Farage criticises ‘disgraceful’ rhetoric after alleged attack on Reform council leader

The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has criticised “disgraceful” rhetoric from the Labour and Green parties after the UK’s youngest council leader was allegedly assaulted.

George Finch, 19, the Reform leader of Warwickshire county council,said he was called a “racist” and a “fascist” before being allegedly assaulted on Friday.

The alleged attacker “was wound up and sent into battle by the dangerous rhetoric of Labour and the Greens”, Finch told the Daily Mail. He said the attack didn’t cause any lasting injury.

Farage said he was “deeply upset” about the incident and “the words used against him echo the prime minister’s disgraceful attack on Reform during Labour conference week and wholly irresponsible comments from the leader of the Green party”.

In a post on X, Reform’s head of policy, Zia Yusuf, also wrote: “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.”

This comes after Farage accused the prime minister of inciting violence against him during his speech at the Labour party conference. During the speech, Starmer told delegates that the Reform leader “doesn’t like Britain” and “doesn’t believe in Britain”.

In response, Farage said the prime minister had incited the “radical left” against him and accused Starmer of threatening the safety of Reform officials.

In response to the incident, and the claims by Farage, 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 said: “There is no place for violence or intimidation in politics and using the disgraceful attack of a councillor to score cheap points is distasteful.

“The Green party is committed to offering a message of hope to counter those looking to fuel division and hatred. And we will work to bring communities together and provide them with the investment they need to thrive.”

Warwickshire police said it was investigating an “assault” after receiving a call at 2am on Saturday “in which a man stated he had been pushed by another man in Nuneaton”.

Warwickshire county council and Finch declined to comment.