Kemi Badenoch mocks Nigel Farage in brutal ‘breakdown’ attack | Politics | News

Nigel Farage is “having a meltdown” because he is so worried about the threat from Restore Britain and its leader Rupert Lowe, Kemi Badenoch has claimed. The Conservative leader attacked Reform UK in a gleeful attack on Mr Farage’s party.

Reform battles for historic victory in Makerfield by-election; Here Labor candidate Andy Burnham hopes to return to parliament as an MP so he can challenge Sir Keir Starmer in the leadership contest. But Restore Britain, led by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, is campaigning to get as many votes as possible, which could prevent Mr Farage’s party from winning. A poll by Opinium, for example, suggested Mr Burnham could get 46% of the vote, Reform 41% and Restore 7%.

While the figures are too close to accurately predict any outcome, they do show how a split in the Right-wing vote could allow Mr Burnham to win.

And Mrs Badenoch said: “I think the Reformation is clearly going through some sort of breakdown. It’s because of Rupert Lowe or something.”

He also accused Farage of going into hiding because of questions about the £5 million gift he received from billionaire donor Christopher Harborne.

He said: “But it’s very interesting that he hasn’t held a press conference since the dubious £5million story emerged, because he doesn’t want to face the kind of questions I face every day.”

Mr Farage actually held a press conference at Makerfield last week, but his regular press conferences in London now appear to be over.

Ms Badenoch answered questions after a speech in London in which she said the Prime Minister should resign if he could not prove his long-delayed defense investment plan would “protect our national security”.

The Conservative leader also proposed giving MPs’ votes to Sir Keir or another prime minister if he loses the leadership battle, with welfare cuts passed through Parliament to pay for defense increases.

Plans to increase defense spending in the long term were dashed last week when John Healey resigned as defense secretary.

Mr Healey chose to leave the Government because his defense investment plan did not meet defense chiefs’ wishes.

After months of wrangling, the long-delayed plan has set out spending around £13.5bn over the four years rather than the £28bn that officials say is needed to transform Britain’s armed forces into a future-ready military.

Speaking at a press conference in central London on Monday, Conservative leader Ms Badenoch said the plan should no longer be rushed to address concerns made public by Mr Healey and his colleagues who resigned from the Government last week.

“If the plan is to protect our national security, there are three tests that need to be met,” Ms Badenoch said.

The first test Ms Badenoch laid out was funding: Britain needed to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2030, delivering at least the £28bn over the four years defense chiefs have demanded.

The Conservative leader’s second test was “preparation” as he insisted spending “cannot be rolled back” into the next Parliament.

The capability was her third test and Ms Badenoch told the press conference: “The defense investment plan must equip Britain with a more lethal and operationally effective armed forces with a mix of conventional equipment and modern technology such as drones and counter-drones.”

He added: “If the Prime Minister cannot provide the leadership in his Cabinet to deliver a defense investment plan that meets these three tests, he should resign now and be replaced by a leader who can do this.”

Elsewhere, Ms Badenoch touched on the Government’s difficulties in passing reforms aimed at cutting the welfare bill last summer; these reforms were defeated by Labor MPs concerned about their impact on disabled people.

He told the press conference: “My party will work with any Labor leader in the national interest to cut the defense aid bill.”