Reform UK has issued a warning to Sir Keir Starmer after Labour MPs called for an informal “progressive coalition” to defeat Nigel Farage “at all costs”.
Sunderland Central MP Lewis Atkinson took part in a Hope Not Hate side event yesterday to discuss ways of tackling the “politics of hate”.
Atkinson, whose seat is Redwall, where 10,779 voters backed Reform UK, was speaking to urge progressive voters to stop Farage’s rise ahead of key local elections.
He said: “Two things are needed to defeat reform. We need to maintain and gain support in white working-class communities. The second thing we need, for lack of a better word, is for a progressive coalition to recognize the level of danger and do what it takes to defeat reform at all costs.”
Atkinson reiterated his position, distancing himself from any formal agreement and instead pointing to “systematic obstruction” in the form of strategic voting.
In these circumstances, Labour voters might support the Liberal Democrats in Newton Abbot and the Greens in Waveney Valley.
Zia Yousuf, chairman of Reform UK, hit back just hours after Mr Atkinson’s claims.
“Labour is right to be concerned – we are professionalising, organising and preparing to win across the country in the local elections next May,” Yusuf told GB News.
“Opinion polls show that support for reform continues to grow.
“Thousands of new members have joined in the past few days to watch our largest conference to date.
“While Labour MPs sneer and ignore the concerns of hard-working British people, Reform UK is speaking up for the silent majority.”
A Reform UK source also said: “Labour is scared of Reform UK and rightly so – we came second out of the 89 seats held by Labour.”
“It shows we are a real challenger to the Labour Party among working-class people who have been left behind by Westminster and Whitehall.”
“And any suggestion that they’re going to form a progressive coalition to stop us just proves that they don’t respect democracy and they don’t understand ordinary workers.”
The source added: “It’s complete left-wing insanity to claim that our policies and vision for Britain are nostalgic. There’s nothing backwards about trying to put British people first.”
“It’s not a backward thing to want a strong economy. It’s not a backward thing to have bold, ambitious plans that help real people. It’s a forward thing.”
Zia Yousuf, Chairman of Reform UK
Reuters
Mr Farage is currently adamant about winning No. 10 in 2029, with Reform UK identifying several Labour seats including Llanelli and Sittingbourne & Sheppey.
“We can win the next general election if we have enough people who agree with our cause,” Mr Farage told supporters at a Reform UK conference on Friday.
Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, identified key areas where Reform UK can make a difference in the upcoming local elections.
“We have to take into account the seats we won in the last election,” he told GB News.
“Specifically my seat in Redwall, but other councillors’ seats as well, but all across Redwall you can see places where we’ve come second.”
“We should put money and resources into these areas because I am confident we will win many seats in the municipal elections next May.”
“It’s a simple message: We are listening to you. The other party is not listening. Immigration comes up time and time again,” Anderson added.
But Mr Farage’s political ambitions were in the spotlight yesterday at the Labour Party conference.
George Laming, who wrote Hope Not Hate’s strategic plan for populist parties, called Reform UK an “authoritarian bastard” at another side event shortly after.
Speaking at a separate event looking at ways to keep Starmer on the left, Corbyn-backed MP Richard Burgon said: “After 14 years of attacks on living standards and public services, people want change and we need to heed the threat from the far right.”
“Let’s be clear about what change means – people want dramatically improved public services like the NHS, they want improved standards of living.”
“If the government fails to deliver on these things, I am very worried that a significant portion of the public will say, ‘We gave the Conservatives a chance, we gave Labour a chance, why not give the far right a chance?’
“The electoral gains of reformists should concern us all, and racist and far-right violence should shock us all.”
Ms Burgon, who lost her Labour leadership after voting to abolish the two-child benefit cap, later told GB News: “I think there’s clearly a difference between the reform political protagonists and the people who voted for them.”
“Do I believe that 17 percent of my constituency thinks Lee Anderson has the answers to all of our problems? No, I don’t. I don’t think their politics are the same as his.”