Reform UK MPs have emphatically leapt to the defence of Manchester police after an incident at the airport yesterday sparked protests.
Footage posted online yesterday showed a male officer kicking a man who was being pinned to the ground before stamping on his head.
Police say the incident unfolded after “three officers were subject to a violent assault” in which one officer’s nose was broken.
However the treatment of the suspect lying on the ground has sparked fury, with many Labour MPs demanding an urgent investigation.
Reform UK’s Richard Tice has come out to back the police amid the furore, saying that the footage is in fact “reassuring” rather than “distressing”.
He told TalkTV: “I’ve only just seen this footage, but based on what I’ve heard and seen this is not distressing, this is reassuring!”
“The simple answer is that if the police had had to use tasers, which at least two officers if not three clearly had, then there is a serious issue going on.
“Police officers don’t use tasers unless they are genuinely concerned for the safety of members of public and themselves, and bearing in mind these are weapons-carrying officers, who are there to prevent acts of terrorism, making split-second judgements.
“They have rightly concluded that safety is the better option. They don’t know if these people have grenades under their bodies!”
He was backed by fellow Reform UK MP Lee Anderson, who added: “The vast majority of decent Brits would applaud this type of policing. We are sick of the namby pamby approach”.
“Time to back our boys in blue.”
In stark contrast, Labour MPs have rounded on the police officer filmed in the clip, with Rochdale MP Paul Waugh describing his actions as “truly shocking and disturbing”.
