Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has ruled out holding in-person surgeries in his constituency until security measures are in place over fears of a knife attack.
The MP for Clacton said he had been advised not to undertake the face-to-face meetings between MPs and their constituents in his Essex County seat.
On September 19, a spokesman for Farage said: “Nigel has been advised against holding in person surgeries (one-to-one meetings between officeholders and their constituents) by the Parliamentary Security Department and the Home Office until physical measures have been put in place that ensure the safety of him, his staff and the general public.”
Farage’s concerns came to light when he was quizzed by a listener on a radio phone-in over the number of surgeries he had held at his constituency office since being elected in June. He had responded: “Do I have an office in Clacton? Yes. Am I allowing the public to flow through the door with their knives in their pockets? No, no I’m not.”
Asked why people would want to attend one of his surgeries with a bladed weapon, Farage replied: “Well they did in Southend. They murdered David Amess, and he was a far less controversial figure than me.”
Conservative politician Amess was fatally stabbed during a surgery in his Southend constituency in 2021 by Islamic State-supporting terrorist Ali Harbi Ali who was found guilty of murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
Farage admitted he was “not yet” holding surgeries but said he would “when parliament allows me”.
He continued: “We’re not in a fit state to do the old-style surgeries but do you know what, if you’ve got something to say to me as a Clacton resident, Zoom is not the end of the world.”
While not conducting surgeries, he said he was dealing with constituent emails and phone calls
The controversial arch-Brexiteer has previously had a milkshake hurled at him during the UK general election in July and a drink thrown over him while campaigning during the 2019 European Parliament elections.
Earlier, in 2011, pilot Justin Adams was convicted of threatening to kill Farage following a light-plane crash in May 2010 in which the aircraft he was flying, with the politician as his sole passenger, nose-dived to the ground while towing a campaign banner. Both the pilot and Farage were injured and hospitalised.
Adams became mentally ill following the crash and he was found dead at his home in Eastbourne in 2013. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
