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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has forecast Donald Trump will win the US presidential election, as his Reform UK party sought to play up its links with the Republican candidate.
The party leader claimed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris had a “history of being part of the radical left”, and sought to draw a comparison with Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
Earlier, he admitted “amateurism” let down the party at the general election.
He told the party’s conference in Birmingham: “At that stage of our development, we weren’t big enough, wealthy enough, professional enough to vet general election candidates properly, and that amateurism let us down.”
Mr Farage said having Zia Yusuf as the new Reform chairman had already made “a massive difference” in making Reform more professional, promising that in future, Reform will vet candidates rigorously at all levels.
He insisted he did not “give a damn” who the next Conservative Party leader is because “the brand is bust”.
Meanwhile, a new YouGov poll has found most Britons have a negative view of Reform UK.
Labour cannot rest on laurels on diversity, says Commons leader
Labour must not rest on its laurels on diversity in Parliament, one of the party’s frontbenchers has said ahead of its annual women’s conference today.
Commons Leader Lucy Powell hailed the 2024 election as a landmark for women’s representation, returning both the highest number and highest proportion of female MPs in history.
Some 263 women were elected to Parliament in July, 40% of all MPs, with 190 of them being Labour MPs.
The numbers of ethnic minority and openly LGBT MPs are also at record levels for the start of a Parliament.
Ms Powell said: “This Parliament is our most diverse ever, in large part down to the huge number of Labour MPs who were elected. Our first women’s conference under a Labour Government in 15 years is a moment to celebrate.
“But we can’t rest on our laurels. If we are to restore trust in politics, we need a Parliament which properly reflects the country we serve.”
Ms Powell went on to say more needed to be done to address concerns about the safety of MPs and make Parliament’s working environment more family-friendly.
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Exclusive by Archie Mitchell:
Farage predicts Trump will be next US president
Donald Trump will win the US presidential election, Nigel Farage has claimed as his Reform UK party sought to play up its links with the Republican candidate.
The Reform leader had words of warning for Foreign Secretary David Lammy – who once described former president Mr Trump as a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” – about a potential second Trump presidency.
He also claimed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris had a “history of being part of the radical left”, and sought to draw a comparison with Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
The Clacton MP was due to join Mr Trump’s campaign over the summer, before announcing his intention to stand for Parliament and take over the leadership of Reform.
At the Reform conference, following his stump speech, Mr Farage said: “The fact that we have a Labour Government with a big majority who are going to be there for a few years, the fact that the Foreign Secretary has said some pretty unpleasant things about Donald Trump, if Trump wins, that doesn’t put us in a great place.”
Ties and caps sold at Reform conference made in China and Bangladesh
The Reform UK merchandise stand at their Birmingham conference is offering a wide range of items for sale – from ties signed by Richard Tice to caps emblazoned with “Let’s Save Britain”. The caps – manufactured in China – are on sale for £20.
Tice claims ‘world would be safer’ if Trump won US election
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said leader Nigel Farage’s relationship with former US president Donald Trump was “to the benefit of this country”.
Mr Farage has visited the US three times since being elected as the MP for Clacton, including attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Mr Tice said that “as a leader of a party that is now becoming mainstream, international affairs, our relationship with our most important, strategic international partner – the US – is very important and the world will be a safer place if Donald Trump wins the presidential election”.
Reform will vet candidates rigorously, vows Farage
Nigel Farage has promised that Reform UK will “be vetting candidates rigorously at all levels” in future as he delivered his keynote speech to the party’s conference in Birmingham.
Mr Farage said the party had no “time or room” for “a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members”.
Reform UK reportedly had to remove more than 100 general election candidates since the start of the year, more than a dozen of whom were sacked after offensive and racist comments were revealed.
They included these three, suspended over their remarks:
Starmer pledges to no longer accept donations for clothes after freebies row
Sir Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves make vow in change of policy before Labour’s conference opens in Liverpool:
Watch: What we learnt from Farage’s speech
Tory brand is bust, Farage claims
Nigel Farage claimed he does not “give a damn” who the next Conservative Party leader is because “the brand is bust“.
The Reform UK leader attacked each of the candidates in the running to replace Rishi Sunak personally, saying one has “the most inappropriate surname I’ve ever come across in my life which indicates an IQ rather higher than I think they have” and another “lacks any discernible personality”.
One believes working in McDonald’s “for a week makes them working class” while another is campaigning as a Liberal Democrat, he claimed.
“And the truth is, I don’t give a damn who the next leader of the Conservative Party is. I really don’t. It doesn’t matter who leads them, the brand is bust.”
Farage brands Starmer’s leadership ‘truly shocking’
Nigel Farage has described the first months of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership as “truly shocking” in his Reform UK conference keynote speech.
The party leader said: “As for Labour, I mean, goodness me. Have you ever known a new Prime Minister get off to a worse start than Keir Starmer?”
Delegates in the crowd replied: “No”
Mr Farage added: “It’s truly shocking. I mean, the message of ‘things can only get worse’ is hardly inspiring, is it?
“And now we’re living in a state, and you all know it, but they’ll deny it in Westminster until the cows come home, we’re living in a state with two-tier policing.
“We’re living in a state with two-tier justice. We’re living in a state that is led by two-tier Keir and we’ve had enough already.”
Source: independent.co.uk
