Suspended Reform MP Rupert Lowe today claimed he was ostracised by Nigel Farage over his calls for migrant deportations on a massive scale – as he called for a million people to be kicked out of the UK.
The Great Yarmouth MP accused the party leadership of ‘watering down’ its position on illegal migration in a bid to attract new voters, amid an astonishingly civil war in the right-wing party.
Mr Lowe was suspended on Friday over alleged bullying of staff, the day after he used an interview in the Daily Mail to accuse Mr Farage of acting like a ‘messiah’.
The former Southampton FC chairman, who was endorsed as a potential party leader by Elon Musk, was reported to the police after allegations of threatening violence towards the party chairman, Zia Yusuf.
Reform also said it had received evidence of ‘serious bullying’ and ‘derogatory’ remarks made about women in his offices, with two employees said to have complained.
Mr Lowe denies any wrongdoing and today he lashed out at the leadership, highlighting a report in the Telegraph ‘that sources in the Reform leadership, ‘close to Nigel Farage’, are upset with me’ over his ‘position on deportations’.
In a tirade on X rant he said: ‘Just so that everyone is crystal clear – I stand by every single word I have said on the subject.
‘If you are here illegally, you should be deported. That has to be the objective. If that results in one million plus deportations being the eventual aim? Then so be it. It may be uncomfortable to some, but there is NO other way.
‘Nigel may not agree with that, but it’s the right thing to do and it’s a perfectly reasonable policy discussion to raise.’
Nigel Farage has warned that ‘constant infighting’ will harm Reform UK’s image
Bullying allegations by two female colleagues have been made against Rupert Lowe
He added: ‘We need to stop worrying about what the woke left think of us. They will never approve. We must stop watering down sincerely held opinions to appease the unappeasable.’
The Mail on Sunday has learned that senior Reform people are privately saying Mr Lowe should never be welcomed back.
One said: ‘Rupert can complain all he likes, but he won’t be getting the whip back. He has crossed Nigel, and the political world is littered with the bodies of people who have done that.’
His latest tirade appears to make any chance of a reconciliation increasingly difficult.
It came after Mr Farage warned that ‘constant infighting’ will harm Reform UK’s image.
He used an article in the Sunday Telegraph to warn that the public disagreement with Lowe has ‘dented’ the ‘sense of unity’ within the party.
But he insisted that the impact would have been ‘considerably worse’ had he not taken action.
‘If the last general election taught us anything, it is that the public does not like political parties that engage in constant infighting,’ he wrote.
He said he was ‘acutely aware’ that the ‘never-ending civil war that came to define the last Conservative government’ had contributed to Labour’s majority.
‘Reform UK matters more now than it has ever done before.
‘That is why it is so important that our party, and every single one of its representatives, behaves responsibly at all times. Nothing less will do.’
As well as bullying allegations, Reform accused Lowe on Friday of making threats of physical violence at least twice to Mr Yusuf.
Scotland Yard said that a complaint of ‘verbal threats’ made on Thursday about an alleged incident last December was being assessed by officers.
In the same piece, Mr Farage said Reform has ‘a duty of care to every single member of staff’ and the chairman was ‘entirely right’ to appoint a KC to ‘conduct an independent inquiry’ into the bullying complaints.
‘It is inconceivable that we could simply ignore such allegations.’
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Lowe said ‘the process has been handled so appallingly’, and accused Farage of ‘an entirely false and poisonous narrative’.
He added: ‘This isn’t about me, or you, or any petty personal differences you may have with me. This is about our members, our supporters, our country.’
As well as bullying allegations, Reform accused Lowe on Friday of making threats of physical violence at least twice to party chairman Zia Yusuf
Chief whip Lee Anderson was branded a ‘pathetic, vindictive’ liar after wading into a spat with beleaguered Lowe
Splits in the party appeared on Thursday after Lowe told the Daily Mail that Reform remained a ‘protest party led by the Messiah’ under Farage.
Asked whether the former Ukip leader had the potential to become prime minister, as his supporters have suggested, Lowe said: ‘It’s too early to know whether Nigel will deliver the goods. He can only deliver if he surrounds himself with the right people.’
Lowe was one of five people elected as a Reform MP at the general election in July.
In his first public comments on the controversy, Farage revealed that he and other Reform MPs ‘did our best to keep a lid on’ various internal disagreements with Lowe.
But, he said, ‘containment strategies invariably fail’ and blamed Lowe for the recent conflict within the party, citing the latter’s ‘barrage of criticisms’ against Farage’s leadership.
It comes as Lowe branded the party’s chief whip a ‘pathetic, vindictive’ liar.
In an explosive statement on Friday night, Lee Anderson and party chairman Mr Yusuf said Lowe was being investigated over his alleged ‘derogatory and discriminatory remarks’.
Reform UK insiders have warned ‘this is what happens when you mess with Nigel’
Mr Anderson later sought to explain the decision, stating on X that Reform UK ‘cannot function effectively’ if Lowe had remained, adding ‘no man is bigger than our party.’
He also insinuated that the beleaguered MP had shown ‘unwillingness to cooperate’ in the investigation.
But Lowe swiftly responded to say his statement was ‘an outright lie’.
The MP went on to brand the probe as a ‘vindictive assault’ and ‘pathetic’, in a strongly-worded post on X.
He maintained in an earlier statement that the allegations had only surfaced because he had openly questioned Farage’s leadership.
Those who know Farage well suggested he does not take kindly to such public criticism, with one source telling The Telegraph: ‘This is what happens when you mess with Nigel.’
Adding that it was part of a ‘theme’ with the leader, they added: ‘It was the same with Ukip, it was the same with the Brexit party.’
Last year, Farage had a public spat with another Reform UK colleague Ben Habib, his former deputy, when he suggested the leader had become ‘too big for his boots.’
Lowe has had the whip removed as he faces allegations of bullying staff, and making violent threats
There have been tensions between Lowe and Farage following the controversy
Lowe posted a statement on X on Saturday calling for Farage to have dinner and ‘resolve this in a manner that our members, and the country, would expect’
Anderson sought to explain the decision, stating on X that Reform UK ‘cannot function effectively’ if Lowe had remained, adding ‘no man is bigger than our party’
Lowe swiftly responded to brand the probe as a ‘vindictive assault’ and ‘pathetic’
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