Niall McCrae
We lament the untimely death of Jeff Wyatt, on 16th September 2022. Jeff was known to everyone in the freedom movement as a relentless and rumbustious voice against the covid tyranny and the corrupt politicians and institutions who imposed it.
I first met Jeff as a fellow Brexit activist. He was a constant presence at Westminster in the tumultuous years after the EU referendum, when the political establishment did everything it could to overturn the democratic mandate. Unlike rival Remain protestors outside parliament such as Steve Bray, Jeff was not paid for his services. He travelled daily from Milton Keynes, usually with a home-made placard, and occasionally dressed as St George.
After representing UKIP, Jeff became deputy leader of Anne-Marie Waters’ party For Britain. He returned to UKIP under the leadership of Gerard Batten, but the party imploded as Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party swept in to top the last EU parliament election involving the British people, in 2019.
Jeff found a new calling during the Covid-19 lockdown. He felt at home with ordinary people of all backgrounds, who had been ignored in the years leading to Brexit and beyond. Relieved of party politics and what he saw as the ‘divide and rule’ of Left and Right, Jeff formed close relationships with the likes of Piers Corbyn, brother of the former Labour leader.
Opposing the Covid-19 regime was risky, as Jeff found at the first protest in London against lockdown. In a small gathering of brave dissidents at Speakers Corner, he bore a placard pronouncing his civil liberty. Watching a livestream from the comfort of my living room, I watched in horror as Jeff was arrested for this peaceful act of resistance. His eight hours in a cell at Charing Cross police station would only have strengthened his commitment to the fight for freedom.
In August 2020 I spoke at a rally magnificently compered by Kate Shemirani, in Trafalgar Square. My speech followed David Kurten, the only elected politician in Britain to speak publicly against lockdown. Jeff came up to congratulate us both, and then urged us to go a step further. We both needed to get ourselves arrested! As David and I looked at each other in unease, Jeff laughed and told us how much fun it would be. But he was also serious – he felt strongly that we should all be pushing whatever boundaries are put up against us by a crooked establishment.
The anti-Brexit movement has resurfaced since the ejection of Boris Johnson as prime minister. A week before his death, Jeff and I were planning to counter-protest at a Rejoin the EU rally in central London (cancelled following the Queen’s death). The initial idea was to stand silently holding a banner with the slogan’ EU = Mandatory Injections. Is that your Ode to Joy?’ But I doubt that Jeff would have managed to stay mute as the Remainers passed.
Jeff was indefatigable. When he wasn’t on the streets protesting, he kept up his past exploits in motor racing. It was at an event on the Isle of Man when this man, in his late fifties but a vitality of twenty years younger, was taken from us. Jeff had so much more to do on this earth, and we must continue his work.
Jeff Wyatt was born on 7th May 1964. He leaves his daughter Lucy and his partner Sasha.
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