Nigel Farage is flanked by safety guards hours after assault on bus

Nigel Farage was flanked by security guards as he gave an election rally speech to 450 loyal supporters tonight and insisted: ‘I will not surrender. I will not give in to the mob.’ 

The Reform UK leader made his pledge as he addressed cheering fans at the Victory Bar on Great Yarmouth racecourse, telling them: ‘I will not stop campaigning.’

But while insisting that he wanted to carry on ‘meeting the great British public’, he admitted he might have to change electioneering tactics to cut down on the risk of future attacks.

Farage’s security detail was very much evidence at the rally after he had wet cement thrown at him when he was on his open-top bus on Tuesday morning in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

The attack came just a week after he had a McDonald’s milkshake thrown over him as he left a Wetherspoon’s pub in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, shortly after launching his campaign to stand for election in the town.

As he spoke to his adoring audience seated in front of him in the bar at the Great Yarmouth racecourse, he had two security guards standing discreetly just a few yards away from him, either side of the room.

The pair stared stony-faced at the audience watching for any signs of someone launching an attack on Farage, although the likelihood of it happened seemed almost non-existent because the crowd loved him so much.

A third guard who doubled as his driver was also in evidence at the early evening event.

At least two other guards stood outside the venue, although it was not known if they worked for Farage or the racecourse.

Farage arrived in a 160mph helicopter just before 5.30pm, around 90 minutes before he began addressing his supporters.

The same dark grey coloured Airbus Eurocopter EC-135 had earlier taken him on his whistle stop tour up from London to Barnsley and then Ashford, Nottinghamshire.

The helicopter landed on the racecourse around 800m from where he gave his speech, and later took off again apparently to refuel in Norwich.

Farage entered the Victory Bar to cheers and chants of, ‘Come on Nigel’ and ‘We need you Nigel’ from his crowd of loyal supporters.

After giving his speech and taking questions from the audience, he left by a side entrance and quickly walked to his Range Rover with darkened windows which was parked just a few yards away.

He was then taken back to his helicopter which flew him back to London.

Speaking before his rally, Farage described how he was forced to duck as the cement was hurled at him in a coffee cup in Barnsley.

He said: ‘I could see something coming. Something felt wrong and I was literally just on my way down the stairs when he started throwing things at me.

‘It wasn’t the only object thrown. There were some stones thrown as well. Look, this is the second time, that something has happened when I have been going out meeting the great British public

‘I have no problem with people shouting abuse at me, loving me or not loving me. That is old style political campaigning.

‘But when the threat becomes one of violence, it is something else. I was told by South Yorkshire Police that I should not get off the bus in central Barnsley because they feared violence.

‘Frankly, if I had, I would be in hospital now, and that is what we are dealing with. We are dealing with an extremist, violent left wing mob who are determined to shut down debate and shut down conversation.’

‘I am annoyed and I am frustrated, but whilst I might change tactics, I will not surrender to the mob.

‘Obviously the worry is that it could get more extreme. It starts off with milk shakes, then it’s cement and rocks. But what next?

‘This cannot be right. I think people like this should get prison sentences, genuinely I do. Otherwise what happens to our democracy?

‘Here we are, a week after the D Day commemorations. What was that about? It was about that we can agree to disagree, and certainly through the ballot box and not through violence.’

He admitted possibly having to change tactics when on the electioneering trail but when asked if he wanted to continue meeting members of the public, he laughed and said: ‘I am not telling you that – but I may do things differently.’

When asked how much security, he currently had, he said: ‘A lot, a lot, a lot. I have got drivers, security guys, people who go ahead. It is a big security operation I’m afraid. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it is. And you can see why.’

Talking of his suit after it was soaked in the milkshake attack in Clacton, he added: ‘It is still with the dry cleaners. I don’t think it is ruined.’

Discussing the attacks on him, he told his fans at the rally: ‘I genuinely believe that our democratic process is directly under threat.

‘What happened to me in Clacton last week when a young woman threw a milkshake in my face and then the mob violence we saw in Barnsley today is an attempt to stop me speaking. It is an attempt to crush democracy. It is worrying.

‘It is frightening and it is noticeable that most people there today were young men and women either at or freshly out of our university system. Their minds are being poisoned in school and in university, and it is plain wrong.

‘For me this is very difficult because I like meeting people. I’m perfectly happy for you to disagree with me. You can call me rude names.

‘If you think about it what we commemorated, those last remnants of that generation which took part in D Day last week, or some of us commemorated while others went home early. If that wasn’t for the right for us to degree to disagree, verbally, but not physically, then I don’t know what it was.

‘All I say is that whilst it is concerning and whilst of course it does make me thoughtful, I may need to change tactics slightly, but I make one promise to you, and the tens of thousands of watching this live online. My promise is this ‘I will not surrender to the mob. I will not stop campaigning.’

Farage was met with ecstatic cheers as he outlined Reform UK’s policies, saying that they deserved to be the party of opposition to a future Labour Government.