Counter-terrorism police reopen probe into firebomb attack at Nigel Farage’s home
Metropolitan Police and Counter Terrorism Policing refer themselves to watchdog over handling of 2025 incident
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

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What this story says
- Counter-terrorism police reopened a 2025 probe into an alleged firebomb attack at Nigel Farage’s south London home after initially classifying it as an attempted burglary.
- The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the conduct of a Counter Terrorism Policing London staff member, a move Farage called unprecedented.
- Farage said his party had been treated "very differently to everybody else" before the death of former MP Ann Widdecombe, linking the two events.
- No right-rated outlet reported on the reopening of the investigation, according to the digests and reports available.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
56/100
Craft
77/100
Hype
18/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Counter-terrorism officers have reopened an investigation into an alleged firebomb attack at Nigel Farage’s home in south London, which was first reported in April 2025. The incident involved a lit incendiary device posted through Farage’s letterbox, as described by the Telegraph and reported by the Independent and Bucks Free Press. The Counter Terrorism Policing unit initially classified the incident as an attempted burglary, made no arrests, and closed the case pending new lines of inquiry.
The Metropolitan Police and Counter Terrorism Policing have since referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over the handling of the case. The IOPC is now investigating the conduct of a Counter Terrorism Policing London staff member. Farage told reporters the referral showed counter-terrorism officers had "made some mistakes", calling the move "completely unprecedented". He linked the reopening of the investigation to the death of former MP Ann Widdecombe, saying it was a "great, great tragedy" that it took her death for security services to take the safety of Reform politicians seriously.
Farage said his party had been treated "very differently to everybody else" before Widdecombe’s death. He added that he still had confidence in the police but suggested they were "very scared of what the truth is when it comes out". The head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, was named by Farage as someone he had met and felt confidence in.
What the coverage left out
None of the digests or reports from left- or centre-rated outlets included details of the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s specific remit or timeline for its investigation. No outlet reported whether the initial classification of the incident as an attempted burglary was standard procedure or an error. None of the right-rated digests or reports carried the story at all.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 11 Aug 2026, 00:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
4 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led on Farage’s claim that his party had been treated "very differently to everybody else" before the death of Ann Widdecombe. The Independent (US) and Bucks Free Press, which published full reports, both quoted Farage’s statement that it was a "great, great tragedy" that security services only took the safety of Reform politicians seriously after Widdecombe’s death. The Independent’s digest also highlighted Farage’s claim of differential treatment.
- Breaking News and Byline Supplement, which published digests, carried the same emphasis. The digests from all four left-rated outlets included Farage’s assertion that counter-terrorism officers had "made some mistakes" and his linkage of the reopened investigation to Widdecombe’s death. The Independent’s full report quoted Farage’s description of the referral to the IOPC as "completely unprecedented".
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The centre-rated digests from the Evening Standard and Bucks Free Press led on Farage’s statement that his party had been treated "very differently to everybody else". The Bucks Free Press full report, which was republished from USA Today, included Farage’s claim that counter-terrorism officers had "made some mistakes" and his insistence that he still had confidence in the police. It also quoted his remark that officers would be "very scared of what the truth is when it comes out".
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
4- Police ‘made some mistakes’ in firebomb inquiry – Nigel Farage (opens Breaking News in a new tab)
Breaking News — is Breaking News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Nigel Farage says police ‘made some mistakes’ in firebomb investigation (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Lure of the Politics of Passion (opens bylinesupplement.com in a new tab)
bylinesupplement.com — is bylinesupplement.com biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Police ‘made some mistakes’ in firebomb inquiry – Nigel Farage (opens The Independent (US) in a new tab)
The Independent (US) — is The Independent (US) biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
2- Police ‘made some mistakes’ in firebomb inquiry – Nigel Farage (opens bucksfreepress.co.uk in a new tab)
bucksfreepress.co.uk — is bucksfreepress.co.uk biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Police ‘made some mistakes’ in firebomb inquiry – Nigel Farage (opens Evening Standard in a new tab)
Evening Standard — is Evening Standard biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Counter-terrorism police reopen probe into firebomb attack at Nigel…?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 67% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Counter-terrorism police reopen probe into firebomb attack at Nigel… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Counter-terrorism police reopen probe into firebomb attack at Nigel… biased?
- Counter-terrorism police reopen probe into firebomb attack at Nigel Farage’s home is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Counter-terrorism police reopen probe into firebomb attack at Nigel…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Counter-terrorism police reopen probe into firebomb attack at Nigel…?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What was the firebomb incident at Nigel Farage’s home?
- In April 2025, a lit incendiary device was posted through Nigel Farage’s letterbox in south London. The incident was initially classified as an attempted burglary by Counter Terrorism Policing, but no arrests were made. The investigation was reopened in 2026 after the death of former MP Ann Widdecombe, with counter-terrorism officers admitting mistakes in their handling of the case.
- Why was the investigation into the firebomb attack reopened?
- The investigation was reopened after Counter Terrorism Policing referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over the conduct of a staff member. Nigel Farage linked the reopening to the death of Ann Widdecombe, claiming his party had been treated differently before her death. He described the referral as "completely unprecedented".
- Which outlets reported on the reopened investigation?
- The story was reported by four left-rated outlets (The Independent, Breaking News, Byline Supplement, and another Independent digest) and two centre-rated outlets (Bucks Free Press and the Evening Standard). No right-rated outlet carried the story, according to the digests and reports available.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

