Badenoch ‘panicked’ over Jenrick, says Farage – Daily Business

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage today accused his Tory counterpart Kemi Badenoch of “panicking” after she sacked Justice spokesman Robert Jenrick.

Ms Badenoch dismissed Mr Jenrick after a video emerged apparently revealing his plans to leave the party “in a way designed to be as damaging as possible”.

Responding to media questions in Kirkcaldy, Mr Farage admitted that he saw Mr Jenrick “resigning from the Conservative party as a big tick” and that he had held talks with him.

However, there was no plan to announce him as a new member, though he would “give him a ring this afternoon”, adding “I might even buy him a pint.”

At a press conference to confirm former Tory minister and peer Malcolm Offord as the new Scottish leader, Mr Farage questioned Ms Badenoch’s actions.

“It sounds to me that she has panicked,” he said. He denied speculation that he would be announcing Mr Jenrick at a press conference in London later today.

He rejected suggestions that Reform was now a party of ex-Tories and did not intend to inherit the “psycho drama” of infighting among the Tories. He looked forward to welcoming individuals from Labour.

“We are not Tories 2.0,” he said.

“I have been talking to lots of people. We welcome anyone from any party,” he said. “We are replacing the Conservative party across the UK as the main opposition to Labour.”

On other issues, he said he would crack down on vetting of candidates for the Scottish elections, expressing his anger over the damage caused by a process he described as “piss poor”.

He said: “Sorry for being crude, but after all the hard work I have put into professionalising this party I am enormously angry about … crises through no fault of my own.

“We are making sure candidates are fit and proper people.” He said there would be a conference in March to unveil candidates.

Mr Farage was equally animated about the renewables sector, saying the net zero policy was “an act of self-harm”.

He said that for Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of chemicals firm Ineos which co-owned the now-closed Grangemouth refinery, the biggest cost is energy. “So, no wonder he cannot make it [Grangemouth] work.”

He damned yesterday’s wind farm auction for guaranteeing the strike price for 20 years and said “the more we rely on renewables the more our energy prices will rise. It is an act of stupidity.”

He said the biggest beneficiary of the auction was a German company [RWE] and turbines will be manufactured by the Chinese.

“Starmer is deluded. Miliband has adopted a new religion,” he said.

Mr Farage declared that on immigration the party would “put British workers first” and said some of the biggest critics of illegal immigration are those who have arrived legally.

“They wonder why they went through the hoops [of applying for legal entry] and now see themselves further down the [welfare and housing] queue.”

Mr Offord, whose appointment was overshadowed by the news about Mr Jenrick, dismissed continued claims that Reform UK was a racist party and said it will run a “positive campaign” in Scotland.