Farage U-turns on claim he was blocked from surgeries

Nigel Farage has U-turned on his claim that he was told not to hold face-to-face meetings with voters as a result of security concerns in his Essex constituency.

- MILLIE COOKE

The Reform UK leader found himself at the centre of a row after parliamentary sources disputed the suggestion he was given such advice from security teams, given it would interfere with his democratic duties.

When asked yesterday, “Which one of you is lying” – in reference to conflicting claims from himself and parliamentary sources – the Reform UK leader responded: “The speaker’s office is always right.” The row erupted last month after he was asked during a phone-in on LBC whether he had held any surgeries in his seat.

Mr Farage replied “not yet”, but that he would “when parliament allows me”. Asked whether he had been advised for his own security not to hold the meetings with voters, he said: “I would have thought that would make sense, wouldn’t you?”

He added that the guidance had come from “the speaker’s office, and beneath the speaker’s office there is a security team who give advice and say you should do some things and not do others.”