Nigel Farage closed Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham today with reform protests and scrutiny over alleged foreign donations still hanging over the event. He told the audience the party would keep going, then said further investigations into Reform were coming.
Birmingham conference closing speech
Farage used his final-day speech to cast the criticism as something the party would absorb rather than answer point by point. He said, “Sometimes we will get things wrong and get a bit of a kicking for it,” and asked, “Are you subdued?”
He added, “I tell you what we learned yesterday and today.” Later in the speech he said, “There will be times in this journey when there are good days, and times when there are difficult days.” He also told the audience, “More often than not, things will be put upon us that are unfair.”
West Midlands police appeal
The disruption at the conference began yesterday, when a female protester interrupted Farage’s speech. Footage then appeared to show a Reform audience member manhandling her and pulling her hair as she was removed from the conference. West Midlands police appealed today for the woman to come forward.
Climate Resistance said it was responsible for the protest and said it was “horrified at the violence” from Reform conference audience members. Farage called criticism of the treatment of protesters “utter nonsense” and accused critics of taking a one-sided view.
Reform and foreign donations
Farage also addressed the allegations concerning foreign donations. He said the party had not broken any laws, but added, “It won’t end.”
He closed by saying, “But sometimes we will make mistakes, sometimes we will get things wrong and get a bit of a kicking for it,” before adding, “whatever you throw at the leadership, whatever you throw at the people’s army, we immediately pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and start all over again.”
The immediate next issue is the scrutiny around those foreign donation allegations. Farage has signaled that more investigations into Reform are expected, while the protester’s account of the conference removal now sits with West Midlands police.
