Latest news with #ex-Reform
Daily Record
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe left embarrassed after calling coastguard over 'boat of illegal migrants'
Rupert Lowe, a former Southampton FC chairman, was elected as a Reform UK MP in 2022 but now sits as an Independent. He wrongly accused a charity rowing team of being 'illegal migrants' Elon Musk's favourite ex-Reform MP ranted on Instagram about 'illegal immigrants' he saw on a 'dinghy' in the sea - before authorities reassured him it was a charity rowing crew. Rupert Lowe, one of Nigel Farage's former frontmen, spotted the vessel and took to Instagram to rant about the UK needing 'mass deportations. NOW.' Lowe posted a photo on Instagram showing a boat near wind turbines off the Norfolk coast, captioned: "Dinghies coming into Great Yarmouth, RIGHT NOW. Authorities alerted, and I am urgently chasing. If these are illegal migrants, I will be using every tool at my disposal to ensure these individuals are deported. Enough is enough. Britain needs mass deportations. NOW." The vessel in question was actually an ocean rowing boat crewed by ROW4MND, a team of four raising money for motor neurone disease (MND) by rowing from Land's End to John O'Groats. The crew - Matthew Parker, Mike Bates, Aaron Kneebone and Liz Wardley - were contacted by the coastguard who asked if they could see a dinghy nearby. Bates, a former Royal Marine and British record holder for solo rowing across the Atlantic, said it quickly became clear that the coastguard was referring to their own boat. Former Royal Marine Mike Bates, who is part of a team raising cash for charity MND, said he found it "hilarious". Ex-Southampton FC chairman Mr Lowe, who split from Nigel Farage's Reform after a bitter fall-out in March, said he alerted the coastguard on Thursday. Lowe had previously been tipped as the next Reform leader by X owner Musk. "I looked to my right and there was maybe a dozen individuals on the shoreline staring at us," he said. After assuring the coastguard that they were not transporting migrants, the team continued their journey. However, a few hours later, they were contacted again when police requested a lifeboat to verify their identities. Eventually, a friend sent Bates a screenshot of Lowe's post, which he said provided them with "a moment of light relief". He added: "We found it hilarious. I've not been mistaken for a migrant before. The best comment was the one asking where the Royal Navy were when you need them. I'm a former Royal Marine, so the Royal Navy were on the boat." He went on to say: "But it was almost like a vigilante-style, people following us down the beach. They hadn't twigged that we were parallel to the shore for hours and not trying to land." The team embarked from Land's End on 25 July and initially headed north into the Irish Sea before poor weather forced them to halt at Milford Haven in Wales. They then returned to Land's End and started again heading in the opposite direction - an experience Mr Bates described as "about us showing resolve and resilience and hope". Their journey is merely the first of four challenges over four years. The group plans to row from John O'Groats to Land's End next year, then from California to Hawaii in 2027 and New York to London in 2028, with an ambitious target of raising £57 million for MND research. So far, ROW4MND have raised £107,515 for their cause.
Spectator
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Ex-Reform MP mistakes rowers for migrants
As the issue of immigration continues to assert itself as one of the top concerns facing the country, Brits are increasingly concerned about small boats crossings in the English Channel. So much so that some people have started seeing migrant crossing where there, er, aren't any at all. Take for example ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who this week raised the alarm about potential illegal immigrants being spotted off Great Yarmouth. The politician was quick to post a photo from the Norfolk coast to social media to rage that: Dinghies coming into Great Yarmouth, RIGHT NOW. Authorities alerted and I am urgently chasing. If these are illegal migrants, I will be using every tool at my disposal to ensure these individuals are deported. Enough is enough. Britain needs mass deportations. NOW. Strong stuff! The independent MP was quick to get in touch with the coastguard who probed the matter further. Only it transpires that Lowe was mistaken – with the boat's occupants in fact rowing for charity. The image Lowe shared depicted an ocean rowing boat crewed by ROW4MND – a four-person team attempting to row from Land's End in Cornwall to John o'Groats in Scotland to raise money for motor neurone disease. Not quite the threat Lowe had anticipated… In a rather amusing series of events, the crew were first contacted to ask whether they could see a dinghy nearby. In a later call, they said the police had requested to send a lifeboat out 'to check who we were'. After a long period of confusion, one of them received a link to Lowe's tweet – which shed light on the rather baffling episode. Mike Bates, a former Royal Marine and British record holder for rowing across the Atlantic solo, remarked: We found it hilarious. I've not been mistaken for a migrant before. The best comment was the one asking where the Royal Navy was when you need them. I'm a former Royal Marine, so the Royal Navy were on the boat. All's well that end's well, eh?
Spectator
3 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
More Brits worried about immigration than health
Another day, another poll. This time YouGov has found that almost six in ten Brits say that immigration is one of the most important issues facing the country – almost double those who rate health as their number one concern, and more than double those worried about crime. Crikey! Fears about immigration have climbed by four percentage points compared to a fortnight ago, to 56 per cent. Healthcare ranked almost equally with immigration in June last year, but since then border control has become more important to Brits. Meanwhile concern about crime has risen three points in the last few weeks – coinciding with Reform's 'Lawless Britain' campaign that has seen the party unveil a number of new recruits to create new policy and urge the government to 'protect our streets, not our tweets'. Today's polling coincides with another data dump by the organisation, which reveals that just under half of Brits support 'admitting no more new migrants and requiring large numbers of migrants who came to the UK in recent years to leave'. Mass deportation is an idea that has been championed by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe – with his stance on the issue driving a wedge between himself and his former colleagues. The survey also showed that almost half of respondents thought there were more illegal immigrants in the UK than legal, with this group more likely to be in favour of mass deportation. YouGov has called the results 'extraordinary', while researcher Matthew Smith noted: Almost half of Britons (47 per cent) think there are more migrants staying in the UK illegally rather than legally. Crucially, this view is held by 72% of those who want to see mass removals. However, these perceptions appear to be wide of the mark. Estimates of the population of illegal migrants living in the UK range from 120,000 to 1.3 million, with Reform UK's Zia Yusuf recently putting the figure at 1.2 million. Regardless of which figure from this range is chosen, it does not come close to the number of migrants living in the UK legally, with 2021/2022 census data putting the entire foreign-born population of the UK at 10.7 million. The figures put more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to 'smash the gangs' as the Prime Minister's 'one in, one out' policy takes effect today. But much scepticism remains about exactly how effective the scheme will be – while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has refused to say exactly how many migrants will be returned under the plan. It's hardly the best start…
The National
30-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Why did Glasgow City Council let the far-right march through the city?
ON Saturday afternoon, the people of Glasgow chased off a group of extreme far-right demonstrators marching on our streets. I don't say that flippantly; that is exactly what happened. I saw it first-hand. But it should never have been left to the people to sort out when instruments of the state (namely, Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council) have the powers to stop it. I've seen a lot of public comment about the calls to ban Ukip's "mass deportations" rallies and there is a really interesting divide in the commentary. The key opposition to supporting these calls comes from protecting the right to free speech so I suppose that's probably the best place to begin. READ MORE: Keir Starmer commits to recognising Palestinian state after pressure In the UK, we absolutely have the right to free expression but with every right comes a responsibility and in this circumstance, your responsibility is not to incite violence. Inciting violence is a crime. Local authorities have the ability to bring a prohibition order on the grounds of public safety, public order and the placing of excessive burden on the police. I believe all of these were in play last Saturday and its under these grounds that the Ukip march should have been prohibited. Of course, I raised this directly with the council senior officers who took a different view. Their view is that their required consultation with Police Scotland means that only Police Scotland can raise these concerns which they did not, otherwise, their hands are tied. Regardless of which of the two are at fault for allowing the march to go ahead, the resultant outcome is that normal Glaswegians had to step up and stop this far-right march from taking place. Dan Hutchison speaks at a Greens event (Image: Christian Gamauf) While I entirely disagree with the concept that migrants aren't welcome, I accept that debate around whether to allow migrants to enter the UK and in what number is fair comment. It will be and is always robustly challenged. What I don't think it is fair comment to call for mass deportations. Mass deportations is not just sending troublemakers home or taking a tough stance on migrants breaking the law. Mass deportations, as defined by disgraced ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe's motion from April on the matter, is deporting one million of our friends, family and neighbours. That's just under one in 70 people in this country that they want to seize, detain and deport. There is no way to succeed in mass deportations without taking the approach of ICE in America, but on steroids. The mass deportation of one million of our friends, families and neighbours people from this country would cause widespread violence on our streets and would benefit no one but the rich and powerful. And those calling for mass deportations aren't looking to do this without violence. Last month saw the latest race riots on these islands over in Ballymena, which resulted in over 100 injuries and the expulsion of two-thirds of the local Roma community. With both the Northern Irish First Minister Michelle O'Neill and the PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher agreeing that this violence was racism in action. READ MORE: Labour respond as 400k back petition for repeal of Online Safety Act The far-right, including fascists, have united on a platform to scapegoat migrants at every possible turn and are trying to turn communities against each other. But the problem isn't migrants, the problem is greed. Greed from our corporate class and from our liberal politicians. For decades now we have watched as our politicians have sold off assets like a fire sale. Making dodgy backroom deals with their friends in business, some even taking a wage to advise how to fleece the state, whilst being the ones elected to protect it. And it's the same snake oil salesmen that are selling you the "migrants are a problem" line that are filling their pockets from the millionaires and billionaires who benefit from us fighting amongst ourselves. That's why the far-right weren't allowed to goosestep through our city, why we had to chase them off and why we will always stand as a community and not sell out to greed.
Spectator
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
BBC apologises to Lowe over Rape Gang Inquiry report
Another day, another drama over at the Beeb. Now the corporation has apologised to ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe and his Rape Gang Inquiry, acknowledging that it should have given the parliamentarian more time to respond to reports that he was being probed for not registering donations in time. In a statement released on its website, the BBC described how it ran an article on the investigation by parliament's standards watchdog into whether Lowe had not registered donations in time and therefore breached the MP's code of conduct. The organisation noted: The BBC approached Mr Lowe for comment and published an article reporting the investigation before receiving his reply, which was judged appropriate since the fact of an investigation was in the public domain. Although the story was accurate and BBC guidance allows some latitude on the time offered for right of reply in certain circumstances around contemporaneous reporting, the article also included additional details about the donations being related to a crowdfunder in support of a national inquiry into gang-based sexual exploitation across the UK, known as the Rape Gang Inquiry. These were details about the investigation which had not been released by Parliament's standards commissioner. The article was updated within the hour to include a response from the Rape Gang Inquiry, but we accept that we should have given Rupert Lowe more time to respond. As it happens, Lowe was cleared of breaching MP rules. Parliament's standards commissioner found he still had time to declare more than £600,000 raised via a crowdfunder to support an inquiry into gang-based sexual exploitation across the UK. The Greater Yarmouth politician slammed the complaint against him as a 'malicious attempt to shut me down' and insisted at the time that he would be complaining to the Beeb over the way it covered the story. Who's laughing now, eh?
