Watch: Reporter manhandled out of Rishi Sunak’s campaign launch on live TV

Security staff at the launch of Rishi Sunak’s general election campaign manhandled a political journalist out of the event live on camera.

Darren McCaffrey, a Sky News political correspondent, was “forcibly removed” with his crew by a security staff member while trying to film the rally attended by around 100 Conservative activists at the Excel Centre in east London on Wednesday afternoon.

The security officer, dressed in neon orange clothing, can be seen physically escorting Mr McCaffery and his team out of the venue and herding them towards an elevator as they continue to film.

Mr McCaffery tells the camera: “I am being forcibly removed. We just simply wanted to have access tonight as Sky News but unfortunately we’re told that because of pool arrangements in place we are not allowed to be here.”

A pool arrangement means other broadcasters are obliged to share their footage.

‘We are going to be put into an elevator’

He added: “What we are trying to film is the campaign event where the Prime Minister is due to speak in the next couple of minutes. It is in front of Conservative activists.

“It is essentially trying to get across the message that we had in Downing Street today from the Prime Minister talking about stability. I am sure he will talk about the decision he has made but as you can see we just don’t have access to it.

“It is not entirely clear why we don’t have access… So we are going to be put into an elevator here, our bags are on here.

“We are probably going to have to leave at this stage, because we are going to lose contact. We are going into an elevator with security.”

Mr Sunak launched an impassioned defence of the Conservative’s party record in his speech to the Tory activists assembled in front of him and sought to paint Labour as a threat to Britain’s security and prosperity.

He warned that Sir Keir Starmer would make the UK “a magnet for every illegal immigrant in Europe”.