Nigel Farage has taken the stage at the Reform party conference after a near hour delay due to “security concerns”.
Moments into Mr Farage’s speech, he was interrupted by a heckler.
The Reform leader was just beginning to speak when he asked: “Oh, have we got a screamer?”
He has stopped his speech, before leading chants of “Boring, boring, boring”, to which the crowd cheer and whistle.
Security rushed into the main hall at the NEC and have dragged a woman out.
As his speech continues, frequent hecklers and protestors have bombarded the Birmingham venue, with Greenpeace taking responsibility for earlier acts of defiance.
Mr Farage has called for an early general election, and said Labour’s financial circumstances would force the Government into a spring 2027 election, insisting that it will still happen.
“I believe there will be an election next spring, and I believe there must be a general election because Andy Burnham has no mandate,” he added.
“The Messiah without a mandate, we deserve a general election on who continues to govern this country.”
He went on to address the financial scandal plaguing the party amid an undercover sting endorsed by Channel 4, and denied wrongdoing.
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Body of Napoleon III would be repatriated to France under Reform
Nigel Farage said he would be open to the body of the first ever president of France, Napoleon III, being repatriated to France from the UK.
The Reform UK leader was supportive of the idea when he spoke during a press conference on Friday, but conceded legal reasons may prevent the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew being returned to France.
Napoleon III was president between 1848 and 1852, before becoming emperor until 1870.
However France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian war led to his exile in the UK. He died in 1873 in Chislehurst, Kent, and is buried in St Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough.
Speaking through a translator, Jordan Bardella, National Rally president, said: “President Macron’s visit along with the inauguration of the Bayeux Tapestry has demonstrated the possibility of cooperation between our countries, and I told (Mr Farage) that we wouldn’t be against the body of Napoleon III returning to France.”
Mr Farage said: “Yes that’s the next big debate. Should the last French emperor and first president, should his body be returned to France. We’re going to have a proper debate about that too.
“There are many antique artefacts that I’m against giving away, but this one, do you know what? If they want him, I think they can have him actually. But there might be legal reasons why not.”
Lib Dems report Nigel Farage to parliamentary standards after earlier referral to Met Police
Nigel Farage has been reported to parliament’s standards commissioner over allegations that two senior aides arranged for a US company to fund three polls for Reform UK, at the cost of £32,500.
The party leader has been referred to the commissioner by the Liberal Democrats, who also forwarded referral to the Met Police.
In a letter, from Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart, she writes: “The report demonstrated the lengths that close aides of Nigel Farage went to in order to facilitate an impermissible donation and to conceal it.
“Nigel Farage met personally with the undercover reporters, whom he understood to be prospective American donors, and was subsequently recorded praising the effectiveness of private polling that this funding had paid for.
“The activities, shown on camera, represent clear breaches of the law – specifically section 56 and 61 of PPERA.”
Reform denies all wrongdoing, and this afternoon, Mr Farage insisted “donations from the names that were mentioned had not occurred” and “don’t exist” in any records.
The two aides who are alleged to have allowed the US company to pay for the polls both stepped down this morning. An internal party investigation is now underway.
The Reform leader is already under investigation over whether he should have declared a £5m gift he received before the general election from a Thai-based crypto billionaire.
Nigel Farage threatens to bin House of Lords in a referendum if peers prove non-compliant
Nigel Farage has threatened to get rid of the House of Lords in a referendum if the upper chamber of Parliament does not pass a Reform government’s legislation
The Reform leader made the proposal while speaking about his plans to call a “national emergency”, should his party win the next election.
Mr Farage told his party conference in Birmingham: “Parliament will sit, if necessary, for 24 hours a day, for six days a week until we pass the necessary legislation, and our policies will be explicit in our offering document to the British people.
“I expect the House of Lords to honour that, as they’ve done with the Salisbury Convention for over a century. But if they don’t, well we will present them with an idea.
“It’s not a new one, it has been used before. We’ll appoint hundreds of new peers so that we have a majority in the House of Lords.
“And if that proves difficult, we will hold a referendum on the current composition of the House of Lords, and they would be swept away by a British public appalled by them.”
It comes as GB News exclusively revealed Reform party officials were continuing to weigh up plans to stack the Upper House with up to 500 new members.
Nigel Farage doubles down on defence of ‘breaking no law and abusing no public money’
Nigel Farage has insisted he’s “broken no laws” following the undercover Channel 4 sting.
MrFarage said: “I’ve broken no laws, abused no public money.
“The polls in question were not commissioned by Reform. The results were out there in the full public domain, and there is no issue. What is problematic is loose pub talk, including a couple of boasts that were made that simply were not true
“But some of the comments made by two of our team were injudicious at best.
“Neither of these men was authorised to act in this way. Accordingly, they’ve stepped down pending an investigation. I repeat, Reform has broken no law. We take compliance extremely seriously.”
More top team members coming to Reform as Nigel Farage promises ‘frontline experience’
Nigel Farage has pledged to Reform UK members he will broaden the party’s expertise in defence, health and other important areas of policy.
Speaking at Reform’s party conference in Birmingham, he said: “Now we have frontline experience, now we have frontline people speaking for us in the UK: Scotland, Wales, England.
“But we’ve more to do. There are more big jobs to fill, and I’m looking and working on defence, health, and the other areas, and we will get there. We will get there soon.”
It follows earlier comments from Robert Jenrick that the party would look to take on more members to the top team in the coming months.