According to the Guardian, Rachel Reeves was loudly insulted by a man during an interview at a petrol station in Leeds on Friday. The driver of a delivery van decorated with English flags shouted, among other things, “Keir Starmer out” and “Nigel Farage, come on.” Reeves reacted calmly but firmly: “I love our country, and one of the things about our country is good manners. Not very British.”
The Chancellor of the Exchequer was there to announce the suspension of a planned fuel duty increase. The heckler, who identified himself as a supporter of the right-wing populist Reform UK, continued his insults even after paying at the till. Reeves later joked that the man apparently hadn’t heard her fuel duty announcement.
Reeves received support from an unexpected quarter: Mel Stride defended her reaction. Stride, who sits in the shadow cabinet for the Conservative Party, thus distanced himself from the tone of the Reform UK supporter. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, however, said he would like to buy the man a pint.
The incident underscores the increasingly aggressive political mood in Britain. Reform UK, the party of Brexit activist Nigel Farage, has recently gained significantly in polls and is now level with the Conservatives. The party relies on a hard anti-establishment rhetoric and primarily attacks the Labour government under Keir Starmer.
Source: www.theguardian.com
