Nigel Farage is seen flanked by security guards just hours after being attacked on open-top bus – as he tells loyal supporters he will ‘not surrender’

Nigel Farage was flanked by guards as he signaled election speech to 450 loyal supporters tonight, stressing: ‘I will not surrender. I will not give in to the crowd.”

The Reform UK leader made his pledge as he addressed cheering fans at the Victory Bar at Great Yarmouth Racecourse, telling them: ‘I won’t stop campaigning.’

But while he insisted he wanted to ‘continue meeting the great British public’, he admitted he may have to change election tactics to reduce the risk of future attacks.

Farage’s security detail was in clear evidence at the meeting after he had wet cement thrown at him as he sat in his open-top bus on Tuesday morning in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

The attack came just a week after he had a McDonald’s milkshake thrown over him as he left a Wetherspoon’s pub in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, shortly after launching his campaign to stand for election in the city.

Nigel Farage speaks during his election rally in the Victory Bar at Great Yarmouth Racecourse, flanked by a security guard to his right

Nigel Farage is targeted by an attacker, who is not pictured, as he throws objects during an open-top bus tour in Barnsley on Tuesday

The protester, wearing a red hoodie, throws a coffee cup towards the leader of the Reform Party

As he spoke to his adoring audience seated before him in the bar at Great Yarmouth Racecourse, two security guards stood discreetly just a few yards away from him on either side of the room.

The pair stared blankly at the crowd, looking for signs that anyone would launch an attack on Farage, although the chances of that happening seemed virtually non-existent because the crowd loved him so much.

A third security guard who doubled as a driver was also present during the early evening event.

At least two other security guards were stationed outside the venue, although it was not known whether they worked for Farage or the racecourse.

Farage arrived in a helicopter traveling at 160mph just before 5.30pm, about 90 minutes before he started addressing his supporters.

The same dark gray colored Airbus Eurocopter EC-135 had previously taken him on his whistle stop tour from London to Barnsley and then on to Ashford, Nottinghamshire.

The helicopter landed at the racecourse, about half a mile from where he gave his speech, and apparently took off again later to refuel in Norwich.

Farage entered the Victory Bar to cheers and chants of ‘Come on Nigel’ and ‘We need you Nigel’ from his crowd of loyal supporters.

After delivering his speech and taking questions from the audience, he left through a side entrance and quickly walked to his Range Rover with blacked-out windows, which was parked just a few feet away.

He was then taken back to his helicopter which flew him back to London.

Farage described before his meeting how he was forced to duck as cement was thrown at him in a coffee cup in Barnsley.

He said, ‘I saw something coming. Something felt wrong and I was literally just on my way down the stairs when he started throwing things at me.

‘It wasn’t the only object thrown. Some stones were also thrown. Look, this is the second time something has happened when I went out to meet the general British public

‘I have no problem with people calling me names, loving me or not loving me. That is old-style political campaigning.

On June 4, Farage had a milkshake thrown over him during an election rally in Clacton

In 2019, the politician was also targeted with a milkshake while speaking to voters in Newcastle ahead of the Brexit referendum.

‘But when the threat becomes one of violence, it is something else. South Yorkshire Police told me I was not allowed to get off the bus in Barnsley town center because they feared violence.

“Honestly, if I had done that, I would be in the hospital right now, and that’s what we’re dealing with. We are dealing with an extremist, violent left-wing mob determined to shut down debate and conversations.”

‘I am irritated and frustrated, but although I may change tactics, I will not surrender to the crowd.

‘The concern, of course, is that it could become even more extreme. It starts with milkshakes, then it’s cement and bricks. But what now?

‘This can’t be right. I think these kinds of people should get prison sentences, to be honest, I do too. What else will happen to our democracy?

‘Here we are, a week after the D-Day commemorations. What was that about? It was about being able to agree to disagree, and certainly through the ballot box and not through violence.”

He admitted he may have to change tactics on the election trail, but when asked if he would continue meeting members of the public, he laughed and said: “I’m not telling you – but I might do the things differently.’

When asked how much security he currently has, he said: “A lot, a lot, a lot. I have drivers, security people, people who go through. It’s a major security operation, I’m afraid. I wish it weren’t so, but it is. And you understand why.’

Speaking about his suit after it was soaked in the Clacton milkshake attack, he added: ‘It’s still at the dry cleaners. I don’t think it’s ruined.’

Discussing the attacks on him, he told his fans at the rally: “I sincerely believe that our democratic process is under direct threat.

“What happened to me in Clacton last week when a young woman threw a milkshake in my face, and the mob violence we saw in Barnsley today, is an attempt to get me to stop talking. It is an attempt to destroy democracy. It’s worrying.

“It’s scary and it’s striking that most of the people there today were young men and women who were in or just coming out of our university system. Their minds are being poisoned at school and college, and that is just plain wrong.

‘This is very difficult for me because I like meeting people. I’m very glad you disagree with me. You can call me rude names.

“If you think about what we commemorated, the last remnants of that generation who took part in D Day last week, or some of us commemorated while others went home early. If that wasn’t the right for us to disagree, verbally, but not physically, then I don’t know what was.

“All I’m saying is that although it is concerning and although it obviously makes me think, I may have to change tactics slightly, but I promise you one thing, and the tens of thousands who are watching this live online. My promise is this: ‘I will not yield to the crowd. I will not stop campaigning.”

Farage was greeted with ecstatic cheers when he outlined Reform UK’s policies and said they deserved to be the party of opposition to a future Labor government.