Nigel Farage reportedly refused to get off his Brexit battle bus after a group of people wearing balaclavas threatened to throw milkshake over him – just days after he was doused at another event.
The Brexit party leader was campaigning in Kent today, on the eve of the European elections, but refused to get off the bus in Rochester earlier today.
Mr Farage started the day visiting Dartford and Gravesend, but when he got to the historic city, a supporter spotted three men, dressed in black with their hoods up and wearing balaclavas, carrying milkshakes.
A glum Mr Farage on his bus in Rochester, Kent, earlier today on the eve of the European elections
Police standing with men holding beverages in Rochester today. The men pictured are not the individuals who stopped Mr Farage getting off the bus. The Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was in Rochester, Kent today on the eve of the European elections
Nigel Farage looking pensive in Rochester, Kent. The Brexit Party leader was trapped on his bus earlier today after a supporter spotted people in balaclavas with milkshakes
Mr Farage was alerted to the milkshake holding individuals and told not to get off the bus.
The driver of the vehicle, Michael Botton, told Kent Live: ‘There are a couple of guys standing over there with milkshakes, they were going to throw them over him.
‘But the police are there, we’ve spotted them and now Nigel isn’t getting off the bus.’
Mr Farage did briefly get off the bus to talk to supporters, before leaving the county.
Earlier this week Mr Farage was doused in a £5.25 Five Guys banana and salted caramel milkshake while campaigning in Newcastle.
While in Kent, the Brexit leader, said that radical remainers who ‘won’t accept’ the 2016 referendum result have been abusing his supporters across the country.
It came as YouGov research claimed that the Tories have slumped to just seven per cent – with the Brexit Party on 37 per cent – as Britain votes in new MEPs on Thursday.
On the last day of campaigning he said: ‘It’s a big day tomorrow, a chance to stun the establishment.
‘I don’t know if the opinion polls are right but if they are the Brexit Party could win and it could win big. It could change the whole political agenda, I reckon that’s pretty exciting.’
Nigel Farage poses for a selfie in Dartford, Kent, today on the last day of campaigning for the European elections
Mr Farage gives a party balloon and flag to a little girl as he said the party could ‘win big’ if the polls are correct
Mr Farage says ‘militant’ remainers are verbally abusing Brexit Party supporters up and down the country
As Theresa May’s leadership implodes, the Conservatives have dropped another three points over the past week – while Nigel Farage’s new outfit have gone up by two
Mr Farage was covered in milkshake in Newcastle this week as tensions over Brexit boiled over.
He said: ‘I’m less worried about the milkshake saga, but I am concerned about Brexit party supporters around the country, people coming up to them in the street using the f-word, using the c-word, calling them Nazis, we’ve got a discourse here that’s really bad and really wrong.
While on a walkabout in Newcastle Monday Mr Farage was struck by a milkshake that left him upset and his expensive suit sodden
‘There’s a small, but very militant group of remainers because a lot of our leaders haven’t accepted the referendum result’.
As Theresa May’s leadership implodes, the Conservatives have dropped another three points over the past week – while Nigel Farage’s new outfit have gone up by two.
The YouGov research for the Times also paints a grim picture for Labour, which has slipped into third on just 13 per cent support – well behind the Lib Dems on 19 per cent and only just ahead of the Green on 12 per cent.
The dire figures underline the catastrophe facing Mrs May and the Tories when the results of the elections are declared on Sunday night and Monday morning.
Even loyalist Conservatives are deserting the PM as she comes under pressure to pull the plug on her Brexit deal and resign.
An investigation into Brexit Party funding will hang over them until after the European elections, it was revealed today.
The Electoral Commission visited Nigel Farage’s party headquarters yesterday following concerns about where donations were coming from.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown had demanded an investigation by the watchdog, claiming ‘dirty money’ could be funnelled to the party from foreign organisations attempting to influence UK politics.
Mr Farage accused the Electoral Commission of being ‘absolutely full of Remainers’ as the watchdog turned up in the week of the European elections.
An Electoral Commission spokesman said it did not see evidence of electoral offences on the visit – but today said the review has not been closed and will continue after the European election on Thursday.
He said: ‘Our review of the systems in operation by the Brexit Party is ongoing. This will inform our regulatory work following the European Parliamentary elections and any recommendations we make to the party.
‘We will also make any recommendations on the wider issue of the workings of the political finance rules in our statutory report on the administration of the poll.’
Investigators spent the day at the Brexit Party headquarters in London yesterday (pictured)
Sir Vince Cable today accused Nigel Farage of being ‘too precious’ by pressing charges against the remainer who chucked a milkshake over him in a Telegraph debate today
The spokesman said raising small donations and using online platforms was ‘legitimate’ and ‘increasingly common in politics’.
However, he added: ‘Both open up additional risk in relation to compliance with UK political finance law.
‘This risk is that it increases the potential for individuals or organisations to evade the permissibility rules, which primarily seek to prevent significant sums entering UK politics from overseas.
‘It is the responsibility of any organisation adopting such an approach, and campaigning to influence people’s votes at an election, to ensure it has the systems in place to maintain its compliance with the law.’
It came as Sir Vince Cable today accused Nigel Farage of being ‘too precious’ by pressing charges against the remainer who chucked a milkshake over him.
The Liberal Democrat leader confronted his Brexit Party counterpart during a fiery live debate ahead of tomorrow’s European elections.
Mr Farage was soaked by Paul Crowther in Newcastle upon Tyne on Monday after the remainer hurled a £5.25 banana and salted caramel drink at his midriff.
Sir Vince asked him today: ‘Don’t you think you’re being a bit precious by pressing charges?’
Mr Farage hit back by saying: ‘You’re the man who put B*****s to Brexit on your manifesto’, adding: ‘Their [remainers’] behaviour is vile. Because they feel superior to Leavers, they think they can do whatever they like’.
The skirmish came during a live Daily Telegraph debate where Sir Vince Cable accused Nigel Farage of being ‘scared’ of a second referendum.
Mr Farage said: ‘l’ll tell you what my problem is, my problem is you people. Even if we vote again to leave I don’t think you’ll accept it’.
A Labour supporter said yesterday she wished that Nigel Farage had been doused in acid rather than a banana and salted caramel milkshake.
Crowther was charged with common assault but charity executive Ruth Townsley praised him and said she wished it had been a corrosive substance.
In a now deleted tweet she said: ‘Bravo to Paul Crowther, good on you mate. Great that milkshakes have become a thing when it comes to the racists in our midst. I’d prefer acid but milkshakes will do for now I guess.’
Ms Townsley, who has previously told Facebook followers she voted Labour, is now being investigated by her employer Happy City.
Despite her upsetting tweet, she is programme manager at the charity that promotes happiness and wellbeing. It is not known if she has been suspended from work.
On her work website the charity worker says that things that make her happy include ‘campaigning and resistance’, working on her house or allotment and following Leyton Orient FC.
Labour supporter Ruth Townsley said that she had wished it was acid and praised his attacker
Ms Townsley joined charity Happy City in 2015 where she is there to promote happiness and wellbeing
Today the Brexit Party leader insisted he would ‘keep buying new clothes and carry on’ after being pelted with the posh milkshake.
He also blasted the election watchdog for swooping on the Brexit Party headquarters days before the European Elections.
He said: ‘I’ve crossed with the Electoral Commission before – they are not a neutral organisation, absolutely full of Remainers, full of establishment figures’.
The right-wing eurosceptic told a rally in Bolton he would ‘ignore’ the incident in Newcastle yesterday in which he was doused with a £5.25 Five Guys banana and salted caramel dairy drink.
The Brexit Party, which is miles ahead in the polls ahead of Thursday’s vote, saw its London headquarters in Victoria Street in Westminster visited by the Electoral Commission today after starting a review into the systems it has to receive donations.
Mr Farage told LBC that the investigators would find nothing wrong and said the watchdog was ‘clearly politically-motivated’.
‘We went to visit them last week. They said we had all the right procedures in place. We asked them for a letter to confirm that, they failed to give it,’ he told the radio station.
‘Now, in an act of bad faith, clearly politically-motivated, despite the fact we had invited them to our offices. Last week, they were two busy to see us. This week, 48 hours before a national election, they are coming into our office.
‘Not that they’ll find anything wrong. I’ve got a team of four accountants working on his, I’m not stupid.
‘Once again it shows the establishment in this country is rotten to the core and we need to change politics for good.’
The final Brexit party rally ahead of the European elections was attended by 3,000 supporters
People queue outside Kensington Olympia in London ahead of Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage’s European Election Rally
The watchdog’s probe capped off a difficult 24-hours for Mr Farage, who had hitherto ridden a tidal wave of popular support ahead of the elections for his newborn party.
While on a walkabout in Newcastle yesterday he was struck by a milkshake that left his expensive suit sodden.
The Brexit Party leader was heard to comment ‘complete failure’ and ‘I could have spotted that a mile off’ as he was ushered away by security following the incident in Northumberland Street.
A 32-year-old man was later charged with common assault and criminal damage.
Addressing a later rally in Bolton last night Mr Farage faced up to the incident, saying: ‘I won’t even acknowledge the low-grade behaviour, that I was subjected to this morning, I won’t dignify it, I will ignore it. Perhaps keep buying new clothes and carry on.
‘For a civilised democratic nation to function in democracy, the loser has to give their consent.
‘The loser has to accept they’ve lost the election and do their best to win the next election. That is how our system works.’
Mr Farage will address another rally at London Olympia this evening.
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: ‘If there’s evidence that the law may have been broken, we will consider that in line with our enforcement policy’
Regarding the meeting at the Brexit Party headquarters, an Electoral Commission spokesman said: ‘The Brexit Party, like all registered political parties, has to comply with laws that require any donation it accepts of over £500 to be from a permissible source.
‘It is also subject to rules for reporting donations, loans, campaign spending and end of year accounts. We have already been talking to the party about these issues.
‘As part of our active oversight and regulation of these rules, we are attending the Brexit Party’s office tomorrow to conduct a review of the systems it has in place to receive funds, including donations over £500 that have to be from the UK only.
‘If there’s evidence that the law may have been broken, we will consider that in line with our enforcement policy.’
Brexit Party ‘bans’ Channel 4 after probe into Banks’ cash
Channel 4 News’ editor Ben De Pear said it had been blocked for six weeks but hoped to sort it soon’
Channel 4 News says the Brexit Party has banned it from attending campaign events after it investigated financial links between Nigel Farage and Brexiteer Arron Banks.
According to last week’s investigation Rock Services Ltd, a company owned by Mr Banks, leased a £4.4m 3-bedroom Chelsea home with garage for Mr Farage at an estimated rent of £13,000 a month in the summer of 2016.
It is claimed Mr Banks also fitted and furnished the house, buying crockery, chairs and bathroom accessories and even a shower curtain for Mr Farage.
Former UKIP leader Farage – who now fronts the Brexit Party – was also said to have been handed a Land Rover Discovery, valued at £32,300, for his personal use.
Mr Banks, 53, paid £20,000 for a close protection driver and sought to raise a further £130,000 from unnamed supporters to cover Mr Farage’s security, it is claimed.
Mr Farage denies any wrongdoing and Mr Baknks described the claims as ‘smears’.
Channel 4 News’ editor Ben De Pear said it had been blocked for six weeks but hoped to sort it soon’.
He tweeted: ‘We hope to resolve our access ban from Brexit Party events ASAP.
‘We were unaware of the six-week ban until last Thursday when we broadcast this Nigel Farage investigation, revealing he had been bankrolled by £450k from Arron Banks.
‘Until then we had full access, including to Farage.’
Mr Farage later confirmed he was not talking to Channel 4 News following their reports, telling the Press Association: ‘I’m not speaking to them now, they are political activists. They are supposed to be a public service broadcaster, they’re not behaving in that way.
‘We’ve no interest in talking to them whatsoever.’
Asked if he was blocking their questions, he said: ‘If you think I’m funded by Russia, just watch Channel 4 News, because that’s the kind of tosh they come out with regularly, and I’ve just had enough of a series of accusations, in many cases based on nothing.
‘This is a two way street – the relationship between people in politics and the media is always going to be a slightly tense one, obviously, but it only works if everybody ultimately has a bit of respect for each other.
‘And we as an organisation have at the moment lost respect for Channel 4 News.’