with the Daily Mail.
He said: “It’s too early to know whether Nigel will deliver the goods…He can only deliver if he surrounds himself with the right people.
“Nigel is a fiercely independent individual and is extremely good at what we have done so far. He has got messianic qualities. Will those messianic qualities distil into sage leadership? I don’t know.
Mr Farage called Mr Lowe “utterly, completely wrong”. (Image: Getty)
“We have to change from being a protest party led by the Messiah into being a properly structured party with a frontbench, which we don’t have. We have to start behaving as if we are leading and not merely protesting.
“Nigel is a messianic figure who is at the core of everything but he has to learn to delegate, as not everything can go through one person.”
Mr Farage responded by calling Mr Lowe “utterly, completely wrong”, but said he hoped to see him represent Reform at the next election.
Mr Lowe has repeatedly denied the claims against him, saying: “If they want to kick me out over false claims, they’ll have to finally present some credible evidence against me. There is none, as the KC has just told me. Again.
“A complete inability to accept even the most mild constructive criticism without such a malicious reaction is not effective leadership.”
