Nigel Farage’s security cut by parliamentary authorities, Reform claims

Nigel Farage has had his taxpayer-funded security detail slashed by three-quarters, Reform UK has claimed.

The party’s head of policy, Zia Yusuf, said parliamentary authorities had reduced Reform leader Mr Farage’s security protection “for inexplicable reasons”.

It comes as Reform has accused Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour of putting the safety of Reform’s politicians and activists at risk by describing Mr Farage’s immigration policy as racist.

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Attack

At the Labour conference in Liverpool this week, the Prime Minister and his colleagues repeatedly attacked Reform’s plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain for immigrants legally in the UK.

Mr Yusuf told Times Radio on Wednesday: “Two weeks ago, the authorities cut Nigel’s security detail by 75%, and then we have seen the most extraordinary 48 hours of demonisation and, I’m going to say it again, incitement to violence, against the man who is the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next prime minister.”

He added: “The claim I’m making is exactly what has happened, which is that it is the Parliamentary Security Department that is responsible for security in both houses that, frankly, from what I can tell, for inexplicable reasons, has decided to materially downgrade Nigel Farage’s security.

“Those are the facts of the matter.”

Since Mr Farage was told at the start of September that his round-the-clock government-funded protection would be slashed, Reform UK donors have stepped in to cover the drop in protection, which is understood to cost more than £1 million per year.

All of the Clacton MP’s security is now privately funded, after his team ruled that using both private and public providers would be unworkable, the Telegraph reported.

A YouGov survey showed that 47% of Britons consider the Reform UK party to be “generally racist”, while 36% do not.

Its policies are believed to be racist by 46%, and 43% say its voters are racist, according to the survey of 2,283 adults.

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'Generous donors'

Mr Yusuf said in a video posted to X: “Thankfully, we’ve had generous donors step in to shore up that security. So I can assure you, Nigel is safe and he is well protected.”

A spokesperson for the House of Commons said: “Any assessment of an individual MP’s security arrangements or advice is subject to a rigorous risk-based assessment, conducted by security professionals and with input from a range of professional authorities.

“Whilst these are naturally kept under continuous review, we do not comment on specific details so as not to compromise the safety of MPs, parliamentary staff or members of the public.”

Reform claimed the Home Office knew about the parliamentary authorities’ decision to scale back Mr Farage’s security.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Decisions on MP security are made independently of ministers.”