Nigel Farage says he skipped Budget to avoid 'physical altercation'

Nigel Farage chose not to attend John Healey’s Budget speech in the Commons to prevent a possible "physical altercation", the Reform UK leader has claimed.

According to Mr Farage, his prayer card - which MPs place on seats to reserve them in the chamber - had been removed on Wednesday. He noted that he had already experienced a confrontation with a fellow MP during the state opening of Parliament on 13 May.

Speaking at a Westminster press conference following the address, he explained his absence as the Chancellor spoke.

"At the state opening of Parliament, I got involved… I didn’t want to… but I got involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber,” Farage said.

"I didn’t make a fuss about it, I didn’t complain, but I could see given that my prayer card had been removed, I was heading towards another physical altercation. Just sometimes it’s better to avoid conflict. That’s one reason.

"Second reason is actually I sat going through the Budget with our team of economists in the office, so I actually had the time to go through it line by line."

He added: "So, it was actually more useful for me to sit in the office with a team of economists around me. But I was going to go to PMQs, but I could see potential conflict."

Joking that he is a "very quiet, shy, modest kind of person", Mr Farage said he opted "to give it a wide berth". Comparing the environment to "being at school", he remarked: "It’s pathetic."

During the Wednesday afternoon briefing, both Mr Farage and party Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick launched strong criticisms of the financial plans.

Mr Jenrick said: "This was a do-nothing Budget. It was a nothingburger. It was a Budget that could and should have responded to a crisis in our country.

"Britain is broke and British people feel broken right now, and this is the best the Chancellor could deliver."

On a proposed £100 payment intended to help households with energy costs, Mr Jenrick added: "£100 once is not an answer to this problem."

Mr Farage characterised the statement as "a retail Budget aimed at an early general election", saying: "It doesn’t overall do very much, but it attempts to please a very large number of people."

Though he praised Mr Healey’s delivery at the despatch box as "assured" and "competent at every level"—adding it was "in a different league" to previous budgets under Rachel Reeves—he warned of hidden consequences.

"Some clever little measures, that each look popular in their own right. But, behind it, a very deeply cynical agenda aimed at a general election and hiding the truth from everybody that they are all going to get poorer in every single year of the Labour Government."

The Clacton MP also admitted he was "shocked" by the extent of additional support allocated for Ukraine, stating: "I don’t mind a reasonable sum of money being spent on defence of Ukraine.

"I’m more worried about Putin now than I’ve been at any point since the war started, worried about his rationality.

"But I really am concerned as to whether the money is going to get used properly and spent well."