Farage skips Budget speech, citing fear of a physical altercation with an MP

Farage's account of skipping the Budget

Nigel Farage did not attend John Healey's first Budget speech in the Commons on Wednesday, 28 October, and instead held a press conference afterwards. He said his prayer card, the card that reserves a seat for an MP in the chamber, had been removed, and that he feared a repeat of a clash with another MP. He linked this to an incident at the state opening of Parliament on 13 May. A House of Commons spokesperson later said the card had been removed because it did not carry a valid time stamp. Farage said he had spent the Budget going through it line by line with Reform's economists, and that he preferred to avoid conflict.

“At the state opening of parliament, I got involved in, I didn't want to, but I got involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber.”

The Liberal Democrat allegation

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper told Sky News that Farage had "physically shoved" a female Liberal Democrat MP during the state opening, and that one of the party's male MPs had then challenged him. Cooper said she had not witnessed the incident and was going on what she had been told. The Liberal Democrats indicated that one of their MPs was the other person involved in the May altercation. Cooper also accused Reform UK of having bundled female journalists and members out of a hall at its own conference, and said her party would take no lessons on the matter. Tom Gordon, a Liberal Democrat MP, questioned the prayer card explanation on X, accusing Farage of "grievance politics" and saying there were "loads of spaces" in the Commons for MPs who had not reserved a seat.

“A pretty poor and easy-to-disprove excuse for not turning up to actually do his job.”

Reform's response and the Budget verdict

Robert Jenrick, Reform's Treasury spokesman, told Sky that he was "sick to death of these pathetic Westminster debates". He called the Budget a "do-nothing Budget" that could and should have responded to a crisis, and said Britain was broke. On LBC, Jenrick was asked about Farage's account and said he had not witnessed the episode, though it sounded petty and nasty. Farage, for his part, praised Healey's delivery as "assured" and "competent at every level", and said it was in a different league from earlier budgets under Rachel Reeves. Jenrick dismissed the proposed "\u00a3100 once" payment for households with energy costs as no answer to the problem.

Budget measures, Ukraine and crypto

Farage criticised higher machine-games duty on gambling shops, saying it would damage the horse-racing industry and push gambling offshore and into crypto. He said John Healey's small giveaways suggested a general election in May next year, and that Reform would be ready for one as early as December. Asked whether Reform still backed cutting capital gains tax on cryptocurrency, which could benefit its large donors, Farage said his plans stood and would not benefit backers overall.

“A 10% tax rate on crypto gains is a way of incentivising people to come into the system, to go straight in a new regulated industry.”

On Ukraine, Farage said he was "surprised by the amount" of the promised support, a \u00a310bn pledge, and said he did not mind the sum provided it could not be swallowed up by corruption.