Police are appealing for a woman who was among the climate activists protesting during Nigel Farage’s speech at Reform’s conference to come forward, after footage appeared to show her being manhandled by people in the crowd.
Security at the event on the outskirts of Birmingham removed several protesters who stood up and heckled the Reform UK leader at intervals during his speech.
Footage which has been circulating on social media shows one of them having her hair pulled by a woman in the crowd, while another person who does not appear to be security puts his hand over the protester’s face.
West Midlands police released a statement on Saturday morning saying: “We’re aware of a video circulating from the Reform UK Conference showing an incident with a protester. We haven’t received a complaint but would ask the woman involved to come forward and contact us so we can carry out enquiries.
“Anyone with any information should contact us on 101 quoting log number 924 of 5 September.”
When asked about the incident, Nadine Dorries, a former Conservative MP who has joined Reform, said sensitivities were “heightened” in the aftermath of the killing of Anne Widdcombe.
“They tried to completely derail the speech. It was an organised sting again,” she told LBC.
“It was a number of people at spaced intervals, they wanted to completely disrupt the speech. That was what was shocking.
“I’m afraid if you’re going to come into a venue with such high security following the murder of Anne Widdicombe, obviously people’s sensitivities are going to be heightened, and I think it was foolish of those people to come into the audience and to try and do what they did, given how nervous people are following Anne’s murder.”