Robert Jenrick slaps down 'ludicrous' Nigel Farage jibe by Labour MP on GB News: 'He's showing leadership!'

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been fiercely defended by Robert Jenrick, as he hit out at Lucy Rigby's "ludicrous" remarks on GB News.

Speaking to the People's Channel, the Reform UK Treasury Spokesman scolded the Labour MP after claiming that Mr Farage is "inciting violence" with his response to the death of Henry Nowak.

Appearing on GB News Breakfast, Ms Rigby said: "I think responding in the way that the Prime Minister has and the policing minister, asking those serious questions but respecting the wishes of Henry's family, which were, of course, to not exploit his death to further create tensions, that is the right response.

"The response that we had, unfortunately, from the leader of Reform, Nigel Farage, was to stoke anger division, effectively incite violence against some of our brave police officers."

Reacting to the comments, Mr Jenrick said he was "stunned" by the accusation.

He told GB News: "I was absolutely stunned by those ludicrous comments. What Nigel is doing is showing leadership.

"What you want from a Prime Minister or someone who is aspiring to lead this country is not platitudes or warm words. That's not the job of leaders of this country."

Mr Jenrick argued that Reform UK is "offering an answer" to ensure something similar to the case of Henry Nowak "doesn't happen again".

He declared: "We must bring forward practical solutions to change this so that never again do we see a video like that of a young lad lying on the street, dying in the most appalling, degrading way, being treated disgracefully by police officers.

"What Reform is offering is an answer to ensure this does not happen again. We said that we're going to bring forward an Equal Treatment Act, whereby everyone is treated the same by the police, irrespective of the colour of their skin."

Expressing his outrage at a new report which revealed that many officers of Hampshire Police were "pressured" by diversity training, Mr Jenrick asserted: "Enough is enough."

He told GB News: "They felt they were pressurised into treating people differently. Well, enough is enough, that cannot continue, and we are proposing a very simple and very British piece of legislation that says everyone should be treated the same by the police officers of this country, irrespective of their colour of their skin, and that should be something that everyone gets behind.

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"I am stunned that Lucy Rigby is throwing around these absurd accusations, rather than getting to the heart of the issue and calling for change. That is the best thing that we can do to honor Henry Nowak and his family and ensure this doesn't happen again."

Questioned by host Stephen Dixon on whether Reform would "work with the Tories" on drawing up such legislation that they propose, Mr Jenrick agreed that all parties should be "working together".

Critising the Tories, Mr Jenrick said: "We should all be working together on this, and it's not Nigel Farage or Reform that has thrown around these accusations of division or partisan politics, it's the other parties.

"Kemi Badenoch literally went on the telly the other day and made an unprovoked attack on Nigel Farage merely because he had said that white lives matter, too."

Pressed by Stephen on how Reform would pursue such legislation "without this becoming a divisive issue", Mr Jenrick assured there is "nothing that Nigel Farage has done which has encouraged division".

He concluded: "He has simply shown leadership in setting out the course of action that now needs to be taken to make sure that we fix this problem and treat everybody equally before the law.

"That, to my mind, is the best service that we as politicians, as leaders of this country can do for Henry Novak's family. And to honour him is to make sure that we never again see a young lad treated in that appalling fashion."

In a statement, a spokesman for the Independent Office for Police Conduct said: "As part of our ongoing investigation, we are reviewing a large amount of police body-worn footage which we need to consider the context with other evidence that we've obtained, including review material presented during the murder trial as we establish the full circumstances.

"The officers involved are currently being treated as witnesses, however, as with all investigations, this is kept under review throughout."