Mr Lowe has had the Reform UK whip removed and currently sits as an independent MP (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Express)
Rupert Lowe says clashes with Reform UK top brass over illegal migration is the real reason he has become a political persona non grata.
The MP – currently sitting as an independent – is fighting for his Westminster life after being sidelined from the party.
Mr Lowe, 67, the millionaire MP for Great Yarmouth, had the Reform whip removed after the party said it was investigating claims of “serious bullying” and “targeting of female staff” within his office.
Separately, he was reported to police over alleged threats made towards the party chairman Zia Yusuf.
He strenuously denies all allegations and any involvement in them.
But he told the Express the rift runs deeper than the suggested circumstances of a manufactured “witch hunt” and said it centres on his forthright approach to party policy.
Incredibly, he claimed the issue of illegal migration had become a sticking point with hierarchy – despite Reform leader being equally outspoken on the issue and describing the ongoing Channel small boats crisis a “national security emergency”.
A Border Force vessel carrying cross Channel migrants arrives at the Port of Dover (Image: Getty Images)
Mr Lowe said: “One point of disagreement within Reform was my repeated calls to deport every single illegal migrant.
“I am clear. If you are here illegally, you must be deported. If that results in one million or more eventual removals then that is what must happen. That must be the aim.
“It is that, or an effective amnesty. I choose deportations. Regardless of whether it makes some uncomfortable in Reform, this is what must happen. Deportations, and lots of them. Reportedly, sources ‘close to ’ were uncomfortable with my opinion. Many will find that surprising to read.”
Migration and a years-long crisis that has seen undocumented men, women and children arrive in the UK via Northern France, first on the back of lorries and latterly on dinghies, became a central issue in the lead-up to the referendum to leave the EU in 2016.
It has since become a subject indelibly linked with Mr Farage, 60, and the political parties he has led, first UKIP, then the Party and subsequently Reform UK, of which Mr Lowe and his leader were two of five MPs elected at last July’s General Election.
Happier times: Mr Lowe and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in 2020 (Image: Getty)
Speaking about alleged Palestinian gunman Abu Wadee, who crossed the Channel to the UK illegally on a small boat, Mr Farage said: “This is a national security emergency and the only solution is to deport those who come.”
Wadee is understood to be a former key member of a militant group who has called for the slaughter of all Jews and posed with weaponry.
He has since been arrested, but Mr Farage said: “It should not have taken the authorities five days to act.”
After finding himself ostracised by his party and isolated in Westminster, Mr Lowe doubled down and reiterated a promise to speak his mind, saying nothing would prevent him from doing so in the future, regardless of the issue or who it offends.
He defiantly said: “I will always say what I think, particularly when it comes to protecting the British people. That did not sit well with some in Reform, but as you can tell from my output on the subject, I spoke my mind on deportations. I will continue to do so. Illegal migrants must go.”
He added: “I will not have my name dragged through the mud as part of a political assassination. It is a witch hunt, plain for all to see. I have been entirely frozen out of the Reform machine over the last few months, in a deliberate and calculated way.”
Mr Farage’s representatives were contacted.