Nigel Farage has questioned whether politicians should attend the Remembrance service at the Cenotaph – as he prepares to make his debut at the event on Sunday. In a thinly veiled dig at Liz Truss , who is entitled to lay a wreath despite spending only 49 days in Downing Street , Mr Farage said 'there are questions to be asked about whether politicians should be present at the Cenotaph, what with those 148 ex-prime ministers turning up'.
But the Reform UK leader added: 'Of course, I am honoured to be there.' He was speaking at a screening of a 40-minute film, We Will Remember Them, which follows Mr Farage on a visit to First World War battlefields in France . It shows him becoming emotional as he reflects on the sacrifices made by the fallen and the importance of maintaining the traditions of Remembrance. Mr Farage qualifies to appear at the Cenotaph under a 1984 protocol that dictates a Westminster political party must have at least six MPs to have the right to lay a wreath.
The Reform UK leader questioned whether politicians should attend the Remembrance service at the Cenotaph – as he prepared to make his debut at the event on Sunday Farage appeared to take aim at former Tory PM Liz Truss (pictured attending the Cenotaph Remembrance parade alongside other prime ministers in 2024) Reform has grown from five MPs in November last year after high-profile defections from the Conservatives. His re-election as MP for Clacton in a by-election he triggered earlier this year to try to halt a growing media clamour over Reform UK's finances means the party's Commons contingent now stands at eight.
It has been a long-standing ambition of Mr Farage to join the Prime Minister, his predecessors and other leaders at the ceremony as a symbol of his breakthrough into the political mainstream. He leads tours of First World War battlefields with friends, colleagues and politicians, whom he calls 'Farage's Foragers'.
The Daily Mail headline turns Nigel Farage's question about whether politicians should be at the Cenotaph into a flat statement that they should not be there. The Mail also states as fact that the remark was a dig at Liz Truss, though its own caption only says he appeared to take aim at her, and it gives an unsourced motive for his Clacton by-election.
Headline goes beyond the article
Serious
“says politicians should not be at the Cenotaph”
Why this matters
The headline has Farage saying flatly that politicians should not be at the Cenotaph.
The impression it gives
A reader believes Farage made a clear call for politicians to stay away from the Cenotaph, while planning to go himself.
The context
The body only quotes him saying there are 'questions to be asked about whether' politicians should be present, in a joke about ex-prime ministers. He immediately adds that he is honoured to attend. The article never quotes him saying politicians should not be there.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“there are questions to be asked about whether politicians should be present at the Cenotaph”
Elsewhere in the article“Of course, I am honoured to be there.”
The Mail states as fact that Farage's remark was aimed at Liz Truss.
The impression it gives
A reader believes Farage was targeting Truss by name.
The context
Farage's quoted words mention '148 ex-prime ministers' and do not name Truss. The Mail's own caption later hedges, saying he only 'appeared to take aim' at her.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“Farage appeared to take aim at former Tory PM Liz Truss”