Rachel Reeves is right: shouting abuse at MPs is un-British, writes James Hanson

Having inherited the highest tax burden since the Second World War, she’s raised it further. The UK’s long-term borrowing costs have hit a near-30-year high. And to cap it all, she’s now reportedly considering the mad idea of 1970s-style price controls in supermarkets. As such, Rachel Reeves deserves all the criticism that comes her way. What she does not deserve is abuse.

Which brings us to her encounter with a heckler in Leeds yesterday. While being interviewed for TV at a petrol station, the chancellor was interrupted by a man driving a van with two St George’s flags on the roof. He shouted “Nigel Farage, go on Nigel”, before telling Reeves: “You’re ruining the country. Get Keir Starmer out.”

As he pulled out of the petrol station, he yelled: “We’ve got English flags on here, Rachel, am I going to get arrested?

Look at Rachel Reeves there, with a smile on her face.” The chancellor, visibly awkward, responded: “I love our country, and one of the things about our country is good manners. Not very British.”

It was hardly the most stinging of ripostes, but in that moment, I sensed something I’ve rarely felt for this chancellor: sympathy.

There is much to criticise politicians for, and I would hate for us to become a country where voters are unable to express their anger publicly. But there’s a fine line between fair criticism and verbal abuse. To my mind, the incident in Leeds yesterday was the latter. There is nothing remotely admirable about shouting at a woman while you drive away. It is the behaviour of a cowardly bully and, yes, un-British.

There’s a certain irony that Reeves’ heckler had draped his van in the England flag. Once upon a time, the English were renowned for our politeness. Grievances would be resolved like grown-ups, and we’d shake on it at the end. Civility mattered, even when it came to those we disagreed with the most. If the chancellor’s heckler wants to display true patriotism, he could start by learning some basic manners.

None of that, of course, has stopped him from being lauded as a hero on social media. Nigel Farage even posted: “I’d like to buy this man a pint. Does anyone know how I can find him?”.

It was a disappointing response from the Reform UK leader. Nigel Farage, more than most, has been on the receiving end of appalling personal abuse during his political career. He ought to be among the loudest voices calling for a return to civility in public life.

I worry we have dehumanised our politicians. We forget they are real people doing their best. The fact so many fall short merely underlines this point: they have all the same frailties as the rest of us.

It’s time to stop treating MPs we disagree with as enemies worthy of abuse and start treating them as human beings who simply have a different vision of what’s best for the country. For once, Rachel Reeves has my sympathy.

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Listen to James Hanson on LBC on weekends between 4 and 7am.

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