MP for Greater Yarmouth Rupert Lowe has threatened to sue Reform UK for libel after accusations of threats of violence and bullying emerged last week amid a brewing civil war within the Nigel Farage-led party.
Internal fighting within the poll-leading Reform party continued on Monday after Rupert Lowe was sensationally suspended from the party last week. The party has claimed that allegations have been presented to police of Lowe threatening party chairman Zia Yusuf and bullying parliamentary staff.
Lowe, in turn, has suggested that the allegations are a “witch hunt” orchestrated to discredit him after he publicly criticised party leader Nigel Farage and the party structure.
Lowe also claimed that he had become at odds with the party for taking a hardline stance on deportations, which, among other issues, has won him support among the online right in Britain.
On Monday, the MP said that he was considering legal action against the party, telling the BBC: “Ever since this malicious attack on my reputation was launched, all I have asked for from both Reform and the KC is credible evidence against me. None has been provided. It still hasn’t. The KC has said she has been ‘chasing’ for that. I have received nothing. Because there is no credible evidence against me.
“I have been in discussions with my legal team this afternoon, and this will be followed by legal action in due course. I will not have my name dragged through the mud as part of a political assassination because I dared to question Nigel Farage. You have to stand up to bullies, and I am doing exactly that.”
The timing of the disclosure of the allegations against Lowe has been called into question, given they were made public the day after an interview in which he accused Farage of leading a “protest party” as a “messianic” figure. There have also been claims that at least some of the allegations against Lowe were not against the MP himself but rather against his “office”.
However, Reform Chief Whip Lee Anderson said on Monday that “the written complaints include allegations about the conduct of Mr Lowe. I ask that Mr Lowe respects the independence of the investigation and refrains from making further false public statements.”
Meanwhile, the lawyer assigned to Lowe’s case has disputed some of the claims made by the suspended MP, telling the BBC: “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 MP 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’.”
The dispute threatens to derail Reform’s momentum, as the party has recently climbed to the top of the polls.
Fissures first appeared in December when X boss Elon Musk said that Mr Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the party while indicating that Lowe may be a better option at the helm of Reform. At the time, Lowe and other top Reform members rallied around Farage as leader.
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