‘Boohoo’: Jenrick mocks protester after clip shows Reform audience pulling hairMr Jenrick said protesters should ‘get a life’ after he was asked about the removal of activists from the Reform conference.Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick mocked protesters after one woman was dragged out of a Reform conference by her hair (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA WireSophie Wingate5 minutes ago
Robert Jenrick has told protesters at the Reform UK conference to “get a life” and reacted to footage of a woman being dragged out by her hair by saying “boohoo”.
Video from the party’s gathering in Birmingham showed audience members pulling the protester’s hair and grabbing her head, with a man then hitting her with a walking stick.
Multiple protesters were removed from the Reform conference (Joe Sene/PA)PA Wire
Asked about the incident on Sky News’s Sunday Morning programme, Mr Jenrick said: “Oh boohoo.”
He told presenter Jon Sopel: “We’re now in a country, Jon, where somebody who is – whatever she is – a far-left protester, goes into a party conference, tries to wreck the leader’s speech, and cries foul if a pensioner knocks her over the head with their Zimmer frame, I mean, come on, get a life.
“This person knew what they were doing. They were trying to cause trouble, and they probably got more publicity out of it as a result of what happened.”
West Midlands Police has asked the protester to come forward in light of the footage, although party leader Nigel Farage has complained the reaction amounts to double standards.
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice’s speech was disrupted after protesters displayed banners referencing the ongoing scandal around donations (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA Wire
The force said it had not received a direct complaint but asked the woman to make contact so officers can carry out further investigations.
Demonstrators were thrown out of the main conference hall four times at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, where Reform UK held their annual get-together on Friday and Saturday.
They interrupted Mr Farage’s keynote speech, shortly after his deputy Richard Tice had a banner displayed during his own address referencing the scandal around a donation to Mr Farage.
The Reform leader laughed during the disruption and said: “We’ve got a screamer. Oh dear.”
Addressing the conference hall, the Reform leader said, “That poor young girl, she looked like she was going to do herself an injury,” before adding, “boring, boring, boring”.
Nigel Farage complained of ‘one-sided’ criticism (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA Wire
Mr Farage said on Saturday the criticism was “one-sided”, telling broadcasters: “It’s all one way, isn’t it? I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with placards and that’s all fine. That’s absolutely fine.
“Yet, well, we have a big event that people have paid a lot of money to come to and we get people there trying to disrupt it and we remove them. Suddenly we’re in the wrong. Utter nonsense.”
Activist group Climate Resistance claimed responsibility for the protest.
In a comment, they said they were “horrified at the violence” from Reform conference audience members.
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The group also said the protester was considering whether to come forward to police.
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf condemned members who pulled the hair of the heckler, but party chairman Lee Anderson said the party would be having a “whip round” for an audience member who was seen hitting the protester with a walking stick.
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