Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's treasury spokesman, has claimed the Conservatives have become a "metropolitan pressure group for the wealthiest" during a press conference in Westminster. The former Conservative MP took a series of jabs at party leader Kemi Badenoch, dismissing her as "Kensington Kemi" and accusing her of siding with the mega-rich.
Labour responded that Reform are "on the side of their crypto-backers". The exchange comes after Reform announced it had accepted £36million each from crypto tycoons Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, who have both lived overseas.
Jenrick's attack on Badenoch
Mr Jenrick, who is Nigel Farage's treasury spokesman, said of the Tories: "They are not even pretending to be a national party now. What's left is nothing more than a metropolitan pressure group for the wealthiest."
He added: "They have simply given up on the millions of people that have the misfortune to have to go out and earn a living every day." Addressing Tory tax plans, he said: "Kensington Kemi knows who her people are. They're millionaires... they're the wealthy, not the workers. She's for people who complain about Mayfair clubs not being what they used to be, for people who think that they can't find the ingredients for the latest Ottolenghi recipe, for people who have got absolutely nothing in common with the people that I represent in Nottinghamshire."
Reform's donations under scrutiny
Legislation to restrict donations from overseas donors to £100,000 is currently making its way through Parliament. If passed, the rules would apply from March 25, the day they were announced. Mr Farage is currently being investigated by Parliament's standards commissioner after it emerged he had accepted an undeclared £5million gift from Mr Harborne shortly before becoming an MP. Mr Farage has previously pledged millions of pounds in tax cuts on crypto transactions and has maintained this is not linked to the gift from Mr Harborne.
A Labour spokesperson said: "Another day, another press conference used as a desperate distraction tactic by Reform to try and take attention off the sleaze they're drowning in." They went on: "Reform pretend to be on your side, but they don't have a plan to fix the social care system, or the many other issues we face that politics has ignored for far too long. Instead, it's clear Farage and Reform are just on the side of their crypto billionaire backers."
Reform's electoral ambitions
During the press conference, Mr Jenrick denied his party's bubble had burst after it failed to overtake the Conservatives in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, securing 5.9% of the vote. Last week Mrs Badenoch ruled out reaching a deal with Reform. Mr Jenrick responded: "The Tories ruling out a deal with Reform is like me saying to Thomas Tuchel that I'm ruling out being selected for the England squad versus Croatia. I mean, doing a deal with the Tory party is like being handcuffed to a zombie. It's not something we're interested in, trust me."
He insisted Reform's bubble has not burst, saying: "I have heard for a very long time that Reform has peaked. And look at what's happening in elections that really matter across the country - we are now the joint opposition in Scotland, we're the opposition in Wales. We pushed the Tories out of shire counties from Essex to Norfolk, across the length and breadth of the country. We took Labour strongholds like Sunderland and Bradford, we're the largest party in Birmingham. Look at the record of what we've achieved."
He went on: "We are now in a battle between ourselves and the Labour Party, be in no doubt. If the next election is in a few months' time or in two and a half years' time, that will be the choice, and it will be a competitive election."
