More Tory MPs in talks to defect, Reform UK leader hints
The leader of Reform UK has hinted at further defections to his party following the high-profile move of former Conservative deputy chair Lee Anderson.
The Ashfield MP – who was once a Labour councillor – confirmed on Monday that he was joining Reform’s ranks, weeks after he was kicked out of the Tories over his refusal to apologise for saying London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”.
He took his seat in the Commons as Reform UK’s first MP this afternoon, and was seen sitting next to and chatting with George Galloway.
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Now part leader Richard Tice has warned that more sitting MPs will follow him if a general election isn’t set for May.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Tice said: “There are conversations going on [with MPs]. We’re not going to give any details of those.
“I didn’t give a running commentary. They can be assured the discussions are completely confidential.
“But let me say this. Unless the prime minister calls an election by next Friday, for 2 May, I would be surprised if when we come to the general election, there are not more than one reform MP in the House of Commons.”
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Anderson enters Commons as opposition MP
Reform UK, which was first founded in 2018 as the Brexit Party, pitches itself as a growing threat to the Conservatives, with the latest polls putting it at around 10%.
It achieved its best election performance last month, taking 13% of the vote in Wellingborough – a seat that was won by Labour.
But it is yet to be seen what impact the party will make at a general election.
Lee Anderson and Richard Tice stood on stage together to announce the defection. Pic: Sky News
Asked about Mr Anderson’s defection by Sky News, energy minister Graham Stuart said it was “a shame” the MP had made the decision, but added: “I wish him well”.
Pointing to the fact the ex-Tory was now on to his third party, the minister said his focus was on keeping Rishi Sunak in Downing Street.
“A vote for anyone else… simply makes it more likely that we will see Keir Starmer in Number 10,” he added.
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Jeremy Hunt will promise further tax cuts if the Tories win the next general election and will accuse the Labour Party of not being honest about how it will fund its spending pledges.
The chancellor will give a speech in London on Friday in which he will accuse his shadow, Rachel Reeves, of resorting to “playground politics” with her criticism of the high levels of taxation on UK households.
Mr Hunt will also reiterate his ambition to eradicate the national insurance tax – which the Tories have already slashed twice in a bid to move the polls – where they currently lag 20 points behind Labour.
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Labour has attacked the policy as an unfunded £46bn pledge and likened it to the policies that saw Liz Truss resign from office after just 44 days as prime minister.
The chancellor was previously forced to make clear that his desire to abolish the “unfair” national insurance tax would not happen “any time soon”.
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The chancellor described national insurance as a “tax on work” and said he believed it was “unfair that we tax work twice” when other forms of income are only taxed once.
The overall tax burden is expected to increase over the next five years to around 37% of gross domestic product – close to a post-Second World War high – but Mr Hunt will argue the furlough scheme brought in during the pandemic and the help the government gave households for heating both needed to be paid for.
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“Labour like to criticise tax rises this parliament thinking people don’t know why they have gone up – the furlough scheme, the energy price guarantee and billions of pounds of cost-of-living support, policies Labour themselves supported,” he will say.
“Which is why it is playground politics to use those tax rises to distract debate from the biggest divide in British politics – which is what happens next.
“Conservatives recognise that whilst those tax rises may have been necessary, they should not be permanent. Labour do not.”
James Murray, Labour’s shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, said: “There is nothing Jeremy Hunt can say or do to hide that fact that working people are worse off after 14 years of economic failure under the Conservatives.”
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