The Reform row: What has happened and what has been said?

Published

10 months ago

March 10, 2025

admin

Senior members of Reform UK are embroiled in a bitter row – with one of its MPs being suspended from the party.

Rupert Lowe, the Reform MP for Great Yarmouth, lost the party whip over the weekend, meaning he will now sit as an independent MP in the Commons.

It is a setback for party leader Nigel Farage, who has been on a mission to “professionalise” Reform as it seeks to capitalise on its position in the polls – which only a month ago gave the party a lead over Labour and the Conservatives for the first time.

But how did the row start, and what now for Mr Lowe?

Politics latest: Tearful daughter of murdered MP condemns government

Alleged threats of physical violence

Mr Lowe, the former chairman of Southampton Football Club, was suspended last week after Reform reported him to the police over alleged threats of physical violence towards the party’s chairman, Zia Yusuf.

A statement from Mr Yusuf and Lee Anderson, the chief whip, also said the party had received complaints from two female employees about alleged serious bullying in Mr Lowe’s offices.

Mr Lowe, who served as a member of the European Parliament for the Brexit Party, has strongly denied the allegations, calling the accusations of physical threats “outrageous and entirely untrue”. He also referenced a “vexatious complaint” made by another staff member.

Mr Yusuf and Mr Anderson claimed the Great Yarmouth MP had “on at least two occasions made threats of physical violence against” the former.

“It is with regret that we feel obligated to disclose that the party received complaints from two female employees about serious bullying in the offices of the member of parliament for Great Yarmouth, Rupert Lowe,” they said in a joint statement.

“Evidence was provided to us of workplace bullying, the targeting of female staff who raised concerns, and evidence of derogatory and discriminatory remarks made about women, including reference to a perceived disability.

“We feel we have a duty of care to all our staff, whether employed directly or indirectly. Accordingly, we appointed an independent King’s Counsel to conduct an investigation into the veracity of these complaints. To date, Mr Lowe has yet to cooperate with this investigation.

“In addition to these allegations of a disturbing pattern of behaviour, Mr Lowe has on at least two occasions made threats of physical violence against our party chairman. Accordingly, this matter is with the police.

“Reform stands for the highest standards of conduct in public life, and we will apply these standards without fear nor favour, including within our own party.”

What has Mr Lowe said?

In response to the allegations, Mr Lowe said on Friday the party leadership had a “complete inability to accept even the most mild constructive criticism without such a malicious reaction”.

In a statement posted on X, he wrote: “I am disappointed, but not surprised, to read Reform’s untrue and false allegations. Let me be abundantly clear – this investigation is based on zero credible evidence against me, as has been repeatedly stated by the neutral investigator. None has been provided.

“I have cooperated and spoken at length with the KC they instructed, at great cost to the party, to investigate a minor staff matter.”

In a further statement on X, Mr Lowe said: “Ever since this malicious attack on my reputation was launched, all I have asked for from both Reform and the KC is the credible evidence against me.”

He said that “none has been provided” because “there is no credible evidence against me”.

He added: “I will not have my name dragged through the mud as part of a political assassination because I dared to question Nigel Farage.”

War of words

Mr Lowe’s statement suggests he believes he has been suspended from the party because he chose to criticise Mr Farage.

👉Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈

In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Lowe said that while Mr Farage was a “fiercely independent individual” with “messianic qualities”, that did not equate to “sage leadership”.

He added: “I’m not going to be by Nigel’s side at the next election unless we have a proper plan to change the way we govern from top to bottom,” he said.

He also said he was “barely six months into being an MP” and “in the betting to be the next prime minister.”

Those words could have struck a nerve with Mr Farage after Elon Musk, the Tesla and Space X billionaire who has become one of Donald Trump’s closest allies, suggested the Reform leader “doesn’t have what it takes” and that Mr Lowe should take over.

Mr Farage has brushed off the incident and in an article for the Daily Telegraph on Saturday claimed Mr Lowe’s suspension was a result of “inappropriate” behaviour.

‘Sense of unity has been dented’

“If the last general election taught us anything, it is that the public does not like political parties that engage in constant infighting,” Mr Farage wrote.

“Now, thanks to one of our MPs, Rupert Lowe, unloading a barrage of criticisms against our operations and its main actors, that sense of unity has been dented.”

Mr Farage went on to claim that Mr Lowe had “managed to fall out with all his parliamentary colleagues in one way or another”, adding: “We did our best to keep a lid on things but, in the end, containment strategies invariably fail.”

He then referred to a Commons clash with transport minister Mike Kane just before Christmas after Mr Lowe staged a debate about a damaged ship containing toxic cargo docked in his Great Yarmouth constituency.

“Mr Lowe was unhappy with the answer that he received from Mr Kane and, at the end of the debate, he crossed the floor to make his feelings known,” Mr Farage wrote.

“A confrontation ensued. Heated language was heard. The minister’s shoulder was pushed. In the end, the Serjeant at Arms had to step in to calm things down between the two parliamentarians.”

He added: “Yet 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.

“I have been surprised and saddened at this behaviour.”

On bullying allegations, Mr Farage said Reform was a “responsible political party” that had a “duty of care to every single member of staff, whether they are employed by us directly or indirectly”.

As a result, he said a lawyer had been appointed to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations.

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice said it was “right and proper” that the KC had been appointed to conduct an investigation.

Speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, he said: “We’ve also got a duty of care as a party, whether people are employed directly or indirectly. So, that’s why the chairman has instructed an independent investigation by a KC, that’s the right and proper thing to do. That will run its course.”

‘Correcting’ the record

In his own Telegraph article, Mr Lowe repeated the claim he made on X that there was no credible evidence against him and he was removed from the party before any investigation had started.

He called his treatment by the party a “witch hunt” and said he had been “entirely frozen out of the Reform machine over the last few months, in a deliberate and calculated way”.

However, the lawyer appointed to investigate the claims against Mr Lowe – who has remained anonymous – has denied saying they were “shocked” about the party’s process.

The lawyer said “I have seen a number of statements made by Mr Lowe MP which are attributed to me and which describe my reactions to the process conducted by the party into the allegations made against both Mr Lowe and his constituency manager.”

“I find myself in the unfortunate and regrettable position of having to make this statement to correct the record. I have not expressed either ‘dismay’ or ‘shock’ at any time as to the process.

“Nor have I said ‘there is zero credible evidence against [Mr Lowe]’, let alone said this ‘repeatedly’.”

Politics

Watchdog criticises ‘unprecedented’ government offer to delay local elections – as five councils confirm requests for postponement

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

admin

Watchdog criticises 'unprecedented' government offer to delay local elections – as five councils confirm requests for postponement

The elections watchdog has criticised the government for offering to consider delaying 63 local council elections next year – as five authorities confirmed to Sky News that they would ask for a postponement.

On Thursday, hours before parliament began its Christmas recess, the government revealed that councils were being sent a letter asking if they thought elections should be delayed in their areas due to challenges around delivering local government reorganisation plans.

The chief executive of the Electoral Commission, Vijay Rangarajan, hit out at the announcement on Friday, saying he was “concerned” that some elections could be postponed, with some having already been deferred from 2025.

“We are disappointed by both the timing and substance of the statement. Scheduled elections should, as a rule, go ahead as planned, and only be postponed in exceptional circumstances,” he said in a statement.

“Decisions on any postponements will not be taken until mid-January, less than three months before the scheduled May 2026 elections are due to begin.

“This uncertainty is unprecedented and will not help campaigners and administrators who need time to prepare for their important roles.”

Mr Rangarajan added: “We very much recognise the pressures on local government, but these late changes do not help administrators. Parties and candidates have already been preparing for some time, and will be understandably concerned.”

He said “capacity constraints” were not a “legitimate reason for delaying long planned elections”, which risked “affecting the legitimacy of local decision-making and damaging public confidence”.

The watchdog chief also said there was “a clear conflict of interest in asking existing councils to decide how long it will be before they are answerable to voters”.

Sky News contacted the 63 councils that have been sent the letter about potentially delaying their elections.

At the time of publication, 17 authorities had replied with their decisions, while 33 said they would make up their minds before the government’s deadline of 15 January.

Many councils told Sky News they were surprised at yesterday’s announcement, saying that they had been fully intending to hold their polls as scheduled.

They said they were now working to understand the appropriate democratic mechanism for deciding whether to request a postponement of elections. Some local authorities believe it should be a decision made by their full council, while others will leave it up to council leaders or cabinet members to decide.

Multiple councils also emphasised in statements to Sky News that the ultimate decision to delay elections lay with the government.

Reform UK has threatened legal action against ministers, accusing Labour and the Tories of “colluding” to postpone elections in order to lock other parties out of power – a sentiment echoed by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

But shadow local government secretary Sir James Cleverly told Sky News this morning that the Conservative Party “wants these elections to go ahead”. Sky News understands that the national party is making that position clear to local leaders.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, said it was taking a “locally-led approach”, and emphasised that “councils are in the best position to judge the impact of postponements on their area”.

They added: “These are exceptional circumstances where councils have told us they’re struggling to prepare for resource-intensive elections to councils that will shortly be abolished, while also reorganising into more efficient authorities that can better serve local residents.

“There is a clear precedent for postponing local elections where local government reorganisation is in progress, as happened in 2019 and 2022.”

The five councils that confirmed they would be seeking postponements were:

Blackburn with Darwen Council (Labour);
Chorley Borough Council (Labour);
East Sussex County Council (Conservative minority);
Hastings Borough Council (Green minority);
West Sussex County Council (Conservative).

The councils in Chorley, and East and West Sussex, had decided prior to Thursday’s government announcement that they would request a delay.

An East Sussex County Council spokesperson told Sky News: “It is welcome that the government is listening to local leaders and has heard the case for focussing our resources on delivery in East Sussex, particularly with devolution and reorganisation of local government, as well as delivering services to residents, such high priorities.”

They also pointed to the cost of electing councillors for a term of just one year, and argued that it would be “more prudent for just one set of elections to be held in 2027”.

West Sussex County Council echoed those reasons and said it would cost taxpayers across the county £9m to hold elections in 2026, 2027, and 2028, as currently planned.

Chorley and Blackburn councils also cited the cost of delivering elections, and said they would prefer that money be spent on delivering the local government reorganisation and delivering services to local residents.

Meanwhile, 12 councils confirmed to Sky News that they would not be requesting delays:

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (Liberal Democrat-Independents);
Broxbourne Borough Council (Conservative);
Colchester City Council (Labour-Liberal Democrat);
Eastleigh Borough Council (Liberal Democrat);
Essex County Council (Conservative);
Hart District Council (Liberal Democrat-Community Campaign);
Hastings Borough Council (Green minority);
Isle of Wight Council (no overall control);
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council (Conservative);
Portsmouth City Council (Liberal Democrat minority);
Rushmoor Borough Council (Labour minority);
Southampton City Council (Labour).

Politics

Samourai co-founder claims Biden-era lawfare in calling for Trump pardon

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

admin

Samourai co-founder claims Biden-era lawfare in calling for Trump pardon

Keonne Rodriguez, who pleaded guilty to one felony count related to his role at Samourai Wallet, is calling on US President Donald Trump to pardon him, citing similar language that has been successful in previous pardon applications.

In a Thursday X post, Rodriguez said he would report to prison on Friday, where he will serve a five-year sentence for operating an illegal money transmitter. The Samourai co-founder claimed there were no “victims” to his crime, and blamed his incarceration on “lawfare perpetrated by a weaponized Biden DOJ.”

In a message tagging Trump, Rodriguez expressed hope that the US president would issue a federal pardon for him and William “Bill” Lonergan Hill, another Samourai executive who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years. Rodriguez blamed “activist judges” for his legal troubles, claiming he was targeted by a “political anti-innovation agenda.”

“I maintain hope that [Trump] is a fair man, a man of the people, who will see this prosecution for what it was: an anti innovation, anti american, attack on the rights and liberties of free people,” said Rodriguez. “I believe his team […] and others truly want to end the weaponization of the DOJ that the previous administration wielded so effectively […] I believe he will continue to wield that power for good and pardon me and Bill.”

Bitcoin Wallet, Law, Politics, Court, Crimes, Donald Trump — *Source:* *Keonne Rodriguez*

Rodriguez’s public plea followed Trump’s statement that he would “take a look” at a pardon for the Samourai co-founder, claiming that he had no knowledge of the case. It’s unclear whether Rodriguez filed an official application for a pardon or is relying on public statements to get the president’s attention.

Other crypto execs successfully lobbied for a Trump pardon

One of Trump’s first acts as president in January was to issue a pardon for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who had been serving a life sentence for his role in creating and operating the darknet marketplace.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who pleaded guilty to one felony in 2023 related to the exchange’s Anti-Money Laundering program, served four months in prison but also received a pardon from the president. Trump later said he “[knew] nothing about” Zhao when asked about the pardon in a November interview.

Rodriguez’s language addressing Trump mirrored comments from the White House on previous pardons. For example, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was a “weaponization of justice from the previous administration” when the president commuted the sentence of David Gentile, who was convicted of defrauding “thousands of individual investors in a $1.6 billion” scheme in 2024.