Nigel Farage accused of spreading ‘unevidenced fears’ about asylum seekers https://t.co/UdqTaQzQdp https://t.co/W2XTILLKcH
WATCH: Farage Tells Guido ‘Moronic’ Hope Not Hate Will Fail in Project With Labour Against Reform https://t.co/WcQ6nFTYBH https://t.co/s5WHviAY8V
Jess Phillips Accuses Farage of Siding With Savile Again https://t.co/wFCPb56KKT https://t.co/lIGtwAKIZi
Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews quit the Conservative Party on 4 August and joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, giving the insurgent movement its first serving police chief. Matthews, who has held the post since 2021 and was re-elected in 2024 with 35.3 % of the vote, said Britain’s criminal-justice system had been captured by a “liberal elite” and needed a fundamental reset. Local Conservative associations accused Matthews of betraying the voters who elected him and demanded a by-election. Farage hailed the defection as proof that Reform is taking root in traditional Tory heartlands and said more public figures would follow. Farage used the same press conference to renew his pledge to scrap the UK’s Online Safety Act, which came into force on 25 July. The law obliges websites to impose robust age-verification checks and empowers Ofcom to fine firms up to 10 % of global turnover for non-compliance. Critics—including social-media platform X—say the provisions have already prompted the takedown of lawful political content, while VPN downloads in the UK have surged as users seek to bypass new restrictions. The Labour government rejected the censorship claims. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said the Act is essential to protect children online, while Labour MP Jess Phillips accused Farage of aligning himself with those who exploit minors—comments Farage described as “below the belt” before challenging opponents to a public debate on the legislation.