Officers have arrested a 25-year-old woman on suspicion of assault after Nigel Farage had a milkshake thrown at him as he launched his general election campaign in Clacton.

The woman, who gave her name as Victoria, told the BBC that she threw the milkshake at the new Reform UK leader because she “felt like it”. Farage was leaving the Moon and Starfish Wetherspoons pub on Tuesday afternoon (June 4) when the young woman doused him in the milkshake; videos on social media show her approaching Farage before launching the drink in his direction and calmly walking away as he is escorted back to the Reform campaign bus.

“He doesn’t stand for me, he doesn’t represent anything I believe in or any of the people around here,” Victoria told reporters. “He doesn’t represent us, he’s not from here.”

Farage has since responded to the incident in the most cringe way imaginable by posting a video of himself holding a milkshake and saying “my milkshake brings all the people to the rally” (gag). Meanwhile Richard Tice, Farage’s predecessor as Reform UK leader, wrote on X: “The juvenile moron who threw a drink over Nigel has just gained us hundreds of thousands more votes. We will not be bullied or threatened off the campaign trail.”

For many, the news that Victoria has been arrested has prompted outcry. “A political prisoner. Free her,” wrote journalist and author Jason Okundaye on X. “This woman should never pay for her shellacs again in her life,” added writer Sam Whyte. 

Others, meanwhile, have tried to argue that there is no place for lobbing dairy-based drinks at racists in a civilised society. “I am no fan of Farage but this needs to stop: it’s not OK to target people standing for election or in office with attacks on their personal safety, their families, or their homes. You defeat them with ideas and a better alternative. Absolutely unacceptable, whatever their views,” one X user wrote.

But, honestly, who cares? It’s laughable that this 25-year-old woman has likely been arrested for ‘assault’ – defined as “make a physical attack on” – when all she did was get a bit of milkshake in a fascist’s hair. Yes, it’s true that fairly banal incidents can lead to more extreme acts of violence. But let’s be serious: it was a milkshake.

It’s also telling that people are more concerned with a bit of airborne dairy than the real-life violence the far-right inspires. It’s worth noting that many perpetrators of extreme violence have been inspired by far-right rhetoric in recent years: from Thomas Mair, who murdered MP Jo Cox, to Jake Davison, the ‘incel’ who killed five people in Plymouth in 2021.

Nigel Farage is ultimately a man who has supported Donald Trump; admitted to admiring Enoch Powell and agreeing with the “basic principle” of his infamous, racist Rivers of Blood speech; dehumanised migrants with his ‘Breaking Point’ poster; said that he feels “uncomfortable” hearing foreign languages on the tube; and defended his own use of racist slurs. He’s a dangerous individual with abhorrent views that have real-life consequences. Who gives a fuck if he got a bit of milkshake on his suit?