Rupert Lowe asks Nigel Farage to ‘have dinner’ after Reform UK suspension

Rupert Lowe has asked Nigel Farage to “have dinner” with him after he lost the Reform UK whip following allegations of threatening violence towards the party chairman.

The party reported the Great Yarmouth MP to the police, and Scotland Yard has said a complaint of “verbal threats” made on Thursday about an alleged incident last December was being assessed by officers.

Reform also said it had received evidence of “serious bullying” and “derogatory” remarks made about women in the MP’s offices, with two separate staffers said to have made allegations.

The party’s chief whip has now said that Mr Lowe’s “unwillingness to co-operate in an investigation” means that the parliamentary party “cannot function effectively whilst Rupert is a Reform UK MP”.

In a message on X on Saturday morning, Mr Lowe pressed concerns about communication in the party, and said: “I can only smash my head against a brick wall for so long”.

He asked party leader Mr Farage to “resolve this in a manner that our members and the country would expect”.

“I am going to now repeat publicly an invitation that I have extended to Nigel Farage in private multiple times over many months,” Mr Lowe said.

“Every offer has been refused or ignored.

“Please, let’s have dinner and resolve this in a manner that our members, and the country, would expect.”

In the Reform statement released on Friday afternoon, Mr Lowe was accused of having “on at least two occasions made threats of physical violence” to party chairman Zia Yusuf.

Mr Lowe denied the claims, describing the statement as “vexatious” and saying the complaint to police “obviously went in just after I asked reasonable questions of Reform’s leadership”.

Reform confirmed that Mr Lowe had lost the whip.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said on Friday: “On Thursday 6 March we received an allegation of verbal threats made by a 67-year-old man on Friday 13 December.

“Officers are carrying out an assessment of the allegations to determine what further action may be required.”

Reform chief whip and MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, said in a post on X that he has a “great deal of respect” for Mr Lowe and he has “bent over backwards to be fair with him since he entered Parliament”.

Mr Anderson added: “But his unwillingness to co-operate in an investigation into his behaviour has meant the Parliamentary party cannot function effectively whilst Rupert is a Reform UK MP.

“There is far too much at stake and by not taking decisive action we would risk losing everything we have built up.”

Mr Lowe said Mr Anderson’s claims are “simply not true”.

It comes after internal splits within the right-wing party, which has five MPs, opened up on Thursday as Mr Lowe told the Daily Mail that Reform remains a “protest party led by the Messiah” under Mr Farage.

Asked whether the former Ukip leader had the potential to become prime minister, as his supporters have suggested, Mr Lowe said: “It’s too early to know whether Nigel will deliver the goods.

“He can only deliver if he surrounds himself with the right people.”

On Friday, Mr Lowe pointed to the timing of the complaint, describing the move as a “malicious attempt to drag my name through the mud”.

“A complete inability to accept even the most mild constructive criticism without such a malicious reaction is not effective leadership,” he said.

Reform said on Friday that a KC had been appointed to look into the allegations of bullying in Mr Lowe’s offices.