Laurence Fox Arrested on Suspicion of Conspiring to Commit Criminal Damage to ULEZ Cameras

The Reclaim Party leader has voiced support for the “Blade Runners,” a group that targets cameras in London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone.

Reclaim Party leader and candidate for London mayor Laurence Fox arrives to lay a bouquet at the unveiling of a mural to highlight knife crime in London on April 30, 2021. Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

Reclaim Party leader and actor Laurence Fox has been arrested and released after police raided his house over accusations that he conspired to commit criminal damage to Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) cameras.

Mr. Fox was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after he earlier shared footage showing police seizing possessions at his home in Stockwell, London.

He also confirmed that he had been sacked by GB News while he was in custody.

Police confirmed that a 45-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to commit criminal damage to ULEZ cameras and encouraging or assisting offences to be committed.

He was taken to a south London police station but has since been released and bailed pending further inquiries.

In a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Fox can be seen sitting on a sofa and pointing at officers, saying, “Look how many coppers there are in my house.”

Mr. Fox is then heard saying, “That, ladies and gentlemen, is the country we live in.”

‘Blade Runners’

It comes as police said more ULEZ cameras in and around London were damaged and stolen last month.

In May, an operation was launched by the Met to ensure a “proportionate approach” was in place to respond both proactively and reactively to any crimes.

The cameras look for drivers of non-compliant vehicles using automatic number plate recognition technology who are then subsequently charged £12.50 a day to drive. Those who fail to pay the fee are then fined.

The “Blade Runners,” a group of activists who have made it their mission to disable and remove ULEZ cameras, have warned that their activity will “escalate” unless their demands are met.

On Tuesday, the Met announced another 244 ULEZ cameras had been damaged in September and 41 stolen, bringing the total from the beginning of April to the end of September to 795.

Maajid Nawaz

On Wednesday, Mr. Fox appeared in an interview with Maajid Nawaz, saying he would be “happy to be arrested” over damaging ULEZ cameras.

Mr. Nawaz asked, “As Reclaim, what is your stance on Blade Runners?”

Mr. Fox replied that Reclaim MP Andrew Bridgen “gets a bit annoyed because he says you can’t encourage criminality but I say it’s digital flytipping.”

“I would encourage mass removal of the surveillance state because once it’s there you cannot remove it,” he said.

GB News

The arrest is the latest in a turbulent few weeks for the actor-turned-politician.

Last week he was suspended by GB News amid an internal investigation and a probe by Ofcom which received more than 8,000 complaints over on-air comments about female journalist Ava Evans on the “Dan Wootton Tonight” programme on Sept. 26.

Mr. Fox and presenter Mr. Wootton, who have both since apologised, were suspended by the channel after the broadcast. Calvin Robinson, who hosted a religious current affairs programme on the channel, was also dismissed after sharing support for Mr. Wootton online.

An internal GB News investigation into Mr. Wootton is ongoing.

On Wednesday, Mr. Fox told Sky News: “I found out about the GB News sacking, in there [the police station].

“They went, ‘By the way, you’ve been sacked and there’s loads of paparazzi out there.‘ And I was like ‘phew.’”

The Epoch Times has contacted Mr. Fox for comment.

PA Media and Chris Summers contributed to this report.