A senior Conservative MP has said the time has come for Nigel Farage to “put up or shut up”, three months on from his election as the Reform MP for Clacton.
In what amounts to the most scathing attack on Farage since the general election in July, Sir Roger Gale suggests the Reform leader feigned “concern” for those pensioners set to lose the winter fuel allowance payment, after he voted against the controversial government measure in the commons earlier this month.
“Farage voted against the [government’s Statutory Instrument] and then scuttled off to the television studios”, Sir Roger told Politics.co.uk. “So much for his ‘concern’ for those losing their help with winter fuel bills.”
The comments come as Reform UK, the party Farage has led since his shock political comeback in June, descends on Birmingham today for its annual conference.
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The get-together of Reform activists has been hailed as a “coming of age” for the party, after it recorded early success in July’s election by winning five seats. Reform won more than four million votes (14 per cent) at the recent election, largely at the Conservative Party’s expense.
Ahead of his party’s conference, Farage announced on Thursday that he is “relinquishing” his majority shareholder position of Reform which, unlike most other political parties, is officially a registered company. Deputy leader Richard Tice is also listed on Companies House as a person exercising significant control.
In a post on social media, the Clacton MP said: “I’ve now made a decision. I no longer need to control this party. I’m going to let go.”
The move forms part of a wider bid to “professionalise” the upstart party ahead of the local elections next year and the general election in 2029. Farage has previously stated his ambition to win that election for Reform and consequently emerge as prime minister.
Reflecting on the Reform leader’s “populist” politics, Sir Roger Gale said that now Farage has fulfilled his dream of becoming an MP — at the eighth attempt — he must “take responsibility for his words and his actions.”
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Sir Roger, the grandfather of the House of Commons, expressed particular disdain for Farage’s recent remarks suggesting there was a trade-off between halting Channel crossings and protecting pensioners this winter.
Earlier this month, the Reform leader posted on social media: “Another 801 migrants crossed in 14 boats yesterday. If we weren’t spending billions on free housing and medical care, we would be able to keep pensioners warm this winter instead.”
Sir Roger, the oldest MP at the age of 81, reacted: “This was on the day when yet more trafficked human souls died in the sea off the French coast. Remorse? I detect none.
“Farage is now a Member of Parliament and he has to take responsibility for his words and his actions. Instead of sniping from the comfort zone of his populist saloon-bar sideline, he is required to offer policies and answers to the problems that his constituents face.”
The Conservative MP for Herne Bay and Sandwich added: “If there was a quick fix to the small boat trafficking challenge the last Conservative government would have seized upon it. As the new administration is finding out the hard way, there is not.”
Reform has called for a “freeze” on non-essential immigration, for Britain to exit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), for the establishment of a new “Department of Immigration” and for asylum seekers to be “picked” out of boats in the Channel and taken back to France.
“‘Send them back’, the mantra of the far right, is no longer an option”, Sir Roger told Politics.co.uk. “As Farage and his supporters know, or ought to know, we surrendered our rights under the Dublin Agreement (Dublin 111) when we voted to leave the European Union. The United Kingdom abides by international law and solutions now have to be found the hard way.
“That is why I have said that it is time for the Member of Parliament for Clacton and his acolytes to either put up or shut up. In the House of Commons, charlatans find friendship only in the company of other charlatans.”
Last week, Sir Roger attracted the ire of Farage’s Reform “acolytes” after making similar comments in a post on X/Twitter.
Reacting, Reform MP and chief whip Lee Anderson launched a personal attack on Sir Roger. “You’ve been an MP for over 40 years and have achieved what apart from a large pension?”, Anderson said.
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on X/Twitter here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
