Yvette Cooper has criticised Reform UK for attacking the way police handled protests outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, insisting that officers deserve support for protecting public safety.
The home secretary defended Essex Police after Nigel Farage called for the resignation of the force’s chief constable, Ben-Julian Harrington.
Farage made the demand after officers escorted anti-fascist demonstrators through a crowd of anti-migrant protesters outside the Bell hotel in Epping.
Cooper told the Guardian: “The police do a really important job across our country keeping people safe. It is really important frankly that people support our police rather than just attacking them continually.
“As we have seen, Reform is one day calling for chief constables to resign, the next it is attacking women police officers who are out on our streets every single day of the week.”
Farage has repeatedly criticised the presence of asylum seekers at the Epping hotel and accused police of favouring left-wing activists.
Earlier this week, he said: “Hard-left groups, Stand Up to Racism and Antifa, were given the red carpet treatment by Essex police, with the force literally escorting and bussing masked thugs to and from the protest. They have been caught red-handed helping to light the fuse that led to violence.”
Chief Constable Harrington rejected the allegations. Instead, he called Reform’s claims “categorically wrong,” adding officers had placed a cordon around protesters to enable them to exercise their right to protest peacefully.
As per the Times, the far-right Homeland group has played a major role in organising the protests, running the “Epping Says No!” Facebook page that has driven much of the activity.
Individuals affiliated with other far-right groups, such as Patriotic Alternative and White Vanguard, have also taken part, the newspaper reports.
While mainstream political figures have largely kept their distance from the protests, two Reform UK councillors were present outside the Bell hotel last week.
One of them said: “They’re trying to dilute the Englishness out of us.”