The director of a community café that supports young adults with additional needs has written a formal letter demanding an apology from Nigel Farage after his Makerfield campaign team arrived unannounced at the venue with a large entourage, security presence and media crews – while the café was hosting a celebration for a dozen trainees who had just received their gold Duke of Edinburgh awards. Andy Burnham, who was present as a long-standing supporter of the organisation, was described as having arrived alone and without cameras.
Gemma Crompton, director of the Hamlet Wigan CIC, wrote to Farage requesting both a formal apology and assurances that “no other organisation supporting vulnerable people within the borough will experience a similar situation in future.” Her letter and subsequent video response have prompted an exchange with Reform in which the party accused her letter of being “politically influenced.”
What happened
The Hamlet Wigan CIC runs a café that supports young adult trainees with additional needs. On the day of the visit, the organisation was holding a celebration for twelve trainees who had attained their gold Duke of Edinburgh award. Andy Burnham was present – he has been a supporter of the Hamlet since before his mayoral tenure and gave a speech at the opening of its new buildings in 2023. Crompton describes him as “one of the family.”
Farage and his team – which included Reform MP Lee Anderson and Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon – arrived unannounced. Anderson has said the group stopped spontaneously for a “cuppa” and to use the toilet.
Crompton’s letter to Farage describes the impact of the visit on the people in the café that day. “The unannounced arrival of your campaign team, accompanied by a large entourage, security presence, and media crews, created an atmosphere that many of our trainees, families, staff and customers found intimidating and overwhelming.”
She was explicit that the issue was not the political affiliation of the visitors. “While we have absolutely no issue with individuals from any political background visiting the Hamlet, the unannounced arrival of your campaign team…created an atmosphere that many of our trainees, families, staff and customers found intimidating and overwhelming.”
The photography and filming dispute
The specific dispute about what happened inside the café centres on photography and consent. Crompton said in a video filmed outside Buckingham Palace – where she and the trainees had been celebrating their Duke of Edinburgh awards – that the Reform team began filming and taking pictures immediately on arrival without seeking consent.
“It was very overwhelming and a big party of a minimum of 15 people did come, walked into the cafe and started filming and taking pictures straight away. There was no consent given for using the Hamlet as a political environment and I don’t condone that at all. I asked for no pictures and media to be taken, once I knew they’d already started. When I turned away they continued to take pictures.”
Lee Anderson’s account of events is different. He said Crompton sat with the group, discussed the café and the challenges it faces, then asked for a selfie with Kenyon and Farage before thanking them for the visit. Reform’s formal response to Crompton’s letter denied wider photography or filming had taken place and said staff had “taken selfies” with the visitors voluntarily.
The discrepancy between a visitor who asked for a selfie and an organisation director who asked for no pictures to be taken is not easily resolved. What the accounts agree on is that photography and filming happened, that Crompton asked for it to stop, and that it continued.
The contrast with Burnham’s presence
Crompton’s video drew a specific contrast between how Burnham and the Reform team arrived at the venue.
“Andy turned up with no political agenda. He turned up on his own, with no cameras, no media crew with him.”
Burnham has been a supporter of the Hamlet for years. He is on the homepage of the organisation’s website. He gave a speech at the opening of its new buildings. When Farage’s team arrived to find him there during a Duke of Edinburgh celebration, the Daily Mail journalist who was part of the entourage approached him. Burnham told the reporter: “You don’t go into a place like that unannounced. You’re out of order there.”
His fuller statement after the visit: “They were all out of order and, if they had any decency, would now hold their hands up and apologise.”
As we reported in our Makerfield byelection and Burnham popularity analysis, part of the specific nature of Burnham’s appeal in Greater Manchester communities is precisely this: a nine-year record of genuine engagement with the organisations and communities he represents, not as a campaign backdrop but as sustained relationships. The Hamlet’s description of him as “one of the family” is the kind of community connection that cannot be replicated by an unannounced visit with fifteen people, security and a media crew.
Reform’s response – and the “politically influenced” accusation
Reform’s formal response to Crompton’s letter declined to apologise and instead accused her of political motivation. “We must admit that the tone and nature of your letter unfortunately gives rise to the impression that it is politically influenced, unlike our visit, which was made in good faith and without political motivation.”
The accusation that a letter from the director of a community organisation asking for an apology and assurances about future visits is “politically influenced” is the specific part of Reform’s response that has attracted the most criticism. Crompton is not a candidate. She is not a party member. She is the director of a community café that supports young adults with additional needs, and she has written to the leader of a political party asking him not to do it again.
The visit took place as Farage is conducting his Makerfield campaign – the same campaign in which his candidate’s background has been investigated by Byline Times and Hope Not Hate as we reported in our Kenyon deleted accounts piece, and in which Farage himself drove away from Channel 4 cameras when asked about his financial arrangements, as we reported in our Channel 4 car getaway piece.
Crompton has not withdrawn her letter. The apology has not been issued.
