There’s not going to be anything to please liberals or progressives at a Reform conference, but what happened to a woman protester should disgust everyone, not matter their politics.

From LBC:

One woman who stood up to disrupt the speech can be seen in video footage being removed from the room. While several security guards remove her, members of the crowd appear to grab at her face and hair, and hit her with a walking stick.

The woman told LBC: “Yesterday I was hit and grabbed by the hair and by my jaw by attendees at the Reform UK conference after calling out Nigel Farage for being a conman during his keynote speech.

“All of this was just 2 hours after Sarah Pochin announced Women for Reform, cynically claiming that migrants are the ones women like me should be afraid of, as opposed to members of their own political party.

“I think it’s dangerous that Reform cannot be trusted to hold their members accountable.

“Nigel Farage himself, as well as members of the audience, are inciting this violence by celebrating assaults like the one I experienced.

“In fact, this morning Lee Anderson joked, joked about it by offering to buy a new cane for the man who assaulted me, which I think is simply pathetic.

Donna Harris chairs the official organisation representing women in the Liberal Democrats, Lib Dem Women. She has written to Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick to express LDW’s “disgust” at the way the woman was treated and how the men in Reform have reacted since to minimise and trivialise the incident, with Lee Anderson offering to buy their delegate a new walking stick.

The full text is below.

 

Dear Mr Farage and Mr Jenrick,

Liberal Democrat Women are writing to express our deep concern and disgust at the way the recent incident involving a woman exercising her democratic right to protest has been discussed and treated by members of Reform UK.

Whatever one’s political views, there can be no justification for violence or intimidation towards someone exercising their democratic right to protest. The woman involved did not, as far as we understand, physically harm or touch anyone. She expressed her views and used words that some people clearly found unwelcome.

That does not justify violence.

We are particularly concerned by comments made by Robert Jenrick on television yesterday which appeared to trivialise the seriousness of what had happened. Being older does not make violence, intimidation or the fear caused by such behaviour any less serious.

We are equally concerned by the subsequent public response, including Nigel Farage’s use of the word “boring” over and over again on stage when referring to the incident. Turning an incident involving violence against a woman into a source of humour or entertainment is deeply troubling.

Political disagreement should never become an excuse for dehumanising or humiliating those who disagree with us. Nor should violence against women become something to laugh about, minimise or use as political entertainment.

This is particularly important at a time when women and girls continue to face misogyny, intimidation and abuse, including increasingly online. Political leaders have a responsibility to set the standard for public discourse and to make clear that violence and intimidation are unacceptable, whoever the target may be.

It is therefore deeply disappointing to see an incident involving a woman being attacked treated in a manner that appears to make light of what happened, while Reform UK simultaneously presents itself as a party committed to protecting women.

Protecting women must mean protecting women even when we disagree with them. It must mean defending their right to participate in public and political life without fear of intimidation or violence.

Women must not be expected to surrender their democratic rights because their words may be unpopular or unwelcome.

Liberal Democrat Women will continue to stand up for women’s right to participate fully in our democracy, for respectful political debate and for a society in which violence against women is never treated as a joke.

We ask both of you to reflect on the message being sent by the comments and responses surrounding this incident, and to make clear that violence, intimidation and the trivialisation of violence against women have no place in our political debate.

Yours sincerely,

Donna Harris

Chair, Liberal Democrat Women

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social