Robert Jenrick justifies Reform members assaulting protester at conference

Reform MP Robert Jenrick has justified Reform members hitting a protester over the head with a cane at the party’s conference this weekend.

Speaking to LBC’s Lewis Goodall, Jenrick was shown footage of Reform members pulling a female protester by the hair and grabbing her mouth, while one man used a walking stick to hit her on the head.

Reform supporters also attacked several other protesters. 

Activists from Climate Resistance infiltrated Reform UK conference and disrupted Nigel Farage’s speech on Saturday. The group has said it is “horrified at the violence” directed at the activists. 

Goodall asked Jenrick whether the attacks were not “heavy handed literally” and “disproportionate”.

Justifying the violent attacks, the Conservative defector said: “What do you expect them to do?”. 

The LBC journalist put it to Jenrick that they could have led the protester out rather than attacking her.

He added: “[She] probably didn’t need to be clubbed with a crutch.”

Jenrick said: “I don’t know how sympathetic I am towards that person. Not at all.”

Goodall reminded Jenrick that “she got clubbed with a crutch”.

Jenrick then laughed and mocked the woman for “infiltrating” Reform conference and “screaming abuse at the leader of a party” and then “moaning that a pensioner knocked her on the head”.

“Come on! Get a life,” Jenrick said.

Speaking to LBC, the woman who was attacked said: “Nigel Farage himself, as well as members of the audience, are inciting this violence by celebrating assaults like the one I experienced. 

“In fact, this morning Lee Anderson joked, joked about it by offering to buy a new cane for the man who assaulted me, which I think is simply pathetic.”

“They say they work to protect women and girls, yet they assault us when we try to criticise them.”

Reform’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf said he condemned the assaults. 

He said: “On the question of whether I condemn people punching people, yes, I condemn people punching people.”

Farage refused to condemn the violence.  Speaking to journalists on Saturday, he said: “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.

“Yet, well, we have a big event that people have paid a lot of money to come to and we get people there trying to disrupt it and we remove them. Suddenly we’re in the wrong. Utter nonsense.”

West Midlands Police has said they are aware of the video circulating online but that they haven’t received a complaint.

Police are calling on the woman to come forward so they can carry out enquiries.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward