Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick today raged at ‘two-tier policing’ after no further action was taken over a T-shirt depicting a guillotine and ‘plans’ for Nigel Farage’s death.
Both the Metropolitan Police and Avon and Somerset Police have said they will no longer be investigating the matter despite a furious political row.
Mr Farage had called for Green Party leader Zack Polanski to be arrested after he shared an image of a man wearing the T-shirt on social media.
The T-shirt depicts a cartoon guillotine with the words: ‘We’re only making plans for Nigel’, lyrics from the 1979 song by English rock band XTC.
The post was shared to Mr Polanski’s official Instagram account, where he has more than 700,000 followers, but was later deleted.
Reform said on Monday it had reported Mr Polanski to police, but Scotland Yard on Wednesday night said officers had reviewed the reports and decided no further action would be taken in relation to the sharing of the image online.
The Met Police did determine that a crime should be recorded in relation to the wearing of the T-shirt and, because the event where that occurred took place in Bristol, the crime report was transferred to Avon and Somerset Police,
However, Avon and Somerset Police said the threshold for a criminal offence had not been met and no further action will be taken.
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick raged at ‘two-tier policing’ after no further action was taken over a T-shirt depicting a guillotine and ‘plans’ for Nigel Farage’s death
Mr Farage had called for Zack Polanski to be arrested after the Green Party leader shared a photograph of a man wearing a T-shirt ‘planning his decapitation’
Asked at a press conference on Thursday what action he had expected police to take over the T-shirt, Mr Jenrick told reporters: ‘It’s not for me to tell the police how to do their jobs.
‘But we’ve seen numerous examples of people who have had a knock on the door from the police, who’ve been arrested, who have even been prosecuted for what they said on social media.
‘It does seem curious that in this case the police have chosen not to take action. We’ll see whether they take action against the individual who posted the original tweet, who wore the T-shirt.
‘I’m hearing today that the police may have closed that investigation as well. If that is the case, then that does look like two-tier policing to me.’
Mr Jenrick noted it was just a few weeks since the suspected murder of Ann Widdecombe, a former Tory minister who was later a Reform UK spokesman.
‘Remember the context here. Just a few weeks from the murder of one of our colleagues,’ he added.
‘You have a man in Nigel Farage who’s been subject to 600 threats in recent times, many of them credible, serious threats.
‘Where a man has been arrested for threatening to kill him in recent weeks, where a man is serving in prison – an illegal migrant – for literally coming into this country for the express purpose of killing Nigel Farage.
‘And, in those circumstances, the police are saying that it doesn’t warrant further investigation for somebody to wear a T-shirt emblazoned with a guillotine dripping in blood, saying it’s preparing for the death of Nigel Farage,
‘That I find astonishing and unacceptable.’
The Met Police highlighted how an Instagram post including the image of the T-shirt has since been shared – whether by collaboration, reposting or sharing – by around 130 accounts.
In a statement on Wednesday, the force said: ‘We must not treat individuals differently solely because of their public profile.
‘And therefore any investigation would need to have considered not just the actions of the individual named in the reports, but of all 130-plus people and organisations.
‘Given it is unlikely their actions would have ultimately constituted an offence, such an extensive investigation was deemed to be disproportionate and not a reasonable use of police resources.
‘Accordingly, no further action will be taken in relation to the sharing of the image online.’
The Met Police also noted the image of the T-shirt was the 18th photo in a post containing a total of 20 photos, while pointing to how Mr Polanski had suggested he not seen the specific image in question and later deleted the entire post.
A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: ‘We absolutely understand the reaction to this image being shared online, particularly in the context of increasing threats towards politicians.
‘We take the safety and security of those in public life, including politicians, very seriously. Where we identify threats we take appropriate action and where there is evidence of offences we will investigate.
‘While there will be people who will argue that those who shared the image in this Instagram post should be subject to criminal action, our review has concluded that on this occasion, the threshold is not met.
‘We have spoken with those impacted to explain that decision making and to provide reassurance around our ongoing commitment to their security and the additional support available.’
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: ‘We have carefully considered the available evidence in relation to a photograph taken at a political event in Bristol and subsequently shared on social media as part of a gallery of 20 images.
‘Particular consideration has been given to the context around the image; its use of song lyrics, and the marketing of the T-shirt as a satirical piece.
‘No complaints were received from people at the event at which it was worn and there is no evidence the wearer of the T-shirt intended to threaten any individual, or encourage anyone else to do so.
‘As a result, a senior detective has determined that the threshold for a criminal offence has not been met and no further action will be taken.
‘The safety of elected politicians is something we take extremely seriously and we continue to take action wherever a threat is identified. The affected parties have been updated of our decision.’
Mr Polanski refused to apologise when he faced questions about the image during an appearance on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday.
He said the post contained 20 images and he ‘just didn’t look carefully enough’, adding: ‘If I’d done it deliberately, I’d be apologising. But because this was a mistake, I think the important thing is that I point out it’s a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence, and also crucially, I make a commitment to be better on my social media.’
A Green Party spokesperson said: ‘The police have examined the evidence and concluded that no crime was committed.’
They added ‘this was obvious from the start’ and claimed Reform was ‘always using this as a political football for their own cynical purposes to distract from questions’ about how Mr Farage’s party is funded.
