Commons Speaker Loses Patience With Hartlepool MP During Nigel Farage PMQs Exchange..
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Reform-Labour Rivalry Erupts in Commons as Hartlepool MP Is Warned by Speaker
4th June 2026
Hartlepool Labour MP Jonathan Brash was yesterday sharply rebuked by the Speaker of the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions after repeatedly interrupting as the Prime Minister attempted to answer a question from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Mr Farage, the MP for Clacton, had asked Sir Keir Starmer what action his Government intended to take over concerns about what he described as “two-tier policing”, arguing that every British citizen should be treated equally by the police.
The question prompted a heated response across the chamber, with the Speaker eventually intervening directly to warn the Hartlepool MP about his behaviour.
Addressing Mr Brash by name, the Speaker said:
“Order. Mr Brash, this is a very important question, and I want to hear the Prime Minister’s answer. If you want to carry on, go outside please.”
The warning amounted to a public dressing down for the Labour MP, who was effectively told that he could be required to leave the Commons chamber if he continued to interrupt the proceedings.
The official Commons record notes that an interruption took place immediately before the Speaker intervened, although it does not record the precise words shouted by Mr Brash.
Sir Keir rejected Mr Farage’s claim that Britain is operating a two-tier policing system and criticised the Reform UK leader over his handling of the sensitive case which had prompted the question.
However, the exchange will inevitably attract attention in Hartlepool, where the political battle between Labour and Reform has intensified significantly in recent months.
Reform’s Hartlepool Breakthrough
The incident came less than a month after Labour suffered a major setback in the Hartlepool local elections with Reform UK winning all 12 council seats contested across the borough on the 7th of May, including seats previously held by Labour. The result left Labour without control of Hartlepool Borough Council and allowed Reform to take the leadership of the authority as a minority administration with Hartlepool becoming one of the clearest examples of the growing electoral threat Reform poses to Labour in traditional working-class areas.
Against that backdrop, its claimed Mr Brash’s reaction during Prime Minister’s Questions is likely to fuel further debate about the increasingly bitter relationship between Labour and Reform.
Whatever was shouted across the chamber, the Speaker’s message to Hartlepool’s MP could hardly have been clearer: allow the Prime Minister to answer the question or take the argument outside.
