{"id":598474,"date":"2026-05-22T18:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/598474\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:53:08","slug":"community-cafe-demands-apology-from-farage-for-intimidating-uninvited-visit-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/598474\/","title":{"rendered":"Community cafe demands apology from Farage for \u2018intimidating\u2019 uninvited visit | Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

The founder of a community group has asked Nigel Farage to apologise after the Reform UK<\/a> leader and his entourage entered its cafe unannounced in what she said was an \u201cintimidating and overwhelming\u201d manner, and allegedly took photographs and videos without permission.<\/p>\n

Farage was campaigning in Makerfield when he and his team stopped at a cafe run by the Hamlet Wigan CIC for a cup of tea and to use the toilets. The cafe supports young adult trainees with additional needs.<\/p>\n

At the time, the cafe was holding a celebration for a dozen trainees who had attained their gold Duke of Edinburgh award. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who is running to be the MP for Makerfield, was present as a longtime supporter. In 2023, he gave a speech<\/a> at the opening of its new buildings and said the Hamlet refers to him as \u201cone of the family\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gemma Crompton, the director of the Hamlet, wrote to Farage saying: \u201cWhile we have absolutely no issue with individuals from any political background visiting the Hamlet, the unannounced arrival of your campaign team, accompanied by a large entourage, security presence, and media crews, created an atmosphere that many of our trainees, families, staff and customers found intimidating and overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crompton wrote: \u201cWe are therefore requesting a formal apology regarding the way today\u2019s visit was handled, alongside assurances that no other organisation supporting vulnerable people within the borough will experience a similar situation in future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reform MP Lee Anderson was part of Farage\u2019s group and said they had visited the venue spontaneously for a \u201ccuppa\u201d and to use the toilet.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI am confused as to why the lady sent the letter, as she sat with us talking to us all about the cafe and the challenges it faces. She then asked for a selfie with Rob and Nigel and thanked us for the visit. We then left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnham had been accused of a \u201cspiky\u201d response to a Daily Mail journalist who was part of Farage\u2019s entourage. The Mail report said Burnham \u201cfumed\u201d when approached in the cafe, saying: \u201cYou don\u2019t go into a place like that unannounced. You\u2019re out of order there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnham has supported the Hamlet during his time as mayor, and there is a photograph of him on the homepage of the Hamlet\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

However, Crompton said: \u201cAt no point was today intended to be a political event or a platform for campaigning.\u201d She added: \u201cWe do not want to be drawn into political campaigning or political division of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Anderson\u2019s response to her letter, Crompton filmed a video from outside Buckingham Palace, where she and the trainees had been celebrating the Duke of Edinburgh awards.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cAndy turned up with no political agenda. He turned up on his own, with no cameras, no media crew with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Reform, she added: \u201cIt was very overwhelming and a big party of a minimum of 15 people did come, walked into the cafe and started filming and taking pictures straight away. There was no consent given for using the Hamlet as a political environment and I don\u2019t condone that at all. I asked for no pictures and media to be taken, once I knew they\u2019d already started. When I turned away they continued to take pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnham said: \u201cThey were all out of order and, if they had any decency, would now hold their hands up and apologise.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to Crompton\u2019s letter, Reform UK said: \u201cThis was a completely ad hoc and non-political visit, and both appreciated the opportunity to meet with you, learn more about the organisation, and hear about the important work you carry out.\u201d<\/p>\n

They claimed staff \u201ctook selfies\u201d with Farage and the party\u2019s candidate, Robert Kenyon, and denied that wider photography or filming had taken place. The party also said a number of young adults at the cafe had spoken to Farage and \u201cshook his hand\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reform added: \u201cWe must admit that the tone and nature of your letter unfortunately gives rise to the impression that it is politically influenced, unlike our visit, which was made in good faith and without political motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The founder of a community group has asked Nigel Farage to apologise after the Reform UK leader and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-598474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}