Rachel Reeves tells foul-mouthed Reform UK heckler good manners matter

Rachel Reeves delivered a stern response to a heckler who shouted profanities and demanded Labour and Keir Starmer be removed while she conducted a media interview at a petrol station in Leeds. The heckler continued yelling as he left in his van, displaying St George’s flags and questioning whether he would be arrested. Reeves replied that loving the country includes good manners and joked that the man seemed not to have heard her announcement about freezing fuel duty. Mel Stride defended her emphasis on civil political discourse, while also criticizing the government’s economic decisions. Daniel Hannan backed Reeves’s stance, arguing that civility in politics matters and that abandoning boundaries leads to deterioration.

"As she answered questions from the media at a petrol station in Leeds after announcing she would scrap a planned fuel duty rise, she was heckled by a man who appeared to be a Reform UK supporter. As he walked into the station to pay, he shouted: Get Keir Starmer fuckinging out. When he left in his van, he continued to yell at the chancellor: Get Labour out. Get Keir Starmer out. Nigel Farage, Come on, Nigel. Driving off in his van, St George's flags flying, he continued: Am I gonna get arrested? We've got English flags on here, Rachel. Are we going to be arrested? You're ruining the country. Get Keir Starmer out. Look England flags. Yous are useless. Labour party is useless."

"Reeves responded by saying: I love our country, and one of the things about our country is good manners. Not very British. She then joked that he appeared not to have heard her announcement about freezing fuel duty. Rachel Reeves joked that the man appeared not to have heard her announcement about freezing fuel duty. Photograph: Jacob King/PA"

"The shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, defended Reeves's comeback to the heckler. He told Sky's Sophy Ridge: On the point of good manners, she is right ... our discourse around politics should be civil and polite and that's part of being British and that's something we should fight for. He added, however, that some people were right to feel disappointed by decisions this government has taken and said Reeves had made a mess of the economy."

"The Tory peer Daniel Hannan said: I sense that this is out of temper with the times but, for once, I am on Rachel Reeves's side. Civility matters in politics and if we stop policing the boundaries, things slide very quickly. I'm afraid I don't see it as"

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