0:01
I got involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber
0:05
It was pretty petty and pretty nasty. He just said, let me through
0:11
I said, you can wait your turn like everybody else. And he didn't like that
0:16
So you're saying that Nigel Farage pushed you? Yes. Why were you so aggressive towards him
0:22
I didn't push him at all. He was the one that grabbed me and pushed me out of the way. I mean, if anyone was being aggressive with their behaviour, it was him
0:28
It's not a great look to push and shove anyone, let alone as a grown-up in your place of work
0:32
and particularly as a man towards a woman. It doesn't seem like a brilliant idea. Ah! Oh, God! What, really
0:38
Lock the door! Lock the door, quickly! Sorry, Eleanor just said there were some Liberal Democrat MPs in the building
0:44
and I was really worried that there might be a physical altercation. Whoa! We're going to hear from the Liberal Democrat MP
0:50
accused of getting into a physical altercation with Nigel Farage. He says that that was the reason that he was absent from the Commons
0:57
during yesterday's budget. Reform's Treasury spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, claimed on yesterday's show that the Lib Dems were pretty petty and pretty nasty. It's quite the drama. Can I ask you
1:08
about something that seems to have happened in the House of Commons? Nigel Farage wasn't in the
1:12
Commons for the budget. At the state opening of Parliament, I got involved, well, I didn't want to
1:21
but I got involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber
1:26
I didn't make a fuss about it. I didn't complain. But I could see, given that my prayer card had been removed
1:35
I was heading towards another physical altercation. And just sometimes it's better to avoid conflict
1:41
Do you know anything about this? Well, as I understand it, when Nigel went to, I think it was the King's Speech
1:46
a load of Bolshe Lib Dem MPs got in the way of him
1:51
and made it very difficult for him to join the procession to go and listen to the King's speech in the normal way
1:57
I wasn't a witness to that, but it sounds like it was pretty petty and pretty nasty
2:03
And so he decided instead to focus on preparing for the statement
2:09
that he gave, excellent statement, just a few moments ago. So just to be clear about this, Mr. Jones
2:13
the suggestion is, you might not have been there yourself, but you may have heard from colleagues. Your suggestion is that Nigel Farage was prevented
2:19
from getting into the commons by MPs. No, it was leaving the chamber
2:24
When the King's speech happened... No, just for this event today, sorry, the budget today, Nigel Farage has suggested that he wasn't in the commons today
2:31
because of prior physical altercations Yeah because I just explained what happened to him last time What happened to him last time So I think that the answer But anyway the most important thing here is Hang on sorry So he didn go to the Commons today because he was prevented
2:42
from going to the Commons for the King's speech? Yeah, because there was some very rude and offensive
2:46
look, Lib Dem MPs. But look, look, if you're going to ask me about these things, that what really matters
2:50
is the actual budget. I mean, I know you're always interested in trivia on this show
2:54
but what I care about are working people in this country. What I care about
2:58
is working people in this country. The Lib Dem MP involved in the altercation is Caroline Voden
3:04
the Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, who joins me live. Thank you so much for coming on the programme, Caroline
3:08
It's good to see what happened. Tom, thank you for inviting me on
3:14
So this was all five months ago on the day of the King's speech
3:18
And it's the day when members of Parliament process through to the House of Lords
3:22
to watch the King's speech. As the leader of a small party
3:28
Nigel Farage has the opportunity to process through to the lords with the other party leaders
3:37
But he kind of missed the moment and didn't get into the procession in time, probably because no one from his party had showed up for the rehearsal
3:44
So he wasn't in the right place at the right time. He missed his spot in the procession
3:48
He was clearly quite annoyed. And as he tried to get out of the chamber to get into the procession
3:56
there were a whole bunch of us who were standing in front of him on a flight of stairs um he wanted to get past he he didn't ask politely he just said
4:05
let me through i said you can wait your turn like everybody else and he didn't like that
4:12
grabbed me by the arm shoved me to one side on on the stairs and tried to push past me
4:18
um and one of my colleagues put his hand out to stop him because he was concerned that i was going
4:24
of fall down the stairs um and then you know that was it and then he ended up having to sort of fall
4:30
in line behind us and um yes now i see through to the lords one of your colleagues says that you
4:36
were quotes shoved and sent flying were you it was shoved to one side yes i i wouldn't say i was
4:45
sent flying but i was definitely shoved to to one side so that i stumbled and fell a bit because
4:51
there's obviously footage of this, there are obviously no cameras in the Commons
4:55
There's footage of this that shows this coming together. Nigel Farage is trying to get down the steps
5:00
He's trying to sort of slightly get past you in order to get to the procession which is heading towards the House of Lords
5:05
Something seems to happen and I think you might put your arm onto one of the Commons benches maybe to steady yourself that the moment you saying that there was a physical altercation so this all happened just before that that clip which i have
5:21
watched several times but yeah this happened before that and that was probably me trying to
5:26
steady myself afterwards before we went down the steps so you're saying that nigel farage pushed you
5:32
yes and most of people saw it what what is he he's saying that uh there was a physical altercation
5:40
um and he doesn't want to come back to the house of commons in order basically to avoid you he
5:44
maybe you think he thinks he's scared of you perhaps you know what i it's absolutely laughable
5:52
to think that nigel farage is scared to come into the house of commons because of me or a bunch of
5:56
Lib Dems. I mean, the whole thing, Tom, is so utterly ridiculous. A, this had nothing to do
6:03
with seating arrangements back at the King's speech. So it was completely unconnected to what
6:09
happened yesterday. And B, it was months ago. You know, the reason he wasn't in the budget speech
6:13
yesterday was probably because he couldn't be bothered to sit through Prime Minister's questions
6:18
and then sit through the budget speech in the chamber of the House of Commons, sitting four
6:23
rows back from the front amongst hundreds of other MPs. You know, he doesn't have a special
6:28
seat. He doesn't have a front row view. He's just one of hundreds of us. And, you know
6:34
that doesn't suit him. Well, reforms say that Nigel Farage has done nothing wrong. They say, I'm quoting here
6:41
it was the Lib Dem MPs, and I suspect then you, Caroline, being aggressive towards Nigel
6:47
Why are you so aggressive towards him? I wasn't aggressive towards him he was trying to push past me and he grabbed me and pushed me out
6:57
of the way and I didn't push him at all he was the one that grabbed me and pushed me out the way I
7:03
mean if anyone was being aggressive with their behavior it was him you know he's got no manners
7:06
and it was just typical of Nigel Farage that he thought he should be in front of us and that he
7:11
you know but instead of asking politely he just pushes and shoves to get through and get past you
7:17
You know, if he missed his spot in the procession, then... How are you going to put this all to bed, Caroline
7:20
How are we going to sort this out? How are we going to get through this? How are we going to make up? You know what
7:25
I never wanted this to be a big media story, which is why I never said anything about it at the time
7:30
I think it's absolutely ridiculous that Nigel Farage has blown all of this up
7:35
You know, he's the one that brought this to the attention of the media. All I did was go to the sergeant at arms
7:41
who's in charge of the chamber, and told him about it. And he wrote to Nigel and said you need to apologise to Caroline And Nigel Farage didn bother to apologise which just says everything doesn it appreciate your time thank you for coming on Caroline Voden is the Liberal
7:56
Democrat MP for South Devon who had that quote's physical altercation with Nigel Farage in the
8:02
House of Commons and immediately my mind turns to the playground the schoolyard they're just
8:10
pushing and shoving I mean it's not a great look to push and shove anyone let alone as a grown-up
8:15
in your place of work, and particularly as a man towards a woman, doesn't seem like a brilliant idea
8:19
But, oh, my God. Shall we do this? I think we should do this
8:23
because a couple of you have asked me about it. Here is Nigel Farage offering up a version of events
8:28
to explain his absence from the Chamber yesterday during the budget. I would remind you this is a man who aspires to lead the entire country
8:37
At the state opening of Parliament, I got involved I didn't want to
8:45
but I got involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber
8:49
I didn't make a fuss about it I didn't complain but I could see
8:55
given that my prayer card had been removed I was heading towards
9:00
another physical altercation and just sometimes it's better to avoid conflict Yeah
9:05
He didn't complain first time for everything I suppose Here's what a House of Commons spokesperson has to say on this very, very subject
9:13
There are clear and long-established arrangements for members to reserve their own seats in the chamber using prayer cards displaying a valid date stamp
9:22
Today, a prayer card placed on a seat did not display a valid date stamp and was removed in line with the usual chamber protocol
9:29
So he can't even fill in a date on a piece of paper. But rather than admit that to you, he's claiming that he was somehow fearful of a physical altercation
9:40
And he's also asking you to believe that he wouldn't complain about it if he was. So there it is again
9:44
If proof were needed or further proof were needed, that when Nigel Farage tells you something, it's best to check the facts with the people who have them
9:56
Clear and long-established arrangements for members to reserve their own seats in the chamber, displaying a valid date stamp
10:02
Today, a prayer card placed on a seat did not display a valid date stamp
10:06
and was removed in line with the usual chamber protocol. Ah! Oh, God! What, really
10:12
Lock the door! Lock the door, quickly! Sorry, Eleanor just said there were some Liberal Democrat MPs in the building
10:17
and I was really worried that there might be a physical altercation. Whoa! Seriously, I'll face up to most people
10:23
but Liberal Democrat MPs, especially the ladies, they're really, really scary. OK
