Lib Dem MP Caroline Voaden accuses Nigel Farage of shoving her in parliament

Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden has accused Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of grabbing her by the arm and pushing her aside at the state opening of parliament in May, an incident his party denies.

Voaden gave her account to the Guardian after Farage said on Wednesday that a "physical altercation" in parliament had led him to avoid the budget.

She said Farage was trying to leave the Commons chamber and, instead of simply asking to pass, told her "Let me past". She said she replied that he could wait his turn. "He grabbed me by the arm or the shoulder, pushed me to one side and tried to push past me," she said, adding that a colleague stepped in because he thought she was going to fall down the stairs.

Voaden described the action as deliberate and said she was left "really taken aback and really angry", arguing that such behaviour would be unacceptable in any workplace, let alone the chamber of the House of Commons.

She said she complained to the serjeant at arms, who she believed had written to Farage asking him to apologise, and also raised the matter with the speaker. "Nothing ever came of it," she said.

The male Lib Dem MP who intervened is understood to be Max Wilkinson. Sources said he put a hand on Farage's shoulder, grabbed him "fairly gently" and told him he could not do that to another MP.

Denials and a disputed video

A Reform UK source said the account was "not true at all", saying instead that Lib Dem MPs had been aggressive towards Farage and describing the allegation as "typical Lib Dem dishonesty".

Reform sources also suggested a Commons video showed Voaden's account was wrong, while the Lib Dems said the incident took place before the footage started.

Farage said he skipped John Healey's budget speech in the Commons on Wednesday because his seat reservation had been moved, and that he decided to give it a "wide berth" in order to "avoid conflict" in the chamber. It later emerged his reservation had been removed by Commons staff because it did not have the proper date stamp.

Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, told Sky News on Thursday that her understanding was that a female Lib Dem MP had been physically shoved out of the way and that a male colleague had then challenged Farage. She said she had not witnessed the incident, which happened several months ago, and criticised Reform UK over the treatment of female journalists and members at its conference.

Voaden later posted on social media that Farage knew the claim was not true and that she was still waiting for the apology she said he had been required to write.

Asked about the accusations, Reform's shadow chancellor, Robert Jenrick, said he was "sick to death of these pathetic Westminster debates" and was not interested in responding to "the nonsense that Daisy Cooper is talking about".

Source: The Guardian.