Nigel Farage has said he skipped the Budget because he wanted to avoid a “physical altercation” with an unnamed MP. The Reform UK leader claimed he had previously been involved in an incident at the state opening of parliament and wanted to dodge a “potential conflict”.
Farage's account of the incident
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Farage said: “At the State Opening of Parliament, I didn't want to, but I got involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber.
“I didn't make a fuss about it, I didn't complain, but I could see, given that my prayer card had been removed, I was heading towards another physical altercation, and just sometimes it's better to avoid conflict, that's one reason.”
He also suggested his seat reservation had been moved, a claim branded “total bull” by a senior Tory.
Reasons for missing the Budget
Mr Farage added: “Second reason is actually, I sat going through the budget with our senior economists in the office, so I actually had the time to go through it line by line, knowing I had to come and face all of you at three, and I don't spend my whole life studying this in a way that Jenrick does”.
He continued: “So it was actually more useful for me to sit in the office with a team of economists around me. But I was going to go to PMQs, but I could see potential conflict, and being a very quiet, shy, modest kind of person, I decided to give it a wide berth”.
MPs dispute Farage's claims
Earlier, MPs had dismissed his claims that his reservations had moved, saying it never happened. Writing on X, Tory MP Alicia Kearns said: “This is total bull. Any of the Reform MPs could have given their seat up for him.
“There were lots of seats without reservation, when exactly did Farage come into the chamber looking for a seat?”
Lib Dem MP Tim Gordon said: "The idea that Farage couldn't attend the Budget because his prayer card was moved is the latest eye-rollingly predictable attempt at grievance politics. I didn't put a prayer card in. I turned up just before prayers and there were loads of spaces. Farage, as far as I could tell, didn't turn up to prayers to guarantee a seat. A pretty poor and easy-to-disprove excuse for not turning up to actually do his job".
