Reform is weaponising Ann Widdecombe’s death

If Keir Starmer’s rather moving, sensitive, considered and unusually constructive valedictory session of Prime Minister’s Questions showed British politics at its best, then the Reform UK press conference held the same day showed it nearer to its worst.

Put plainly, Zia Yusuf took the opportunity presented by the murder of his colleague Ann Widdecombe to exploit it for party political purposes.

In my view, far from trying to civilise our increasingly vitriolic and violent political culture, as Reform's home affairs spokesperson claimed was his intention, what he said seemed to me to be an attempt to leverage this tragic death to the advantage of Reform – at a very moment when the party’s momentum is slowing.

Even though the grief and shock at the news felt by Yusuf and his colleagues, and many others across national life, is doubtless sincere, I still think it was all pretty disrespectful.

Yusuf said that “extreme criticism” of his party, by other politicians as well as media commentators, amounted to incitement to violence.

“Many politicians and members of the media are effectively stopping the function of democracy by creating an environment of such hostility for Reform and making it unpalatably dangerous to air perfectly reasonable views,” he said. “That needs to end. Those who question Nigel Farage’s need for security should stop.”

He then selectively quoted out of context a series of remarks made by rivals, none of which constituted any such incitement, and were merely free speech.

If “people” are saying that Reform is a “threat to democracy” which must be “urgently stopped”, not only is this a reasonably held point of view, it is also precisely what Reform says about the Labour government, and particularly the “unelected” prime minister Andy Burnham.

Yusuf said he resents his party being called “Nazi”, “racist” and “fascist” – but scarcely a week goes by without some Reform candidate or councillor making some vile, racist or misogynistic remark. The party wants hundreds of thousands of deportations of people who are not white. It wants large scale secure detention camps. It wants the state to discriminate between British nationals and others, and to abolish equality laws and human rights legislation.

When Reform MP Lee Anderson declared that “Islamists” had gained "control" of London, and that mayor Sadiq Khan had "given away our capital city away to his mates”, he was immediately suspended by his previous party, the Conservatives. He still hasn’t apologised for this slur.

Reform is supposed to be all in favour of robust free speech – but it’s a case of dishing it out but not liking it when the same is done to them.

The party has policies and supporters who say and do things that, as Wes Streeting has observed, are reminiscent of the 1930s – are we now not allowed to say that? Should we simply let them say racist things, throw around Islamophobic slurs, and accept such fascistic nonsense as “centre-right” or “unfashionable, but popular”, as Yusuf would wish us to?

I don’t think Ann Widdecombe would have subscribed to that doctrine. Used to personal abuse her entire life, she always dismissed language with contempt and often enough a savage wit, but would not seek to ban it. She’d have demolished the argument in free, unconstrained debate, and would never play the victim. The very thought!

It was pointed out to Yusuf that he himself likes to use words such as “traitors” and “betrayal” against opponents, and that he described Starmer – whose family home was firebombed by Russian agents – as “sick and depraved”. He thought he was being accurate and reasonable; no hint of contrition there.

Only the other week, Farage used the term “pure, cold rage” after the murder of Henry Nowak. As with the Southport riots, no one could mistake Farage for a voice of calm and urging caution at such forms of crisis.

In reality, there’s no cure for this sort of talk, where the boundary between passion and incitement can be blurred, and people say things they “shouldn’t”. Politicians, journalists, keyboard warriors riled by immigration, climate change, Gaza, Islamophobia, antisemitism, integration/multiculturalism, sexism, trans rights, welfare scroungers, crime… it is all highly combustible, sometimes literally.

Sometimes, we just need to keep trying to hold our tongues, to think twice, and to correct ourselves, which, I have to say, I don’t recall Farage or Yusuf doing much.

Sadly, political discourse can be hurtful, no matter how hard we try. But there is no magic remedy for the kind of cynical hypocrisy trotted out by Yusuf either.