Exclusive:Reform deputy Scottish leader condemns violence against protester at party conference
Police have urged the woman who was assaulted by audience members to come forward
Reform UK’s deputy Scottish leader has condemned the violence against a protester at the party’s conference.
Thomas Kerr said it was “unacceptable” that a woman who demonstrated during Nigel Farage’s speech at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre on Friday was assaulted by members of the audience.
Footage shows the woman being pulled by her hair and struck with a walking stick.
West Midlands Police have asked the protester, who was thrown out of the conference, to come forward. Four more demonstrators were ejected from the event.
Speaking to The Scotsman, Glasgow MSP Mr Kerr said people “should never use their hands”.
He said: “That's unacceptable. You don't ever use your hands. It's my always best advice to you. It is was told that as a kid, and you learn that growing up. You don't do it because it's just ridiculous.
“But at the same time, when you're sitting there waiting to hear the leader of your party and you're surrounded by people, and some idiot breaks in to shout abuse, your anger gets to you.
“You're like: ‘I'm here to listen. I paid money. I'm a party member. I want to hear what my leader has to say.’
“I can understand in the heat of the moment, people act in a way that they probably shouldn't have done. But you should never use your hands.”
He urged members to show more restraint in the future.
Mr Kerr said: “Be a bit more calmer, and have a have a laugh at them. The best way to wind people up is smile and give them a wave, because that annoys them better than ever using your hands.”
Meanwhile, former Conservative cabinet minister Nadine Dorries, who is now a Reform UK member, said protesters “are not really going to get gentle treatment”.
She told a fringe event: “Of course no-one should be violent, no-one should throw punches, but… no-one should come into this conference and try and disrupt it.”
Mr Farage’s speech was interrupted four times by protesters.
Two women stood up in the conference hall at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre and held a banner reading “Reform works for billionaires”.
They were booed by audience members who shouted “out” and television footage showed a woman being carried out by security.
Mr Farage laughed during the disruption and said “We’ve got a screamer. Oh dear.”
Addressing the conference hall, the Reform leader said “that poor young girl, she looked like she was going to do herself an injury”, before adding “boring, boring, boring”.
Activist group Climate Resistance claimed responsibility for the protest.
In a comment they said they were “horrified at the violence” from Reform conference audience members.
The group also said the protester is considering whether to come forward to police.
Mr Farage told broadcasters on Saturday: “It’s all one way, isn’t it? I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with placards and that’s all fine. That’s absolutely fine.”
Much of the conference has been overshadowed by allegations Reform broke laws on political donations.
It comes after Channel 4 broadcast footage that appears to show senior Reform figures discussing how to disguise donations from foreign donors.
The footage was part of an investigation by undercover group Verbatim, who posed as an American donor and his son who paid for polling allegedly commissioned by Reform and were seeking to channel money to the party.
Accepting donations from a foreign company, including donations in kind such as polling, could constitute a criminal offence, and the party has been reported to the police.
Two senior Reform aides have stood down pending an investigation.
Mr Kerr said the situation had been “unfortunate and should never have happened”.
He said it was “really frustrating” because it affected the party’s momentum and that the two aides had “let the side down”.
The MSP said: “It's unfortunate. There’s serious questions about Channel 4, and I'm quite unhappy, with how Channel 4, this pretend journalistic group, this left-wing activists, have pretended and tried to entrench people over the past year, and spent a lot of time and a lot of effort doing it.
“The stuff that was said in the pubs was mistakes and unfortunate and should never have happened.
“There is that internal investigation of parties from having to look at it, but it is really, really frustrating, because the party's got this momentum, and we are still building up.
“And this whole conference is about the 100 days to try and show what we do in government. And when that sort of thing happens, you let the side down.”
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