Nigel Farage has criticised what he called “disgraceful” rhetoric from Labour and the Green party after an alleged assault on George Finch, the 19-year-old Reform UK leader of Warwickshire County Council. Finch said he was called a “racist” and a “fascist” before being pushed in Nuneaton on Friday night.
Finch told the Daily Mail that the alleged attacker “was wound up and sent into battle by the dangerous rhetoric of Labour and the Greens”. He said the attack did not cause any lasting injury. Farage said he was “deeply upset” and that the language used against Finch echoed the prime minister’s “disgraceful attack” on Reform during Labour conference week and “wholly irresponsible comments” from the Green party leader.
Reform’s head of policy, Zia Yusuf, wrote on X: “Reform’s council leader George Finch has been assaulted in the street. The assailant shouted ‘fascist, racist’ – exactly the language used by the prime minister and the leader of the Green party. They know exactly what they’re doing.”
The incident follows Farage’s accusation that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer incited violence against him during a Labour conference speech, in which Starmer said the Reform leader “doesn’t like Britain” and “doesn’t believe in Britain”. Farage claimed the prime minister had incited the “radical left” and threatened the safety of Reform officials.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Violence, harassment or intimidation is completely unacceptable and has no place in our politics or society. Any such incidents must be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.” A Green party spokesperson added: “There is no place for violence or intimidation in politics and using the disgraceful attack of a councillor to score cheap points is distasteful.”
Warwickshire Police confirmed it is investigating an “assault” after receiving a call at 2am on Saturday from a man stating he had been pushed by another man in Nuneaton.
