Tories ‘are not doing a deal with Reform,’ Kemi Badenoch insists
Kemi Badenoch has said the Tories are “not doing a deal with Reform” after a Conservative mayor appeared to advocate for a “coming together” of the two rival parties.
The leader of the opposition criticised talk of “stitch ups” ahead of next week’s local elections and said she was instead focused on ensuring that voters have a “credible Conservative offer”.
Speaking to reporters from Stratford-upon-Avon, she said: “We are not doing a deal with Reform. There’s not going to be a pact.
“What we need to do right now is focus on ensuring that voters have a credible Conservative offer.
“When we start talking about stitch ups before an election it sounds as if we are not thinking about the people out there but just about how we win.
“Winning is just the first step – we need to talk about how we are going to deliver for the people of this country.”
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PM questions Badenoch on Jenrick audio at PMQs
Her words come after Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen suggested his party may have to join forces with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
In an interview with Politico, he said: “I don’t know what it looks like. I don’t know whether it’s a pact. I don’t know whether it’s a merger … [or] a pact of trust and confidence or whatever.
“But if we want to make sure that there is a sensible centre-right party leading this country, then there is going to have to be a coming together of Reform and the Conservative Party in some way.”
He added: “What that looks like is slightly above my pay grade at the moment.”
The intervention from the Conservatives’ last remaining mayor will create further trouble for Ms Badenoch after shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick vowed to “bring this coalition together” to ensure that Conservatives and Reform UK are no longer competing for votes by the time of the next election.
According to a leaked recording obtained by Sky News, Mr Jenrick – who lost the Tory leadership campaign to Ms Badenoch – said he would try “one way or another” to make sure the two right-wing parties do not end up handing a second term to Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Jenrick has denied his words amounted to calling for a pact with Reform – and told Good Morning Britain: “I’ve said time and again that I want to put Reform out of business … I want to send Nigel Farage back to retirement.”
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Farage: Jenrick ‘shaping up’ to be Tory leader
Questioned about Mr Jenrick’s remarks, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told Sky News he was not going to do a deal with the Conservative Party.
He said: “I mean he’s clearly shaping himself up to be the next leader of the Conservative Party. He doesn’t care what internal division he causes within the Parliamentary Party.
“But he’s actually mistaken. We are not going to do a deal with a Conservative Party that gave us record tax levels since the war, mass migration, I mean I could go on.”
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Emmanuel Macron has said France will recognise Palestine as a state later this year.
The French president announced the major change of policy in a letter to the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, which Mr Macron also published online on Thursday evening.
The French leader said he will make the formal announcement at the UN General Assembly, being held in September.
France will become the first G7 member to recognise a Palestinian state.
In his post explaining the decision, Mr Macron called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of the hostages and for much more humanitarian aid to reach those in the territory.
But Israel’s defence minister has called the French decision “a disgrace and a surrender to terrorism”.
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Sky’s international correspondent John Sparks, reports on the children in Gaza who are experiencing malnutrition, one child wishes for ‘life to go back to how it was.’
The move heaps pressure on France’s allies such as the UK, and Sir Keir Starmer insisted tonight that he is “clear that statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people”.
But the prime minister has resisted calls from within his own party to recognise Palestine immediately, as he views this as part of the peace process in Gaza.
Currently, half of the G20 recognise Palestine as a state, while nations including the UK, US, Germany and others do not.
But pressure has been growing on Sir Keir to change course, with senior Labour figures including the Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan publicly calling for a change in government policy.
Starmer: ‘We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe’
Just hours before Mr Macron’s announcement, Sir Keir said he would be holding an “emergency call” with the leaders of France and Germany over what he termed the “humanitarian catastrophe” happening in Gaza.
In some of the firmest language from the government yet, Sir Keir said that “the suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible”.
He went on to say that it has been “grave for some time”, but that it has now “reached new depths and continues to worsen”.
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The PM says that
Sir Keir said: “I will hold an emergency call with E3 partners tomorrow, where we will discuss what we can do urgently to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need while pulling together all the steps necessary to build a lasting peace.”
The PM added that “we all agree” on the need for Israel to “change course and allow aid that is desperately needed to enter Gaza without delay”.
He wrote: “It is hard to see a hopeful future in such dark times. But I must reiterate my call for all sides to engage in good faith, and at pace, to bring about an immediate ceasefire and for Hamas to unconditionally release all hostages.”
Across the globe, more than 140 countries recognise Palestine as a state.
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