Police officers knocked on Laurence Fox’s door to warn him about ‘breaking Covid rules’ over his London Mayor election bid today.
The 42-year-old ex-actor claimed he faced a ‘bit of mild intimidation’ from ‘the boys in blue’ when two officers turned up at his home this morning.
Mr Fox – who launched the Reclaim Party last year to fight the ‘culture wars’ – filmed the encounter on his doorstep, and shared the footage to Twitter.
The officer said he was reported for ‘breaking Covid rules’ in his campaigning – but said they had no ‘evidence of that per se at the moment’.
He explained that while door-to-door leafleting was allowed after the lockdown rules relaxed on March 8, Mr Fox was reportedly ‘meeting big groups in London and running your campaign that way’.
But the Mayoral hopeful hit back, saying the officer shouldn’t have turned up if he didn’t have evidence, especially while ‘actual crime is off the charts’.
Police officers knocked on Laurence Fox’s door to warn him about ‘breaking Covid rules’ over his London Mayor election bid today
The officer (pictured) said Mr Fox was reported for ‘breaking Covid rules’ in his campaigning – but said they had no ‘evidence of that per se at the moment’
Mr Fox captioned the post: ‘Bit of mild intimidation to start the day from the boys in blue.
‘”We have no evidence but…” Stop right there.
‘Then why are you knocking on my door?
‘Meanwhile actual crime is off the charts. You’re just making me more determined to reclaim our freedom.’
Earlier this month, Mr Fox announced his bid to stand against Sadiq Khan in the 2021 London mayoral elections on May 6.
He will campaign to end lockdown that same month.
Currently, the last remaining lockdown rules in England are set to be lifted by June 21 under Boris Johnson’s roadmap to the end of restrictions, but this is subject to change.
In the clip, one of the police officers (pictured) tells Mr Fox: ‘We’ve just had a report basically of someone reporting you to us about breaking Covid rules about your campaigning for the Mayoral election’
Mr Fox captioned the post: ‘Bit of mild intimidation to start the day from the boys in blue’
Mr Fox’s views on lifting lockdown come in stark contrast to that of Mr Khan, who previously urged the Prime Minister to ignore ‘shouting and hectoring’ from Conservative backbenchers and reject calls for a swift easing of national curbs.
In the clip, one of the police officers tells Mr Fox: ‘We’ve just had a report basically of somebody reporting you to us about breaking Covid rules about your campaigning for the Mayoral election.
‘Apparently, he’s saying that the rules were relaxed on March 8 for door-to-door canvassing but you’ve been apparently meeting big groups in London and running your campaign that way.
Earlier this month, Mr Fox (pictured at a rally in Hyde Park on March 20) announced his bid to stand against Sadiq Khan in the 2021 London mayoral elections on May 6
Mr Fox is seen attending a rally in Hyde Park London. The actor is fighting to become the next mayor of London
‘We haven’t got any evidence of that per se at the moment but we wanted to sort of let you know to be mindful about what is being reported.
‘What you’re doing is obviously quite in the headlines at the moment.
‘And yeah sort of just to let you know that it has been reported and just to sort of be mindful that the rules are changing on a fairly regular basis and to sort of keep yourself up to date with what is the current rule before you do anything, go out and meet anybody.’
Announcing his bid for London Mayor this month, Mr Fox told The Telegraph: ‘I am standing for London Mayor.
‘With almost all older and vulnerable people having got their jab, I want the lockdown lifted straight away.’
He added that, despite the Government saying vaccines are working with hospitalisations and deaths falling, people are still being told they cannot get back to normal until mid-summer at the earliest.
His campaign will be completely funded by one donation from ex-Tory donor Jeremy Hosking, who ranked number 351 in the Sunday Times’ 2019 Rich List.
Fox (pictured at a rally in Hyde Park on March 20) was reported for ‘breaking Covid rules’ in his campaigning – but said they had no ‘evidence of that per se at the moment’
The financier spent a chunk of his £375million fortune funding the Leave campaign.
Mr Fox – who was, as he says, ‘part of a safe, arty, Leftie world earning a s***load of money from Netflix’ – voted to Remain.
He claims the Brexiteer Hosking has said to him: ‘It’s all right, darling, I forgive you.’
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the leader of the anti-woke Reclaim party blasted the ‘censorious mob’ – claiming ‘woke’ attitudes are a ‘burgeoning religion with no repentance and no forgiveness’.
He added: ‘I am quite Leftie, but Right or Left doesn’t matter any more. We’re entering a new area of politics. It’s authoritarian or anti-authoritarian. That’s it.
‘You’re either with or against this censorious mob who go: “No, you can’t say that, that’s wrong. It’s chest-feeding not breastfeeding. Tear down all the statues.”
‘It’s a burgeoning religion with no repentance and no forgiveness. I never understood before how Nazi Germany could happen. Now I do. It makes me want to resist with every single ounce of my being.’
Mr Fox first shot to prominence in January 2020 thanks to an appearance as a panelist on BBC1’s Question Time.
During the programme, he disputed the claim that the Duchess of Sussex had been treated in a ‘racist’ way by the British press.
Mr Fox first shot to prominence in January 2020 thanks to an appearance as a panellist on BBC1’s Question Time (pictured)
Fox was also involved in a heated debate with academic and ethnicity lecturer Rachel Boyle after she called him ‘a white privileged male’.
He replied by accusing Ms Boyle, an academic at Edge Hill University on Merseyside, of ‘being racist’.
As the row continued the following day he quoted Martin Luther King’s 1963 ‘I have a dream’ speech about living in a nation where children ‘will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character’.
He said: ‘This is the position I took last night and I live by in life. If you can improve on it, I’m all ears. Or you can keep screeching ”Racist!” at me and I can carry on having a jolly good giggle at your expense. The tide is turning’.
The appearance on Question Time ended his 22-year acting career.
He said: ‘The funniest thing is, I’ll have an actor or director on Twitter going: ‘Laurence Fox is despicable. How appalling. How can he? Right-wing fascist…’ Then I’ll get a private message going: “Love you mate. I just had to do that.” ‘
Following his Question Time appearance, Mr Fox broke up with his mixed-race girlfriend, photographer Sara McKinnon, because ‘she got a lot of grief from Instagram and didn’t want to be in the public eye’, he says.
They got back together temporarily after his ‘very brief’ fling with journalist Madeline Grant.
He is now dating someone who is ‘not white’ or English. He added: ‘I must have a penchant for darker-haired women.’
Met Police have been approached for comment.