UK parliament cuts major opposition figure’s security detail
British parliamentary authorities have drastically slashed government-funded security for Nigel Farage, the leader of a major opposition right-wing party, Reform UK, its head of policy has claimed.
Zia Yusuf accused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of deliberately putting his political rival at risk of attack.
Speaking to Times Radio on Wednesday, Yusuf stated that “two weeks ago, the authorities cut Nigel’s security detail by 75 percent,” without providing any reasons for the decision. The Reform UK representative added that “donors have stepped in [to]… make sure that Nigel is well protected.”
However, “if anything was to happen to Nigel, we will hold Keir Starmer squarely responsible,” Yusuf stressed.
Yusuf further accused the sitting prime minister of inciting violence against the “man who is the bookmaker’s favorite to be the next prime minister.”
Farage himself acknowledged he feared for his own security and that of other party members after Starmer’s latest attack.
Speaking during the Labour Party conference on Tuesday, the prime minister dubbed Farage a “snake oil merchant” who does not like Britain because of his “racist” plans to curb immigration. Starmer charged that the UK must “go into that battle armed, not just with words and condemnation, but with action,” describing Reform UK as the “enemy of national renewal” and the “biggest threat we face.”
On Thursday, The Telegraph reported that veteran Conservative MP Sir David Davis had asked UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to “review the decision at the earliest opportunity.”
“It strikes me that Mr. Farage is a particularly high-profile target, arguably at greater risk than many Cabinet ministers,” the lawmaker reportedly wrote in a letter.
An Ipsos poll last month indicated that Starmer’s popularity had hit a record low, with 79% of Britons disapproving of his performance.
A survey by the think tank More in Common suggested at around the same time that Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. Labour, however, would suffer its worst electoral defeat since 1931, securing fewer than 100 seats in the House of Commons, according to the poll.
