Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that his party can take power at the next election if it works fast at becoming more professional.
Speaking at the Reform UK conference in Birmingham, Mr Farage pledged to work at “breakneck speed” to build up the party.
He told supporters: “We can win the next general election just with the numbers of people that agree with our principles. What we have to do is to be credible. What we have to do is be on the ground everywhere. What we have to do is show that we can bring success after success… If we do those things, we genuinely can.”
Mr Farage also admitted that “amateurism” let down the party at the general election. He will be speaking again to wrap up the conference at 1:30pm in a farewell address on Saturday.
Meanwhile senior Labour leaders have pledged not to take any further donations for clothing after a freebies row. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, his deputy Angela Rayner and chancellor Rachel Reeves will no longer accept money for clothes, it was reported on Friday.
Labour’s party conference begins on Sunday with ministers keen to move on from the wardrobe row.
Labour try to move on from clothes donation row
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says party can win next election
Starmer, Rayner and Reeves will no longer accept donations for clothes
Eminem, fireworks, and the cult of Nigel Farage: Inside Reform UK’s party conference
Chancellor reportedly considering increasing alcohol duty
12:09 , Holly Bancroft
Ministers have sought to end the perception they are leading “very different lives” to the public ahead of Labour’s party conference amid efforts to draw a line under a row about clothing donations to high-profile government figures.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was important to demonstrate the government’s priorities are “the country’s priorities” after it emerged on the eve of Labour’s annual gathering that clothing donations would no longer be accepted by the prime minister and his top brass.
Neither Sir Keir Starmer, Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner nor Chancellor Rachel Reeves will accept such donations in the future.
Labour leaders are headed to Liverpool for their party conference, with Sir Keir due to speak on Tuesday.
Read more here:
Nandy says Government shares public’s priorities after clothing donations row
11:04 , Holly Bancroft
Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity ratings will bounce back, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has said.
In an interview with The Guardian, Ms Rayner predicted that Sir Keir would become more popular as the public started to feel the impact of a Labour government.
She said: “I think he’ll be remembered as somebody who fixed the foundations. Public service is not about being popular, it’s about being responsible more than anything. That’s more important.”
Ms Rayner also promised to give extra powers to mayors around the country. She said: “We’re going to make sure they’ve got all the ingredients to thrive because… where you put power with people with skin in the game, you can truly deliver.
“My ambition is to have more powers and to have more mayors… I’m not going to force people to have a mayor but I do want to see more, and deeper powers for those areas.”
Speaking about Labour’s plans for the future, she pledged: “Within five years, people will have a better life. We won’t be able to fix everything immediately, but you will see the sprigs and the difference that the Labour government has made.”
09:55 , Holly Bancroft
The public commentary around clothing donations is not what Labour wants to focus on as the party goes into its conference, culture secretary Lisa Nandy has suggested.
She told Sky News: “We certainly don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes when we have a really positive agenda for this country.
“But I think these have always been very difficult issues in British politics. We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things, we don’t claim on expenses for them so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind, MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”
She said she had not received any clothing gifts from donors, but added: “I don’t make any judgment about what other Members of Parliament do.
“The only judgment I would make is, if they are breaking the rules and they are trying to hide what they are doing, that is when problems arise.”
09:34 , Holly Bancroft
Senior government figures’ decision to stop accepting donations of clothes is aimed at ending the perception they are living “very different lives” from the public amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures, Lisa Nandy suggested.
Asked about the reasoning behind the decision, the culture secretary told BBC Breakfast: “For exactly the reason that you just said, that people are really struggling in this country, and we don’t want people to believe that we are living very different lives from them.
“Most people who go into politics, of all political parties, are ordinary people who want to make people’s lives better.
“It is important to us that people know that that is what we are as a government and that we have their priorities absolutely up front and centre of ours.
“The country’s priorities are our priorities.”
Ms Nandy said the most important thing the government had done since coming to office was being “open and transparent about what we are doing”.
Sir Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves will stop taking donations for clothing after a row over freebies.
09:19 , Holly Bancroft
Political correspondent Millie Cooke is at the Reform UK conference this weekend.
Here is part of her dispatch from the first day on Friday:
“Reform UK’s conference had the buzz of a party punching well above its weight. And that is exactly what the party’s leadership is attempting to do. Nigel Farage and other senior figures spent today’s conference – the largest it has ever held – trying to persuade its members, and the wider public, that it is a credible electoral force.
They even went so far as to suggest Mr Farage could be the next prime minister.
With just five sitting MPs, the most the party has ever secured in its short history, it’s certainly a bold ambition.
Telling members “the sky is the limit”, Mr Farage also laid down some serious policy changes that he said would help get them there.
Speaking without notes on the main stage, after walking in to the sound of Eminem’s ‘Without Me’ accompanied by a selection of pyrotechnics, Mr Farage – perhaps underwhelmingly to some watchers – said the party needs to emulate… the Liberal Democrats.”
Read more here:
Eminem, fireworks, and the cult of Nigel Farage: Inside Reform UK’s party conference
09:02 , Holly Bancroft
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering increasing alcohol duties in next month’s Budget.
Ms Reeves has not ruled out putting up tax on beer, wine and spirits as part of a plan to restore public finances, according to a report in The Telegraph.
She has been presented with forecasts that show that putting up alcohol duty would raise an extra £800m next year.
However drinks industry bosses warned that tax takings could actually go down if customers baulk at higher prices and buy less.
08:37 , Holly Bancroft
Sir Keir Starmer, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and chancellor Rachel Reeves will no longer accept donations for clothing after a political row over freebies, it has been reported.
The prime minister was facing questions over taking thousands of pounds of donations for work clothing and spectacles. Sir Keir said he had always followed the rules on donations.
Labour is trying to draw a line under the row ahead of their party conference, which starts on Sunday.
08:32 , Holly Bancroft
Nigel Farage has told his supporters that the Reform party can win the next election if it becomes more professional.
Speaking at the party’s conference in Birmingham, Mr Farage told attendees on Friday: “We can win the next general election just with the numbers of people that agree with our principles. What we have to do is be credible. What we have to do is be on the ground everywhere. What we have to do is to show that we can bring success after success after success. If we do those things, we genuinely can.”
Mr Farage said the support was already out there for Reform UK ideas, adding: “I don’t believe we actually have to convert anybody. I think it’s out there, I think among existing Labour and Conservative voters and among non voters.”
However he warned the party needed to get serious if they were going to grow their supporter base. “We have to work at breakneck speed to build branches, to find candidates, to vet them and achieve what I think we can.”
07:00 , Jane Dalton
Labour’s conference in Liverpool will be the first such gathering since 2009 to be held while the party is in government, and the first post-election victory celebration since 2005. Sean O’Grady looks forward to the sticky – and interesting – bits:
Will this year’s Labour conference be a joyous occasion or a mood-killer?
05:15 , Jane Dalton
Nigel Farage says Reform UK needs to ‘model itself on Lib Dems’
03:30 , Jane Dalton
Hospitals built from crumbling concrete will be replaced as a priority and spared from a spending review Rachel Reeves has vowed to undertake, a letter to MPs suggests.
The Chancellor announced in July that all projects in the New Hospitals Programme promised by the previous Conservative government would be reviewed.
But seven hospitals built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) across England will not be subject to this, a letter sent by health secretary Wes Streeting to MPs has now suggested.
The lightweight concrete, used in public buildings including schools and hospitals between the 1950s and 1990s, has started to deteriorate.
“Central to the review is the understanding that the hospitals built primarily from Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (Raac) need to be replaced as a priority, to protect patient and staff safety,” Mr Streeting’s letter said.
01:44 , Jane Dalton
Rachel Reeves is under increasing pressure to scrap her plan to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners after being handed a £10bn budget boost by the Bank of England (BoE):
Reeves under pressure to axe winter fuel cut after £10billion windfall
Saturday 21 September 2024 00:01 , Jane Dalton
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.
Friday 20 September 2024 22:25 , Jane Dalton
Exclusive by Archie Mitchell:
‘I was diagnosed with PTSD over Brexit,’ Lib Dem councillor says
Friday 20 September 2024 21:58 , Jane Dalton
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.”
Friday 20 September 2024 21:25 , Jane Dalton
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.
Reform UK conference merch from China-made Save Britain caps to £35 Richard Tice ties
Friday 20 September 2024 20:30 , Jane Dalton
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”.
Friday 20 September 2024 19:35 , Jane Dalton
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:
Reform UK drops two more candidates over offensive social media posts
Friday 20 September 2024 18:50 , Jane Dalton
Sir Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves make vow in change of policy before Labour’s conference opens in Liverpool:
Keir Starmer will no longer accept donations for clothes after freebies row
Friday 20 September 2024 18:13 , Jane Dalton
Friday 20 September 2024 17:33 , Jane Dalton
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.”
Friday 20 September 2024 17:07 , Jane Dalton
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.”
Friday 20 September 2024 17:05 , Jabed Ahmed
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.”
Friday 20 September 2024 17:04 , Jabed Ahmed
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that the party should model itself on the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Farage told the party’s conference in Birmingham: “I never thought I’d say this, but we have to model ourselves on the Liberal Democrats.”
“That doesn’t mean that you’ll see me cascading down waterfalls and I won’t behave in a way that I think is particularly stupid even if others think I do,” he said.
“But the Liberal Democrats build branches, the Liberal Democrats win seat at district, county and unitary level.
“The Liberal Democrats build on that strength, the Liberal Democrats put literature and leaflets through doors repeatedly in their target areas.
“And despite the fact they haven’t got any policies at all – in fact the whole thing’s really rather vacuous isn’t it – they managed with a vote much lower than ours to win 72 seats in Parliament.”
Friday 20 September 2024 16:59 , Jabed Ahmed
Reform UK has not “got room for a few extremists” to “wreck” its work, Nigel Farage has said.
The MP and Reform UK leader said at his party’s Birmingham conference: “We could have done better. We could have done better, but at that stage of the game – and this is absolutely not knocking Richard (Tice) and what he did to keep this thing alive for all those years – we weren’t big enough. Give Richard a round of applause, go on.
“We just at that stage of our development, we weren’t big enough, wealthy enough, professional enough to vet general election candidates properly. And we were let down – that amateurism let us down.
“We could have won a lot more votes and there are lessons that we need to learn from that.
“So as I stood after the count in Clacton, in those early hours of July 5, I said that ‘yes of course, I would represent the constituency, the constituents in Parliament, but I had a job’ – and my job was to professionalise and democratise Reform UK. That was a solemn promise and pledge that I made to you, the members.”
Mr Farage announced his party was in the process of recruiting full-time regional managers and regional organisers and added: “So, I feel that my promise to professionalise the party is now on track. I also promise that in future we will be vetting candidates rigorously at all levels, I promise you that. We haven’t got time, we haven’t got room for a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members and rising by hundreds every single day. Amazing.”
Friday 20 September 2024 16:59 , Jabed Ahmed
Nigel Farage has claimed he set up Reform UK as a limited company guaranteed by shares in part because “nascent political parties are vulnerable to being hijacked by extremist groups and bad actors”.
“I set this up as a limited company guaranteed by shares and I owned 60% of the shares. Now I could make a joke and say that it led to streamlined decision-making, but I did it for two reasons,” he said.
“One, we had no time to get established – it needed somebody of experience to make decisions right or wrong and that structure allowed me to do that.
“But secondly I did it because new or nascent political parties are vulnerable to being hijacked by extremist groups and bad actors, and although I had control of it, that could never happen.
“That could never happen because we do not want extremists. We do not want bigots. We do not want people who think that way because we represent the silent, decent majority.”
Friday 20 September 2024 16:49 , Jabed Ahmed
Friday 20 September 2024 16:49 , Jabed Ahmed
Friday 20 September 2024 16:48 , Jabed Ahmed
Nigel Farage claimed he was upset about how governments had operated in the years since the Brexit vote because of “the damage it does to democracy” but also because “I stood aside in that 2019 general election”.
“The last few years since Boris won in 2019 has been one of a complete breach of trust with the British public on a truly historic scale,” the Reform UK leader told the party conference.
“I was upset about it with the damage it does to democracy, but also upset about it because don’t forget I stood aside in that 2019 general election because we wanted to get Brexit all over the line.”
Friday 20 September 2024 16:45 , Jabed Ahmed
Friday 20 September 2024 16:41 , Jabed Ahmed
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage began his speech by searching his pockets.
“Just give me a second,” he said, before the Clacton MP pulled out a pair of glasses.
He said: “Do you like them?
“Very expensive but guess what, I bought them myself, how about that?”
Prime ,inister Sir Keir Starmer has received “multiple pairs of glasses” from a donor, igniting a row over the number of donations he has received.
Friday 20 September 2024 16:39 , Jabed Ahmed
Nigel Farage has arrived in the auditorium at Birmingham’s NEC, where his party is hosting its conference.
Delegates and campaigners clapped along to Eminem’s Without Me as the Reform UK leader made his way to the stage.
Earlier today, Mr Farage received a standing ovation as he entered the main hall of the party’s conference.
A remix version of Diamonds by Rihanna was the soundtrack for Mr Farage’s arrival.
Friday 20 September 2024 16:34 , Jabed Ahmed
Lee Anderson dismissed the comments he made about London Mayor Sadiq Khan which lost him the Tory whip as “constructive criticism”, claiming the London Mayor had “given our capital city away” and should be “thoroughly ashamed of himself”.
Mr Anderson was suspended as a Conservative Party MP after claiming that Mr Khan was controlled by “Islamists”.
The MP, who defected to Reform, told the Reform conference he had joined the party “just after a few supposedly controversial comments I made about mayor Khan”.
“I like to think of it as constructive criticism,” he said. “In my opinion, he has given our capital city away. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself.”
He added: “I was told at the time that I must apologise to Labour’s mayor in London. Let me tell you, I will never apologise to that man.”
Elsewhere he dismissed net zero policies as a “load of rubbish” and its proponents as “lunatics”.
He attacked Just Stop Oil activists causing disruption in London as “undernourished vegans, grey-haired, armed with their Just Stop Oil hi-vis vests and a dangerous pair of Jesus sandals” who had brought the capital “to a standstill” while the Metropolitan Police “stood by and did nothing but dance the macarena”.
Friday 20 September 2024 16:14 , Jabed Ahmed
Most Britons have a negative view of Reform UK, a new YouGov poll has found.
Just over a quarter of Britons (27%) have a favourable view of the party, while twice as many (56%) have an unfavourable view, according to the poll.
Some 39 per cent of people polled described the party as ‘extremist’ and ‘should not be near power’.
Around three in ten (29-33%) also say they would refer to Reform as “nasty”, “dishonest” and “only interested in themselves”.
Friday 20 September 2024 16:01 , Millie Cooke
Lee Anderson ripped up a TV licence reminder letter during his speech on the main stage of Reform UK conference, describing the broadcaster as “awful”.
Giving a speech to party members, he said: “Let’s be honest friends, we have made mistakes in the past. And when we make mistakes we must apologise. And we’ve been responsible for some awful things. Things like, the BBC.
“Just a few weeks back they sent me a reminder for my TV licence. Some of you may have seen, I ripped it up online. Guess what? They’ve sent me another.”
“What do you think we should do with this?”, he asked.
Mr Anderson tore the letter apart to cries of “rip it up” from the audience.
Friday 20 September 2024 15:55 , Jabed Ahmed
Speaking to the Reform UK conference, Lee Anderson said it was a “disgrace” for children to be “taught they could be a different gender”.
Opening his address on the main stage, Mr Anderson was met with loud applause. He told the audience: “I want my country back.”
The MP for Ashfield continued: “I remember a time when our children went to school and they were taught how to read and write and become good citizens. They were not taught they could be a different gender.
“They did not have to sit down and listen to a six-foot-five drag queen read stories to them.
“This has been happening under our watch in this country. It is an absolute disgrace.”
Friday 20 September 2024 15:51 , Jabed Ahmed
Neighbours star Holly Valance has said she tells her kids to call Nigel Farage “uncle Nige”, according to LBC.
The Australian actress, 40, known for her role as Felicity “Flick” Scully, used to support the Tories but changed allegiance to Reform this year.
She has previously praised Liz Truss and backed Jacob-Rees Mogg for prime minister.
It has previously been reported Ms Valance helped Nigel Farage’s Reform UK raise £1.5m within days of his return as leader.
Friday 20 September 2024 15:32 , Jabed Ahmed
Panellists at the Reform conference have defended a woman who was arrested after sharing a fake name for the Southport attacker online, and criticised the “weaponisation” of free speech.
During a fringe panel event at the party’s conference in the NEC in Birmingham titled – Polarised Britain: How can we defend free speech? – one panellist also said that “speech is not action” when questioned about consequences of online incitement.
Bernadette Spofforth was arrested after sharing a fake name, commenting that if it were true there would be “hell to pay”.
The false claim that the perpetrator of the Southport knife attack was a Muslim refugee who had arrived by boat in the country in the past year, was spread online by a number of far-right commentators, stoking anti-immigration hostility.
Ms Spofforth apologised once she realised the information was incorrect and did not face any charges.
Alan Miller, chair of the Together Association, told the Reform conference that questioning the UK’s sovereignty or migration numbers leads to being “presented as someone who’s encouraging a riot”.
He said: “Bernie Spofforth many of you would have seen, she had several police come and arrest her. She did a post. Some might say it was a stupid post. You might have even said it was irresponsible, right? But did it deserve to have the police turn up?”
Friday 20 September 2024 15:27 , Jabed Ahmed
Former Conservative minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns is attending the Reform UK conference in Birmingham.
Dame Andrea previously claimed she was wooed by a pro-Brexit businessman acting on behalf of Reform who she says offered her jobs to defect. She insists she was never close to defecting.
She also used a picture of Nigel Farage in a campaign leaflet during this year’s general election.
Friday 20 September 2024 15:18 , Jabed Ahmed
Watch live: Nigel Farage addresses Reform UK conference in Birmingham
Friday 20 September 2024 14:44 , Jabed Ahmed
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Friday 20 September 2024 14:39 , Jabed Ahmed
Friday 20 September 2024 14:23 , Jabed Ahmed
Read the full report from our political correspondent Millie Cooke, who is at the conference in Birmingham
