Nigel Farage may have a lot on his plate this week, after some of his Reform councillors were filmed by an ITV undercover reporter using violent racist and sexist language, prompting criticism of his party’s vetting procedures. But it seems he’s still found time to pontificate about bike theft in London.
Footage was recently shared on social media of two apparent thieves stealing a bike in Shoreditch on Sunday, the cap-wearing criminals using an angle grinder to break through the bike’s lock before rather clumsily riding away on it, as passers-by looked on.
Such brazen bike theft attempts are a worryingly regular sight on the UK’s streets. Last month, members of the public were praised for their role in halting a bike thief on a busy street in the City of London, after two passers-by tackled the criminal, enabling police officers to catch and arrest him.
The thief, Christopher Forrester, was jailed in August after pleading guilty to the theft of a bicycle and for breaching his Criminal Behaviour Order, after he attempted to evade two officers who tried to stop him cutting through the bike’s lock with an angle grinder.
In May, a man was filmed hacking at a bike lock with some heavy-duty bolt cutters in broad daylight on the Strand, leaving social media users baffled by the inaction of the many onlookers witnessing the apparent theft.
In contrast, last year we reported that a security guard was hailed an “absolute hero” after he got in the way of a would-be bike thief who then attacked him with an angle grinder outside a café on Holywell Lane in Shoreditch.
However, last weekend’s latest viral bike theft, also in Shoreditch, has provided Reform UK leader Farage – a politician not generally known for his support for people on bikes – with the opportunity to score some political points by lamenting the plight of “third world” bike theft in the UK.
“This shows just how far we’ve sunk into decline,” Farage wrote in a caption accompanying the clip on social media. “Shoreditch bike thieves using an angle grinder to steal a bike in BROAD DAYLIGHT.”
The Reform UK leader then called for tougher action on bike thieves, promising to implement a policy cycling campaigners have been consistently calling for in the capital.
“Only one per cent of bike theft cases ever lead to positive action in London. Thieves are free to run wild,” Farage continued.
“It’s just another example of third world decline which Reform will crack down on. We’ll ensure every case of bike theft is prosecuted and that career criminals like this go to prison.”
Earlier this year, the London Cycling Campaign branded the inaction alluded to by Farage as “shocking” as it launched a campaign to demand joined-up action on bike theft.
As part of the campaign, the LCC published a report, titled ‘Broken Locks, Broken Promises’, which highlighted “the shocking scale of cycle theft” in London and the “outcomes of inaction”. It called upon the Metropolitan Police, government, Transport for London, and the London Mayor to work together to reduce bike theft.
While the report and survey featured data on theft and attitudes towards the crime, the cycling campaign group fears the real extent of cycle theft remains unknown as the majority of riders know “the response from the Met is so poor it’s not even worth reporting”.
The LCC’s research suggested that an estimated 40,000 bikes are stolen in London each year, with only around two per cent of stolen bikes recovered. As part of the survey, 74 per cent said they or a member of their household had been the victim of cycle theft, with 79 per cent of that figure reporting the police took no action or no action beyond contacting them.
Calling the crime an “epidemic”, the LCC argued that reduced reporting of theft allows the Met to “trumpet falling cycle thefts”. However, the charity said that any reduction in reported thefts is rather the result of victims giving up on the police as a means of getting a stolen bike recovered or offenders caught.
In April, former BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones told us that the Metropolitan Police had closed their investigation into his stolen bike just 20 minutes after he reported it, because they “couldn’t pinpoint” exactly when it was stolen – even though the bike was parked directly beneath CCTV cameras.
Meanwhile in Oxford, MP Layla Moran was informed by the police that the place where her e-bike was stolen in July was a “CCTV blackspot”, despite the Liberal Democrat politician filming a number of security cameras in the area.
And while the leader of a major political party calling for a crackdown on bike theft would normally be welcomed by campaigners, cyclists may well be left scratching their heads at Farage’s public intervention, considering his past record when it comes to cycling.
Earlier this year, the Reform UK leader branded the Labour government’s plans to lower the drink drive limit in England and Wales “absolutely ridiculous and wholly unnecessary”, arguing the proposals were the work of the “Islington, north London bicycling classes” who “hate” rural Britain.
“It’s a tragedy what’s happening to pubs, it’s been going on for a very long time,” Farage said during a Reform UK press conference following the publication of the Department for Transport’s Road Safety Strategy, which aims to save thousands of lives on the UK’s roads by tackling drink driving, improving training for young motorists, introducing mandatory eye tests for drivers over 70, and targeting mobile phone use at the wheel.
“I listened to a Labour minister on the TV this morning about the new drink drive laws, basically saying if you want to have a drink, don’t drive.
“This is because we’ve got laws being designed by the Islington, north London bicycling classes. What about rural Britain? No-one cares, of course. In fact, many in Labour seem to hate rural Britain.
“But the drink drive thing is absolutely ridiculous, wholly unnecessary. We’ve been where we’ve been since 1967, it’s worked pretty effectively. If you actually look at road casualty figures, through whatever cause, we are now incredibly safe on our roads. Incredibly safe. Much safer than France, way safer than Germany.
“We’ve actually reached a level on accidents, beneath which it is impossible to go, because there will always be human error of some kind.”
> What to expect for cycling if Reform UK get into power
Of course, that wasn’t the first time that Farage or Reform had publicly taken aim at cycling and cyclists. Back in 2020, when the former Brexit Party had just rebranded as Reform, Farage announced that the party would target councils that promote cycling and walking in the following year’s local elections.
And last year, the Clacton MP derided local authorities he claimed were “on the verge of bankruptcy” for wasting “tens of millions” of pounds on “cycle lanes that no one uses”.
So, perhaps cyclists will take Farage’s newfound concerns about bike theft with a pinch of salt.
28 thoughts on “Nigel Farage claims every bike theft will be prosecuted under Reform UK – months after ridiculing “north London cycling classes””
I guess a Reform govt could achieve their twin objectives by banning bicycles entirely, and then also not need to stump up the cash for additional prison places.
@slc alas I think you have it.
I’m not well informed on their policies (which still seem to be under development). But the ones around transport appear to be “more (ICE) car, more driving, at the expense of vulnerable road users if they’re in the way.”
Policies are explicit about “stop the war on the motorist”, “drill baby drill”, and that climate change is a scam. IIRC there have been some negative outbursts about cycle infra. Plus – following the current US administration – they favour removing regulation especially from *certain* businesses *.
* That Solzhenitsyn quote (can’t quite recall exactly) about confusing good with goods applies. Although in the form of “growth” that appears in the policy of all parties.
Is this another ploy to distract the media from crypto funding sleaze and racist attitudes of many Reform UK candidates? Presumably he will claim that all bike theft is committed by small boats asylum seekers.
The “Commuters and Nigel Farage” image is giving me the ick.
I suppose one should expect race-baiting from the batrachoidal oaf but I did leave a comment on his Facebook post of this asking why it was indicative of “Third World decline” when the two miscreants are quite obviously white (and to save Nigel’s time, our Nigel that is, yes we all know there are a few majority white countries that can be economically and/or socially classed as Third World; equally we all know what Farage is implying with that language). Surprised he didn’t say “what do you expect with the population of London made up the way it is?”
Frog faced moron herder jumps on bandwagon.
It doesn’t matter which bandwagon is passing by, Farage will jump on it. Never has there been such a blatantly self-serving politician in this country, someone who will do anything, promise anything to advance his cause. His cause being the same as his hero’s (Trump) self-enrichment.
Unfortunately, there is one thing that can be cast iron guaranteed about Nigel’s promises: they’re never going to happen, and the latest polls are showing that that realisation is finally dawning on the gullible.
Looks like another cheap sound bite to try and win votes from niche sectors.
He would never offer anything like safer routes or better cycling infrastructure because he knows that would upset drivers, so finds a nice little area that effects cyclist without upsetting anyone else.
But we know that this would never actually come into being. it would get lost in the noise of all the other rhetoric surrounding immigration, youth unemployment etc etc. shameless click bait politics
This just plays to his “supporters” vision of London being a lawless no go zone (KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!) and as usual is just a vague promise (that he can’t possibly deliver) with no practical solution behind it.
Given the news (and common knowledge) that car theft is endemic and successfull prosecutions are, I assume, relatively low…
Would he plan to divert police/court resources away from car theft units to catch and prosecute bike thieves?
Or is that what he is planning to use the £72m (+£5m) donations for?
@mitsky “Or is that what he is planning to use the £72m (+£5m) donations for?”
and the £25m they were given a few months ago.
One thing Farage deserves recognition for is his ability to always look like a total wally in photographs. His face seems to have extra rubbery properties, allowing extreme gurning. This allows expressions ranging from the idiotic smirk of someone who has loudly farted during a church eulogy reading for a person they dislike (as pictured here), to a stupid wide grin resembling that of the monster on packets of Roast Beef Monster Munch.
@Mr Blackbird if you’re going after looks, then I recommend political dating.
Who can forget the distinctive “badger meets Communist bureaucrat” look of (now Baron) Norman Lamont? Or Mr. (now Baron) “something of the night” Michael Howard (perhaps being a Count would be more apt)? Or the merely remarkably egg-shaped (now Baron) Eric Pickles?
(Is the Egremont Crab Fair allowed to confer Baronetcies?)
But I believe Rory Stewart would outclass all as a gurner.
While Farage is generally correct in his vision, I’m afraid he will fall short of any promise to prosecute every bike theft.
The Met police are after all under the purview of Sadiq Khan, whose main priorities are prosecuting people for using Twitter, gaslighting everyone in the country, labelling any opponent as “far right”, and cosplaying at being a cyclist while grinding traffic to a halt throughout London.
In more lawful suburban and rural areas there’s certainly more that can be on cycling thefts, but there are higher priorities and the immediate priority should be getting more prison places available, and prisons generally under control.
I note some very disappointingly vitriolic comments on this thread, especially when considering the threats made to Farage and the far left murder of Ann Widdecombe by a man who (allegedly since the trial is ongoing) also targeted Farage.
Yet still some seem to find it appropriate to mock and deride a very real need to have a large security budget… While endorsing the publicly paid-for cost of Khan’s security entourage of bullet proof Range Rovers and body guards.
Careful not to turn around too quick there, or the beam in your eye will have someone else’s out.
Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right fanatic just one month after Khan started his first term as Mayor, and he frequently receives death threats both from the far right and militant Islamists, and yet you always find it appropriate to mock and deride his security.
@jackcycles “Yet still some seem to find it appropriate to mock and deride a very real need to have a large security budget… While endorsing the publicly paid-for cost of Khan’s security entourage of bullet proof Range Rovers and body guards.”
Farage was offered the same security package as Kemi Badenoch, but turned it down, later claiming that it was “downgraded and inadequate”.
The old joke about how you can tell when a politician is lying – their lips move – seems to be entirely accurate about Nigel.
@jackcycles So you haven’t noticed that knife crime (and violent crime generally) has declined in London whilst Khan had been mayor?
Oh and to respond to your whine about Khan having to have personal security? It’s because of racist cunts making credible death threats against him. Are you sure you aren’t amongst them?
@Eton Rifle you’re walking around blind without a stick. Violent crime is up massively under Khan, and recently people don’t even bother reporting it any more…. What’s the point? It’s been deprioritised in favour of policing twitter.
Just this evening it was reported that legendary comedian Paul Whitehouse was the victim of an attempted mugging in Islington while using a cash machine, it’s completely out of control.
I’m sure that Khan does get threats from nutters, but my point was that so does Farage, and he doesn’t get the same level of publicly funded protection despite having a higher profile. So it’s completely below the belt to allege some kind of wrongdoing in funding his own.
Per telegraph:
“Crime has soared in London in recent years. There were nearly 100,000 thefts or attempted thefts in the capital in 2025, compared with about 45,000 in 2019, Home Office data show.
During Sir Sadiq Khan’s tenure as Mayor, knife crime has increased by nearly 72 per cent, sexual offences are 63.2 per cent higher and “theft from the person” – which covers theft and attempts to take items directly from a victim – has more than tripled to nearly 100,000 incidents.”
@jackcycles I can hear the Pub Landlord – “I’m sick of all those cells going to foreigners! I want to see Great British bike thieves in Great British prisons!”
Given Mr.Farage has made a big thing about security while simultaneously refusing the offer of it * …
… I’m guessing he’ll be for blaming his pet hates for “an epidemic” of bike theft. Then refusing to use the police budget to tackle cycle crime, taking a millions from some dodgy donor “to fix crime”, after which he’ll refuse to answer any questions about what it was spent on **…
* Apparently because it wasn’t commensurate with his ego – sorry, his public profile – because “I’m bigger than the leader of the opposition!”
** AFAIK the latest explanation for the donations is “none of your business”. Looking forward to the next report of eg. a judge receiving a large “personal gift, no strings attached” from the mob and offering the same explanation!
@Nigel Garage Is that the Telegraph that has the same obsessive hatred of Lord Khan as yourself, doubtless for the same reasons (brown, Muslim, left wing, popular, successful, caned the Tories three elections in a row)? The Telegraph that in 2024 claimed London gun crime had risen 2,500% in a year when in fact it had risen by 1%? If the Telegraph says it’s Monday I check my watch to see if it’s true. Knife crime offences have risen under Khan, by about 50%, from 9,086 offences in 2016 to 13,850 in 2025. What the Telegraph doubtless failed to mention is that a large part of this increase is due to stricter knife laws having been brought in in 2019, so that many offences that previously wouldn’t have been recorded as knife crime now are. They doubtless inadvertently failed to mention that the number of under-25s injured by knives has fallen 25% since 2016, and the overall number of hospital attendances for knife crime has fallen 50% in the same period. Probably also didn’t mention that homicides have fallen to the lowest level since records began in 1990, despite the population rising by more than two million people over that period. One imagines they also failed to mention that the Tory governments from 2010 to 2024 slashed over a billion pounds from the Metropolitan Police Service budget? Thought so.
“Just this evening it was reported that legendary comedian Paul Whitehouse was the victim of an attempted mugging in Islington while using a cash machine, it’s completely out of control.”
In 1995 I was mugged at knifepoint in Bath, does that mean knife crime in Bath was completely out of control then?
@Rendel Harris whoa there son, put away that tinfoil hat.
The Telegraph (a trusted broadsheet since 1855) was merely quoting home office figures, which shows knife crime rising steadily under Khan, even after 2019.
By the way, on the off chance you’re out tonight, make sure you keep your back to the wall on the way home? There’s a good chap, despite our differences I’d hate for anything bad to happen to you.
@Nigel Garage Sexual offences are not an appropriate subject for your particularly laboured and weak “bants”. Grow up.
@jackcycles Interesting that you’re quoting the figure for “knife crime” and not actual stabbings. You do realise that the VAST majority of offences classified as knife crime are for possession of knives, right? And that is because the UK has some of the strictest laws in the world on knife possession. All the data show that stabbings have declined under Khan’s tenure.
@Eton Rifle Quite correct: as I said above, the number of under 25s injured in knife incidents has declined by 25% since Khan took over and the overall number of hospital admissions for knife incidents has fallen by 50%. In 2019 the Offensive Weapons Act tightened the law on knives considerably, most notably extending the classification of a criminal threat using a knife to include threats made on private premises, which previously had been recorded as common assault or affray, and criminalising the possession of certain knives, such as flick knives, even inside your own home, which had previously been legal, so now if the police raid a private home and find flick knives or similar weapons that is recorded as a knife crime where previously no crime existed. Obviously recorded knife crime was bound to go up with these new restrictions.
According to a National Farmers’ Union report yesterday, food exports to the EU have declined by a third following brexthick. Sugar and dairy based products have declined by 70%
The NFU president, Tom Bradshaw, said: “The EU is our largest trading partner for agri-food products, accounting for 68% of agri-food exports last year, but trade volumes have fallen over a third since Brexit”
Food exporters have long complained over the added paperwork that Britain’s exit has brought. Since Brexit all food exports are required to have customs paperwork with different codes for every single product. This includes, for example, every variation of an egg product, whether it is fresh, dried, steamed, shelled, or contains added water or sugar. The paper pulp used in egg cartons as well as the eggs also need health certification to show they are free of disease.
Also hit hard by Brexit is the horticultural sector with seed potatoes from Britain, mainly Scotland, banned from the EU after trade negotiators failed to agree on equivalent standards in the Brexit trade and cooperation agreement in 2020. Horticultural exports fell more than 50%.
So don’t listen to Farage. He knows not what he is saying and he is a liar.
@Rome73 “He knows not what he is saying and he is a liar.”
Whilst I entirely agree with your sentiment, I’m not sure that you can both not know what you’re saying and lie at the same time.
I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s saying, which is anything that he thinks will get him votes, but he knows that it isn’t true.
@eburtthebike yes – good point. He is just a liar.
This is the arsehole who insisted the Brexit would make the country (and world) a better place. The sooner we stop reporting on any bullshit that leaves his mouth the better.