Rupert Lowe has accused Nigel Farage of “outright lying” amid speculation that Restore Britain and Reform UK could strike an electoral pact.
On Monday, Farage said he was “open-minded” about working with Lowe again and potentially reaching a deal to unite the two parties.
This was after Lowe had suggested the idea in a video shared on social media over the weekend.
When asked at a press conference if he would consider joining forces with Lowe again, a year and a half on from the Great Yarmouth MP’s acrimonious departure from Reform, Farage didn’t rule it out.
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He told reporters he reached out to Lowe asking for a phone call but did not received a reply.
Well, less than 24 hours after seemingly offering an olive branch to Farage, Lowe is now accusing him of “outright lying” about this – and has even got receipts.
In a post on X, the Restore Britain leader wrote: “I do not want to make private conversations public, but Farage has just done so at a national press conference. He just stated he said to me yesterday ‘Shall we have a call?’.
“Sadly, that is just a lie. Yesterday at 10.30 Nigel messaged me, saying the following three words. ‘Will call later’. The evidence is below. I have received no call. Senior Reform figures then went public to rubbish my offer.”
Lowe shared a screenshot of the alleged message as well.
“Yesterday’s offer was not one I wanted to make, trust me,” Lowe wrote.
“I don’t particularly enjoy trying to work with people who attempted to put me in prison on false allegations. My house was raided by armed police because of them. I was willing, and still am, to put that aside to cooperate in order to save the country we all love.”
After laying out the five conditions Reform would need to guarantee for Restore to consider a deal, Lowe continued: “The offer remains open to Nigel and Reform. Although outright lying about our private conversations does not help that.
“For Restore Britain, it will always be country before party – ahead of any personal differences or past disagreements we have.”
Farage has not yet publicly responded to Lowe’s comments.