Nigel Farage claims to have been visited by police officers and warned not to breach lockdown restrictions after he travelled to Dover to “report” on migrants.
The Brexit Party leader is known to have made at least two separate journeys to the south coast to produce videos on what he describes as an “illegal migrant scandal”.
After his first trip to Pett Level Beach in East Sussex on 28 April, he says police were “bombarded” with complaints that he had defied stay-at-home orders.
Then, on 4 Monday, Mr Farage shared a second a video of himself in Dover as he declares that he is “not going to let this story drop” – despite press coverage “over the weekend saying I was quite wrong to have gone to East Sussex”.
According to the LBC broadcaster, police officers later visited his home to “advise” him about the current coronavirus restrictions in place.
“Lockdown lunacy,” he wrote on Twitter. “Two police officers just knocked on my door to advise me on essential travel.
“They had received a complaint that I had been to Dover to report on the illegal migrant scandal taking place.
“What a total waste of time and money.”
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Mr Farage explained he had been carrying out “broadcasting” duties and described himself as a “key worker”.
Despite his own actions, the former MEP has previously accused those flouting lockdown rules of “middle-class hypocrisy”.
“Between 70-80 per cent of people think lockdown should continue,” he told LBC last week.
“Yet when I went out at the weekend on Saturday I passed a local historical attraction, you couldn’t get in the carpark.
“I’ve never seen so many cyclists on the road in all my life.
“These aren’t short distance cyclists, people popping out for an hour, people popping out for the day in absolutely huge numbers.
“It almost seems to me there’s a bit of middle-class hypocrisy here.”
The Independent has approached Kent Police for comment.
