Rupert Lowe has lashed out at the BBC, accusing the broadcaster of "peddling piffle and rubbish" in a series of fiery exchanges with Nick Robinson. Restore Britain's leader appeared on the Today programme on Thursday (August 6), where he was quizzed about the olive branch he extended to Reform UK at the weekend.
Clash over Farage comments
Mr Robinson reminded Mr Lowe of having called Mr Farage "a viper" and "narcissist" who thinks he is the Messiah, leads a "cult" and is "totally unfit to lead the country". Asked if he was surprised Mr Farage didn't take his offer of cooperation entirely seriously, Mr Lowe said: "Let's not go into the history. Nigel, Zia Yusuf, and Lee Anderson, for some reason, made false witness statements, tried to have me arrested for nothing and booted me out of the party for nothing."
Reform UK reported Mr Lowe to the Metropolitan Police in March 2025 over allegations he made verbal threats towards the then party chairman, Zia Yusuf. Mr Lowe denied the allegations. In May 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service announced he would not face any criminal charges due to insufficient evidence.
Lowe defends his record
Pushed to answer the question, Mr Lowe said: "Nigel decided, with his acolytes, I was not part of his party, so he kicked me out... I played a big part in what Reform did in Parliament." He explained that the establishment of Restore was to unite around "common sense thought", accusing the BBC of going "so far Left" that anyone who speaks common sense appears to be far Right.
Mr Lowe insisted: "I'm not far Right. I'm a normal punter, and I want my country back. I don't want all the piffle and the rubbish that you lot peddle. I want a country that's at peace with itself, and that's founded on the Christian principles which have served us extremely well for many thousands of years."
Robinson challenges Lowe
At this point, Mr Robinson accused Mr Lowe of being a man with money, a grudge and who airs his prejudices on X and gets a hearing because he has the backing of the platform's owner, Elon Musk. Mr Lowe ignored the critique, saying: "I made an effort to reach out to Nigel Farage, genuinely, honestly and in good faith, to try and find a way, despite the fact that I think they treated me despicably badly... I tried to put that behind us in order to unite common-sense thought."
The pair were discussing Reform UK's leader amid reports he fears his dream of becoming Britain's next prime minister might be dashed by Mr Lowe. Mr Lowe left Reform UK amid a bitter row with Mr Farage, accusing the outfit of suspending him for being a "tall poppy" who threatened to overshadow his erstwhile colleague.
Restore Britain's mission
The MP for Great Yarmouth set up his own party, Restore Britain, which has been sapping some support from Reform UK, but has been polling in the single digits. Mr Farage was asked earlier this week if he could do a deal with Restore Britain, telling reporters that he could see a situation where Mr Lowe's party, "without a hope of winning a single seat" at the next General Election, might still do Reform "great harm" at the polls.
Asked what Restore Britain's name means, Mr Lowe told the BBC: "It means restoring Britain to something more akin to that which it used to be, which is a very prosperous country with very low national debt [where] everyone understood who we were, what we were and how our society and country worked."
"I think that has changed dramatically since Tony Blair. The British people can see and feel their country slipping away from them, and we need to start to adopt a more sensible, logical route to rebuilding our national wealth and our society."
Islamification claims spark chaos
Challenged over a tweet in which Mr Lowe said he would not sit back and watch the UK become an Islamic country, the MP asked if Mr Robinson had read Restore's rape gang inquiry report. Mr Lowe interrupted the presenter, asking him why not and claiming the UK is seeing a "gradual Islamification" or a "silent jihad".
Asked to provide evidence for those claims, Mr Lowe said: "People like the BBC, our national monopoly - which as you know I would defund very quickly if I should acquire power - the point is, you have been complicit in watching this gradual spread of the Islamicisation of Britain, which basically is changing the nature of everything, with them allowed to pursue a parallel system of sharia courts."
Sharia does not form part of Britain's official legal system, which is secular. Voluntary Sharia bodies do operate within some Muslim communities.
The interview then descended further into chaos as Mr Lowe and Mr Robinson talked over each other, with the presenter demanding evidence to support the politician's claims.
BBC's response
Mr Lowe, riled that the BBC did not report Restore's rape gang inquiry, said: "You didn't cover it once as an organisation. You're supposed to inform, educate and entertain with complete impartiality. You're not doing that." In response, Mr Robinson said the BBC has been reporting the rape gangs scandal and national inquiry in great detail. He said: "I'm not trying to be clever. I'm asking you to explain your words."
But the clash continued as Mr Lowe said he had given up listening to the Radio 4 programme.
