‘How dare you!’ Nigel Farage hits back at Keir Starmer as he claims PM ‘getting desperate’ in bid to tackle Reform
Nigel Farage has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer after the PM accused the leader of Reform UK of perpetuating “dangerous policies” in a major warning over the populist party.
In a major speech at a Labour conference in Glasgow, the PM condemned the “dangerous right-wing politics” of Reform UK.
Starmer said Farage’s type of politics “feeds off the failures of the free market, the failure of public services to reform and above all, the failure to control borders properly”.
He vowed Labour is “ready for this test” of facing the five MP-strong political party.
“Ready to point out that beneath their bluster, the alternative they offer is alien to working people,” he said of Reform.
He continued: “You want to know what Farage and Reform are doing on their rare visits to parliament? They’re voting against our Employment Rights Bill.”
“They talk the language of worker rights online and on the doorstep but they’ve voted against banning fire and rehire. They voted against scrapping exploitative zero hour contracts, they voted against sick leave and maternity pay.”
“And what about the NHS? They want to charge people to use our NHS. They claim to be the party of patriotism, but they’re fawning over Putin,” he added.
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“They’re not the answer for working people in Britain, and they are not the answer for Scotland.”
Responding to Starmer’s comments, Nigel Farage said: “How dare Starmer talk to us about jobs, Scotland has lost more than 70,000 jobs linked to the North Sea as a result of Government net zero policies over the past decade.
“The remaining 30,000 workers directly employed in the North Sea and 90,000 jobs supported by the spending of oil and gas workers will be the cost of his net zero push.”
“Starmer’s disastrous budget kicks in on April 1 and will cost even more jobs in Scotland because of his National Insurance Contribution rises imposed on businesses.”
“His comments on the NHS are completely untrue, the Prime Minister must be getting desperate.
“Under Reform UK, the NHS will always be free at the point of use.”
In his speech, Starmer also admitted the US was right about the UK and Europe need to strengthen defence and security,
He said: “It’s time to take responsibility for our security, our continent.
“And I’m clear that Britain will take a leading responsibility, we have to be ready to play our role.”
In addition, he announced a £200million investment in Grangemouth, Scotland’s last oil refinery, pledging to protect the 400 workers who will be made redundant when the refinery closes down this summer.
The PM said a transition to clean energy is a “golden opportunity for Britain, especially for Scotland”.