Nigel Farage says he may be forced to “change tactics slightly” during this general election campaign due to the “constant threat of violence” on the streets after he was attacked on Tuesday for the second time. But he promises that “I will not surrender to the mob. I will not stop campaigning. This democratic process must continue.”
With the mainstream media continuing to brand Reform UK (formerly the Brexit Party) as “far-right,” and with left-wing pundits celebrating the first (milkshake) attack as “art,” some commentators say that increasing levels of violence are “inevitable.”
Journalist Steven Edginton has even claimed that a number of Home Office civil servants “have called for violence against Nigel Farage” and that “not only do they talk about violence against Mr. Farage but also, in one case, civil servants were discussing arresting him. They describe the Reform party as an extremist, far-right group.”
The first attack saw a since-charged Jeremy Corbyn-supporting woman—keen to draw attention to her “‘explicit XXX’ [OnlyFans] content page”—lob a milkshake at Farage after his excitable Parliamentary campaign launch in the seaside town of Clacton, on June 3rd. Then on Tuesday, a man linked to left-wing unions hurled wet cement, and perhaps even stones at Farage as he was waving at supporters from the top of his campaign bus.
The 28-year-old alleged attacker has been charged with using “threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence.” Farage said he refused to be “bullied or cowed.” But these acts suggest British democracy is in a very bad state.
Ironically, this latest attack—just like the last—actually appears to have boosted Farage’s standing. Once again, the Conservative Home Secretary and Labour Shadow Home Secretary have been prompted to Tweet in defence of the Reform leader, alongside left-wing comedians and even the far-left campaign group Hope Not Hate. That really will annoy the leftist mob, not least because it means that once again, everyone is talking about Nigel.
Farage delivered a speech in response to the attack at a Reform public meeting which, as of midday on June 12th, has been viewed by 140,000 people on his X page alone.
He said that “our democratic process is directly under threat” from those who want to “stop me speaking … to stop us campaigning … to crush democracy.” Farage added:
It is noticeable that most of the people [causing disruption] … are young men and women either at or freshly out of our university system. Their minds are being poisoned in school, in university, and it’s plain wrong.
A new, lavish campaign video about this attack is likewise bound to gain hundreds of thousands of views online.
This second attack has also prompted calls for Farage to be given security protection by the state, like that given to Tory leader Rishi Sunak and Labour head Sir Keir Starmer. Journalist Patrick O’Flynn noted that “as far as I am aware (and mercifully) no other candidate has been attacked at all. So why isn’t Farage getting security provided by the public authorities?”
