![\"PA](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/e4ad\/live\/7e0ed770-30ae-11f0-bb6f-6fd2e73bdb9e.jpg.webp\")
PA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nRupert Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, will not face criminal charges in relation to an allegation of threats, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.<\/p>\n
Lowe was elected as a Reform UK MP in last year’s general election but was suspended by the party in March, amid claims of threats towards the party’s chairman.<\/p>\n
Malcolm McHaffie, head of the CPS, said it made the decision not to press charges “following a thorough and detailed review of the evidence”. <\/p>\n
“Having considered a number of witness statements, we have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a statement on X, Lowe said the Metropolitan Police were dropping their investigation into “false allegations” and accused Reform of carrying out a “brutal smear campaign”. <\/p>\n
“For the sin of asking legitimate questions about the party’s direction, policies and leadership, I was vilified and targeted,” he said.<\/p>\n
Lowe, who now sits as an independent MP, also fiercely attacked his former party’s leader Nigel Farage, calling him a “a coward and a viper”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Although the CPS statement does not name Lowe, the case relates to an incident at the Palace of Westminster in December 2024.<\/p>\n
Mr McHaffie said: “The Crown Prosecution Service’s function is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent, and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider. <\/p>\n
“Based on the careful consideration of this evidence, we have decided that our legal test for a criminal prosecution has not been met.<\/p>\n
“The decision is also subject to the Victim’s Right to Review (VRR) scheme which provides a victim or their families in some classes of case with a specifically designed process to exercise the right to review certain CPS decisions not to start a prosecution or to stop a prosecution.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n