A former MEP who has written books on topics as diverse as Bigfoot, Jack the Ripper and the aliens of Area 51 has been announced as the latest recruit to Reform UK.
Rupert Matthews is the author of more than 170 books, according to his page on Amazon – though his specialist subjects are history and the paranormal.
Among his most popular works are ‘Sasquatch: North America’s Enduring Mystery’, ‘Alien Encounters: Extraordinary Tales of Strange Phenomena’, and ‘Haunted York’.
This morning, he was unveiled as the latest defection from the Conservatives to Reform in a press conference hosted by Nigel Farage.
As the serving police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland, Matthews becomes the first Reform figure to serve in that role.
He told the press event he was aiming to remove a ‘dark heart of wokeness’ from the criminal justice system and accused British politicians of taking inspiration from ‘countries like Lebanon and Libya’.
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Matthews said: ‘I daily face a fight against crime.
‘I see ordinary, hard-working people burgled, robbed and mugged. Shoplifting is getting out of control. Anti-social behaviour is turning too many of our town centres into an apocalyptic wasteland of lawless Britain.’
He has served in his current position since 2021, and had a seat in the European Parliament for the Tories before that.
Matthews told the event he had been a member of the Conservatives for 40 years.
In 2011, the long-time Eurosceptic suggested the European Commission could technically send military force into the UK against the British government’s wishes.
In an interview at the Conservative Party Conference, he said: ‘Were there to be massive riots in London, or there were to be all sorts of problems, they could go to the German government and say, “Please send us a Panzer division.”
“If the German government said yes, then the European Commission could send that Panzer division to London and there’s nothing the British government could do about it.’
A spokesperson for No 10 said: ‘Their big defection is very interested in the fantastical and the unexplained.
‘It’s no surprise who’s added Reform’s fiscal plans to that list.’
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At today’s event, Farage also announced Vanessa Frake-Harris – the former prison governor of Wormwood Scrubs – as a member of its law and order taskforce.
She said: ‘Our prisons are in a crisis caused by Labour and the Conservatives. What have their solutions been? They have let out 10,000 prisoners out of jail early.
‘To let criminals out of jail before they even serve their full sentence is a disgrace.’
Both new recruits were announced as part of a weeks-long series of events focusing on crime and justice organised by Reform over parliamentary recess.
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