Cheltenham Liberal Democrat MP Home Affairs Spokesman Big Tent Liberalism “Worse than Switzerland” - Quentin Letts Casework: [email protected]
Cheltenham
Joined October 2010
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I was a witness to the incident between Farage and
@CarolineVoaden
(his pathetic excuse for not attending the budget yesterday).
For the avoidance of doubt and for the information of everyone making all sorts of silly statements: the incident happened BEFORE this footage.
Exclusive:
Nigel Farage's "physical altercation" during the State Opening of Parliament was with the Lib Dem MP Caroline Voaden - and has caused an major row between Reform and the Lib Dems.
Lib Dem sources say Voaden was left "shocked and shaken" after he "shoved" her to secure a place in the procession of MPs to the King's Speech.
Video from the Commons Chamber that day shows Farage and Voaden making their way down from their benches together.
Voaden reported the incident to the Serjeant at Arms and says Farage was asked to apologise - but hasn't.
A Reform spokesman denies any wrongdoing by Farage, saying "it was the Lib Dem MPs being aggressive towards Nigel". Lib Dems say that is "utter nonsense"
Farage said yesterday that the "physical altercation" was the reason he didn't put up a fight to be in the Chamber for the Budget after his prayer card to save a space was removed.
He said he thought that after the row with Voaden, it was "better to avoid conflict".
But in a further twist, a Commons spokesman says Farage's card was only removed because it didn't have a date stamp, which are required to reserve a spot.
Top work by @hope_sapphire here:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…
The budget was another missed opportunity.
Despite the “change and hope” rhetoric, it’s clear the PM is still hamstrung by out-of-date positions - most notably on Europe.
More detail from Daisy ⬇️
Labour is all over the place on immigration, Brexit and the EU.
The Home Sec and the PM are clearly not on the same page, as evidenced by her responses to me in the House of Commons earlier today.
That’s before we consider the wider splits in Labour on ILR and FOM…
🚨 Shabana Mahmood appears to dispute Brexit’s role in small boats crisis
The home secretary told MPs and @mpmwilko:
- EU asylum pact is not “the silver bullet”
- “Everyone wants to remove people from their countries, but nobody actually wants to receive them”
- “In the last five years of [Dublin agreement], we did not deport as many people as we managed to do under the agreement that we had with France”
- Hours earlier, Andy Burnham said the crisis arose because “we can’t return people... in the same way that we used to be able to.”
- In February 2026, Mahmood told @CommonsHomeAffs: “Is Brexit responsible for the boats? I do not think that is true.”
@Politics_co_uk
politics.co.uk/2026/10/shaba…
The only thing stopping the PM having an honest discussion is Labour’s EU red lines.
Removing them will get our economy growing and give us the chance to join the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
That’s how we create a controlled, fair and safe asylum system.
Max Wilkinson MP retweeted
Kemi Badenoch wants to take Britain out of the ECHR … but her own MPs don’t even back her 🤷
@mpmwilko
Politicians must accept the scrutiny of independent journalists.
It is a disgrace that Reform is instead trying to have them jailed.
STATEMENT:
Reform UK has reported ITV, its board, and its undercover reporters to the police.
Some of the crimes carry up to 10 years in prison.
They forged a passport.
They directly interfered in elections and almost certainly altered the results. Being paid to “canvass” for Reform in crucial wards we lost by a few dozen votes.
They lied to a veteran about their service and left him “violated”.
This is unprecedented.
The police are now involved.
Scrutiny of political parties is one thing.
But anyone breaking the law to try and ruin the lives of Reform’s staff, members or volunteers will be reported to the police and pursued relentlessly in the courts.
Here’s what happened 👇
Looks like a fascinating title. Unlike Liz, I’m not one for rash financial decisions, so I’ll wait until it’s in the local Oxfam to buy a copy - probably well within 49 days…
And then I’ll give it to @griffitha, who we know is a big fan.
I’m sorry to read that Richard Tice’s commute to Parliament from Dubai is proving so difficult.
British Airways is an embarrassing disgrace of an airline @British_Airways
Routinely selling many more tickets than seats, putting lots of passengers on standby who bought tickets months ago, a woeful customer attitude of ‘shrug shrug, not my job’ 🤷♂️
Then not sending the luggage of standby passengers: one case may arrive on next flight an hour later, 1 case shrug shrug wait until tomorrow afternoon when it may or may not arrive 🤷♂️
Britain is Broken
Kemi Badenoch says anyone who wants to stand as a Conservative candidate at the next election must support her plan to withdraw from the ECHR.
Last week, a number of her MPs didn’t vote for her flagship policy.
Will she withdraw the whip?
The reason we can’t go through the faster border route is because of the Brexit that is as negotiated when you were an MP - not me.
And as a kicker, you were a minister too.
Maybe you should have done a better job.
If only someone had warned the Conservatives that this might happen! And the weird thing is that they’re now doubling down by:
- telling us nothing can be done about it
AND
- giving us Brexit 2.0 by leaving the ECHR
The Tories say they’ve changed, but they’ve learned nothing.
Munich @MUC airport right now.
This is the queue to *leave* the country - ridiculous!
Despite Germany’s promise in the Kensington Treaty for eGate access for Brits from August 2025.
It was easier to get into the GDR!
It’s true: by arguing that the UK must leave the ECHR, the Tories and Reform are offering a false prospectus.
What they won’t tell you is that they plan to rob British people of our hard-won rights at an unstable time when we need those rights more than ever.
Max Wilkinson calls leaving the ECHR a false fix for the asylum system and blames the Conservatives for breaking it.
@mpmwilko (@LibDems, Cheltenham)
House of Commons, 14 October 2026
#Cheltenham #UK #ParliamentConnect #ECHR #AsylumSystem #ConservativeRecord
Max Wilkinson MP retweeted
“I think he is the most successful leader we’ve had in 100 years.”
Lib Dem MP Dr Mike Martin says he has “100% confidence” in Sir Ed Davey’s leadership amid recent resignations.
#Newsnight
Farage won’t take responsibility
Nigel Farage is STILL in denial about the damage he has done to our country.
@mpmwilko
Max Wilkinson MP retweeted
Tackling crime starts with safer communities.
Taxing tech giants more could raise £1bn to fight online crime, freeing up police to patrol our streets.
That's why the Lib Dems are calling for more youth services to prevent crime before it starts.
@mpmwilko
We are on roughly the same poll rating we were in 2024. That puts us in a good position to hold what we have and look to build.
The Tories are DOWN in the polls and on course to go backwards.
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