If I had to identify the two words which would hurry Nigel Farage into No10, it would be Lucy Connolly.
Not only the injustice of receiving a 31-month sentence for a tweet (a thug wouldn’t receive that for beating an old dear half to death), but for the fact that Reform continues to fight and worry for her when other political parties walk on the other side.
A special word of thanks must go to Reform’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice, who not only speaks up for her but also made the time in his busy diary to visit her in HMP Peterborough. And what a shocking story he had to tell.
He was prompted to make the visit after a call from Telegraph journalist Alison Pearson (she knows a thing about being wrongly persecuted by the police), who had heard from Lucy’s family about the violent manner she had been treated by prison officers.
At first, her move from HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire, to Peterborough looked like good news as she would be nearer her family and as a woman of good character could look forward to better accommodation.
But it became clear within 24 hours that somebody (I presume it was the Governor Ralph Lubkowski because she is so high-profile) decided she would go to the wing which houses druggies and violent criminal known as The Bronx.
Lucy objected to the switch, alleging that out of the blue, on the way back from the gym, a group of six officers jumped on her, saying: ‘’You are no better than anyone else here, you’re going to A1 Lucy. ‘’ At that point, she started crying and sank to the floor.
She then alleges they used restraining methods on her, which are supposed to be reserved for violent prisoners, not polite childminders. They bent her over forwards with her arms bent sharply back. Her hands were tightly handcuffed.
Remember the name Lucy Connolly when you come to putting X on your ballot paper - Kelvin MacKenzie
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The 42-year-old was then forced up three flights of stairswith officers wearing body cameras shouting at her all the way. Tice, as an MP and likely to be in the next government, has now asked to see that video and warned the Governor that he doesn’t want to discover that the film has ‘’disappeared’’.
Tice saw Lucy five days after that incident, and the bruises from the handcuffs on Lucy’s wrists were still significant.
He says she was mistreated without provocation and was denied food, with no lunch or dinner after the incident. She was put on a 23-hour lockdown and only allowed 15 minutes of exercise.
Lucy was given 14 days on basics - no TV, no privileges, and she can’t even go down to the canteen for her food; food is brought to her cell.
I am so grateful to Allison Pearson for supplying all this detail. Without her, we would know none of this.
Tice spent an hour with Lucy and in his words she was ‘’calm, thoughtful and impressive”. And in what was his most serious charge, he thought the way she was treated was ‘’politically motivated".
I cannot escape the feeling that if she had been a drunk single mother and crashed her car into a school building, she would have received a suspended sentence and £20 out of the poor box.
Why is she still in jail anyway? Starmer is letting out all number of vile and violent criminal number of vile and violent criminals, but mysteriously Lucy must serve out the whole 40 per cent of her sentence.
Tice told her during their jail chat that she should be very careful over the next few months ahead of her release, as the ‘’authorities’’ may want to make an example of her.
Clearly, Labour – and the Lib Dems, who have remained silent on the issue - were pleased she received a jail sentence for a tweet. A tweet is nothing. One moment of anger. One moment of humour. Gone in a second. People don’t act in unison after reading a tweet. Where is the evidence to the contrary?
The reality is that she should never have been jailed. But Starmer, with his huge landslide behind him, thought he was speaking for the nation when he signalled to Hermer and the judiciary that lengthy sentences were required.
For the violence, yes, but for a tweet that was taken down within hours, absolutely not.
Anyway, as I said at the beginning of this article, it is the name Lucy Connolly which separates the parties.
And that’s why, according to the latest polling, Reform will go from five seats to 271 at the next General Election and Starmer’s mob will go from 403 seats to 178.
Do remember those two words when you come to putting X on your ballot paper.
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