REFORM UK WIN IN RUNCORN ‘WOULD BE HUGE’ SAYS NIGEL FARAGE

REFORM UK leader Nigel Farage said a win for the party in Runcorn would be huge and that support for Labour has “just melted away”.

Asked about the implications of a win in an interview with GB News’ Political Editor Christopher Hope, Farage said: “It’d be huge. This is Labour’s 16th safest seat in the country.

“They got 22,000 votes last time around, we just came second with 7,000 votes. So, think about the numbers. They’re enormous. It’s difficult to really believe how quickly support for this Labour Party has just melted away.

“Two things I would identify very strongly that I’ve seen, one, the winter fuel allowance. And what really hurts you see is they took away the winter fuel allowance but promised that energy bills would come down by £300 a year.

“Well, actually, as of the first of April, they’re up on average by £281. So, you’ve got a massively increased bill, and the winter fuel allowance has been taken away. That really has…upset a lot of people.

“But the big one, and this is the really big one that I’m seeing – working people, people who have alarms get up at five o’clock in the morning, go off and work hard on building sites or whatever they do, and the kind of reaction I get is we’re paying more and more blooming tax and it feels like we’re paying it for people [coming] across the Channel in boats, for people who choose not to work, a deep sense of resentment.

“And I think Labour’s connection – remember the old phrase, working class? Labour’s connection with the working class is the weakest now than I think it’s ever been.”

He said the party can learn lessons on campaigning from the Lib Dems: “Lib Dems are very good at it. In fact, there are many, many things that Lib Dems do that we need to model our party on. They are very, very good at the social side of politics. They’re very, very good at having their events.

“They’re very, very good at delivering leaflets, knocking on doors, and boy, we’ve come a long way since the general election, but we’re not yet where the Lib Dems are.”

He denied that Reform UK was seen by the public as being light on policy: “I don’t think so at all. But actually, the truth is, I’ve been going around the country. I’m talking about local policy way more than the leaders.

“Let me assure you, there are two things I’ve discovered. We put in 3,000 FoI requests ahead of these elections, right? So we’ve been preparing for this for a long, long time.

“I simply can’t believe the money that’s being spent on consultants. I can’t believe the money that’s being spent on agency workers. I can’t believe areas like climate change or teeth brushing, or these are all areas where council tax money pays, money is being spent that I don’t think is the remit of a local council.

“So, two things we do. Number one, get councils doing less, focus on the primary goals of what a county council or unitary authority is for by not getting involved in all these other things. Secondly, send in the auditors. You know, let’s find out.

“I’m sort of talking about a Doge for every county, if you like…I think there is a lot of wasteful spending and a lot of complacency, and a lot of people being paid a lot of money working for councils where debts are being racked up and getting worse.

“Ditch stuff that I don’t think county councils should be getting involved with at all. So, slimmer government, leaner government. Oh, and while I’m at it, different culture. Work from home? No, not under us.”

Asked if the party would do local deals with the Tories to defeat Labour, he said: “You’re all obsessed with this. This is the Westminster obsession. I mean, look, we do a deal with independents or whoever. All I can say is this, to do a deal with anybody, we would demand very tough terms.

“And those tough terms would be, as I’ve said already, big cuts in spending, cuts in staffing, and cuts in terms of the areas that council involves itself in, and if other parties are prepared to go in with us on that basis, then yes, we would be grown-ups.

“What you’re going to see, what you’re going to see from the 2021 vote is a lot of old Conservative voters come to us, at a chunk, go to the Lib Dems as well. I know they’ve been here since 1832, I don’t believe there’ll be an electoral force at the next election.”

On Tony Blair’s comments about the government’s net zero policies, he said: “I’ve been saying that for ten years. I mean, actually, net zero, this debate on net zero is something Reform are leading the way on.

“Even the Conservatives have said, ‘oh, well, we’re not so sure about net zero now’, although they’ve written it into law…it’s a very interesting move from Blair. Very, very interesting move. And of course, he’s right.”

Asked if he had sent a congratulatory note to Donald Trump to mark his first 100 days in office, Farage said: “No, I haven’t. I said before, you’ve got a British government involved in trade negotiations. If I’m seen to be interfering with the sidelines, that would look terrible…

“Quite why Trump’s come out with his 51st state of America stuff with Canada, I have no idea. I’ve always said that our interests with Trump are similar, but not symmetrical, and I still believe this is a pro-British American president who wants to do a full trade deal with us, but I worry that Starmer’s reset with the EU is going to make that impossible.

“I’m not disengaging, but I cannot be seen to interfere. If the Labour Party ring me up and say, ‘go and see him and try and help with the trade deal’, I go and do it. But if I interfere now, I’ll be called all the names under the sun.”