Reform's Lee Anderson Applauds Police Involved In Shocking Manchester Airport Arrest Video

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has said he would give the police involved in the kicking incident in Manchester “a medal”.

A video of an officer stamping on a man’s face and kicking him in the head during an arrest at Manchester airport has gone viral, and sparked a backlash against the force.

The police force has now referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and the officer involved has been suspended from all duties after a “thorough review of further information”.

The man in question, named as “Fahir”, was later found to have a cyst on his brain in a CT scan after the incident.

Former Met chief superintendent Dal Babu has described the event as “totally appalling”.

Speaking before the CT scan, Anderson claimed: “The message I am getting loud and clear from my constituents is they are fed up with seeing police dancing around rainbows and being nice to people and running off from rioters.

“They want police to do their job, and I think these police yesterday should be commended.

“In fact, I’d give them a medal.”

Foreign office minister, Baroness Chapman, responded to Anderson’s remarks on Politics Live by saying: “I think Lee’s completely wrong to rush to a conclusion like that, not in full possession of all the facts.”

She added that “it’s a very sensitive situation” and many facts remain unclear.

Chapman said she would “caution colleagues against jumping in and reaching conclusions”, and claimed: “I don’t think it’s right for politicians to go around grandstanding and trying to make political capital out of this.”

But Anderson doubled down on his remarks on social media and lashed out at the BBC over the clip.

He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “The Biased Beeb.

“Hardly heard anything from them about the female officer who had her nose broke or the officers taken to hospital.

“I will back our police and said this earlier to the BBC. Brace yourself for the nonsense in the studio.”