Reform UK leader Nigel Farage skipped a House of Commons immigration debate to have a two-hour lunch at a Michelin guide restaurant in London on Wednesday – before visiting gun shops
Nigel Farage enjoyed lunch at a swanky restaurant – as MPs debated immigration.
The Reform UK leader has put tackling migration at the heart of his bid to get into Number 10 but was a no show for Wednesday’s debate. Little more than a mile away, he enjoyed a two-hour lunch at a Michelin guide restaurant in St James’s, London – before visiting gun shops.
Dishes at the Indian eatery Chutney Mary include a £68 tandoori lobster or £45 chargrilled wild prawns. The Michelin guide says of the restaurant: “A certain luxury is to be expected when Buckingham Palace is just a short walk away, but there’s a relaxed, fashionable feel to the surroundings here too.”
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After lunching until about 3pm, Farage went to nearby William Evans – a gun and rifle-maker since 1883. The Clacton MP spent about 15 minutes in the store, which also stocks clothing, purchasing a £30 pair of gloves. The shop’s website boasts: “Whatever the customer’s requirements, they will be guaranteed a warm and friendly welcome, professional sporting advice, and—particularly important to our many prominent patrons—total discretion in every transaction.”
Farage then visited the firearms store, Beretta, until 3.35pm. His preferred weapon for shooting is said to be a Beretta. Farage was pictured with his entourage, including an ally known as Posh George. George Cottrell, whose mum is a Reform UK donor, served jail time in the US for wire fraud.
In September, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey accused Farage of wanting to turn the country into “Trump’s America”. He claimed the Reform UK leader would relax Britain’s gun laws – forcing schools to teach kids “what to do in case of a mass shooting”. In 2014, then UKIP leader Farage called for firearm laws to be relaxed – branding the ban on handguns “ludicrous”.
While Farage was at lunch, MPs debated the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Border Security and Asylum minister Alex Norris told the Commons: “… the Government’s new asylum policy statement sets out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and illegal migration system to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the system.
“That statement builds on the measures in the Bill, our consideration of which returns our focus to the core objectives of the Bill. This Bill will strengthen UK border security. It is part of a serious, credible plan to protect our borders that sees the Government working closely with our international partners upstream and in our near neighbourhood.”
Reform has suggested it would be prepared to deport 600,000 migrants over five years if elected at the next general election.
A spokesman for Nigel Farage said: “Since becoming an MP in July 2024, Nigel Farage has voted more times in the House of Commons than Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch put together.“