𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Liberal Democrat MP who Nigel Farage claimed had left him fearful of attending the Budget after an earlier “altercation” has broken her silence. Speaking to the Daily Express, Caroline Voaden, a Devon MP, accused the Reform UK leader of “dredging up” an incident from months earlier.

Mr Farage said he did not attend John Healey’s first Budget as Labour Chancellor because the prayer card reserving his seat in the House of Commons had been removed. Mr Farage said an “altercation” took place when something similar happened at the State Opening of Parliament, so he chose not to attend. House authorities later said that the Reform chief had in fact not used the correct date stamp on his prayer card.

Now the 57-year-old Liberal Democrat has broken her silence, telling the Express that Mr Farage was “scrambling for an excuse as to why he wasn’t in the Chamber for the Budget speech”.

She added: “The truth is that on the day of the King’s Speech, Farage missed his chance to process with the other party leaders to the Lords, and rather than queue with the rest of us, he shoved me out of the way to barge past.”

Footage revealed by The Daily Telegraph appeared to show the pair getting into some sort of ruck at the State Opening. Ms Voaden added: “It’s no surprise that Reform’s leader considers himself too important to wait like everyone else, or to politely ask someone to step out of the way.

“Such behaviour is unacceptable in any workplace, and it has no place in the House of Commons. Shoving a colleague out of the way on a staircase just shows the complete disdain he has for Parliament and for other MPs.”

The former MEP asked why Mr Farage “still doesn’t understand how prayer cards work over two years after being elected”. Having worked alongside the Reform UK leader when they both served in Brussels, she said: “I’ve known Farage since our days in the European Parliament.

“It’s the same old story, he just wants to be in the limelight, in front of a camera, taking centre stage rather than actually doing the job he’s been elected to do. It’s impossible to imagine him ever being leader of the opposition, let alone prime minister – he might actually have to show up and do some work.”

Speaking at a post-Budget press conference, Mr Farage said: “I didn’t want to, but I got involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber.

“I didn’t make a fuss about it. I didn’t complain, but I could see that – given that my prayer card had been removed – I was heading towards another physical altercation.” He added that “sometimes it’s better to avoid conflict”.

A Reform spokesman denied any wrongdoing by Mr Farage and claimed the Lib Dem MPs had been the aggressive ones, while the Lib Dems dismissed this as “utter nonsense”.