Nigel Farage has welcomed the reopening of a police investigation into an alleged arson attack at his home, which he claims is directly linked to the murder of Ann Widdecombe. Speaking at a press conference, Farage said the incident, which occurred at his home address, involved arson and an attempted forced entry. He had not publicly mentioned it for a year due to security concerns, but spoke about it in the context of needing protection for the rest of his life.
Farage's Statement and Reaction
Farage expressed frustration that most media organisations had called him a liar when he first disclosed the arson attack in a Daily Telegraph interview. However, journalists, including from the Guardian, noted that the interview was timed as a 'spoiler' before the Guardian published a story about an undisclosed £5m donation from cryptobillionaire Christopher Harborne. Farage claimed the donation was a gift for his security, unrelated to his political work, but scepticism remains.
Doubts were also raised after the Observer reported that police had recorded the incident as an attempted burglary, not an arson attack. In his press conference, Farage said counter-terrorism police made mistakes and referred themselves to the Independent Office of Police Complaints, a move he described as unprecedented.
Investigation and Police Response
Farage linked the reopened investigation to Widdecombe's murder, stating that it took her death for security services to take the safety of Reform politicians seriously. He claimed that four days after the murder of Charlie Kirk, his security was nearly all removed, and that Reform figures had been ignored and undervalued. However, he declined to provide further details to avoid prejudicing the investigation.
The police have not confirmed any link between Widdecombe's murder and the alleged firebombing. The original investigation, treated as an attempted burglary, was closed with no suspects identified. Since reopening, CTP London has identified a line of inquiry that may have been relevant but was not pursued at the time. The police watchdog is investigating a CTP London staff member over allegations of failing to identify and pursue that line of inquiry.
