Robert Jenrick blasts Labour AND Tories over mass migration as he is unveiled as latest Reform MP: Live reaction and updates

Reform England leader Nigel Farage said the following in reaction to Kemi Badenoch’s announcement that he had kicked Robert Jenrick out of the front row:

I was very surprised when this news came out.

Asked if he had spoken to Mr Jenrick, the Reform leader said he had been in talks with senior Conservatives over the past week and month, although he never disclosed his private bodyguards.

Pressed again about whether he had spoken to the former shadow justice secretary, Mr Farage said:

Of course I spoke to Robert Jenrick. Was I on the verge of signing a document with him? No. So did we talk? Yes.

Mr Farage was asked again whether Mr Jenrick was considering leaving the Conservatives for Reform and said he thought ‘almost every Conservative was considering leaving the party’.

Robert Jenrick claimed that ‘if we don’t get the next Government right, Britain is likely to be past the point of repair’.

He added: ‘I cannot in good conscience remain loyal to a party that has failed so badly, that is not sorry and that has not changed, that I know in my heart of hearts will not – cannot – deliver what is needed.

‘That’s why I decided to leave. Because Nigel Farage has consistently and often stood alone for what is needed.’

Mr Jenrick added of the new party leader: ‘I don’t agree with everything he says and he certainly won’t agree with everything I say. But looking back, I see that at a time when the two main parties were failing in Britain, Nigel was often the only voice of reason.’

He concluded his speech by saying: ‘This is what we must do at this hour, when Britain is truly on the brink of danger. If you agree with this, don’t sit on the sidelines.

‘England fell apart. Britain needs Reformation. And the Reformation needs you.’

Answering questions at a press conference in London, Nigel Farage said that his party will be ‘closed to defections’ after May 7.

He encouraged all MPs to act quickly, claiming he would not allow any more members from other parties to join Reform UK after the upcoming local elections.

Farage reiterated that he had been contacted by MPs and councilors from parties across the political spectrum.

He added that a ‘well-known Labor figure’ will be announced as the latest person to leave the party next week.

Robert Jenrick has revealed that he first contacted Nigel Farage in September.

He claimed he contacted Reform but did not decide to leave at that stage.

He described leader Nigel Farage as ‘often the lone voice of common sense’.

Concluding his speech, Robert Jenrick said: ‘The truth is that the Conservative Party is so compromised that it cannot speak for the country.

‘He cannot stand up to the madness of the Labor Party. It is not fit for purpose.

‘I can’t fool myself anymore. The party has not changed and will not change.

‘Most of the party does not understand this. They don’t have the stomach for the radical change Britain needs.’

Referring to the long delay between Nigel Farage’s announcement that Jenrick had abandoned reform and his appearance on stage, a Tory source said he was busy rewriting his speech to remove parts released to the media by his former party.

Just as he was about to take the stage, the Conservatives released extracts from a speech by former shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick which they said was evidence of his plan to leave Reform UK.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: ‘We have decided to publish summaries of the evidence we have in relation to Robert Jenrick’s planned departure. ‘We have no doubt that Jenrick had a hand in crafting these remarks and that he intended to stab his Conservative colleagues in the back.’

According to excerpts, Mr Jenrick’s speech read: ‘The Conservatives and Labor have lost the right to govern the UK. And now the task passes to Reformation.

‘Nigel represents the real change we have needed for over a decade. If one puts aside party allegiance – personal ambition – that person is surely the right person to lead the movement and carry it out. And I believe Nigel will deliver the real change that is needed.’

In a lengthy speech, Robert Jenrick blamed both Labor and the Conservatives, claiming Britain was ‘completely broken’ and in ‘decline’.

Listing a range of issues, Jenrick said wages were ‘stagnating’, energy prices were among the highest in the developed world and taxes were rising.

He criticized NHS waiting lists, court backlogs, unemployment levels and rising taxes.

‘Those who came before us built a great country, the greatest country in the world. But we are ready to lose,” he said.

He later added: ‘Both Labor and the Conservatives have broken Britain and both are now dominated by those who do not have the competence or backbone to fix it.

‘Both sides are committed to a set of ideas that, judged by their own actions, have failed and failed Britain. ‘Labour introduced mass immigration but the Conservatives increased it after 2019.’

Nigel Farage told reporters he would “buy Kemi lunch next week and say thank you” as he confirmed Robert Jenrick would be joining Reform UK.

“I’ve had to think very quickly about how I should react to this and I just want to say thank you to Kemi Badenoch, this is the last Christmas present I’ve ever received,” the Reform UK leader told a press conference.

‘Negotiations with Jenrick have ended. There is nothing to say or do anymore. You’ve handed me on a platter the man who is by far the most popular figure on ConHome and has a 60% approval rating on ConHome… perhaps today you have actually done more than anyone in history to help realign the much-needed centre-right of British politics in this country against a terrible Labor Government and an increasingly worrying far-left voice.

‘So I can’t offer you drinks everywhere, but next week I’ll buy Kemi lunch and say thank you.’

Away from the press conference in London, when asked why broadcasters sacked Robert Jenrick, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘It was something I had to do.

‘I heard a lot of people, not just from the Conservative Party but from the Reformers, saying that Robert was about to leave and that I wasn’t doing anything because I believed him when he said he wasn’t going to do it.

‘Then I was shown very, very clear evidence and I made that decision because I have to deal with not just him but all the people in the Conservative Party.’

He added: ‘So I did what I had to do. ‘I did the right thing.’

Robert Jenrick has now appeared on stage at Reform UK’s press conference in Westminster.

Now it’s time for the truth. England is in decline, England is in decline.

Criticizing the state of the economy, court backlogs and defense funding, the former Shadow Justice Secretary went on to talk about immigration.

He claimed that ‘terrorists entered the UK on small boats’ and that ‘one in five people in Britain were not born here’.

Nigel Farage has confirmed Robert Jenrick has defected to Reformation England.

But all was not well after Farage asked attendees to invite the former Shadow Justice Secretary to the stage, but he did not turn up.

‘He didn’t change his mind, did he?’ quipped Farage.

After a delay, Jenrick entered the room and confirmed he would now serve as a Reform MP.

Nigel Farage has just started speaking in London. He starts by saying he plans to talk about postponing local elections for millions of people next year, some for the second year in a row.

Farage said he planned to announce he would publish a legal document opposing the proposals, but said this would not happen for ‘a few days’ after this morning’s events.

He said Baednoch ‘jumped the gun’ in sacking Jenrick and that it was ‘the last Christmas present I’ve ever received’.

Minutes before Reform’s press conference started, Robert Jenrick made a short statement on social media.

‘Now is the time for the truth,’ he wrote to X.

This will certainly fuel speculation that he is about to confirm that he has joined the Reformation.