![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Farage-1.png\")
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage today accused his Tory counterpart Kemi Badenoch of \u201cpanicking\u201d after she sacked Justice spokesman Robert Jenrick.<\/p>\n
Ms Badenoch dismissed Mr Jenrick after a video emerged apparently revealing his plans to leave the party \u201cin a way designed to be as damaging as possible\u201d. <\/p>\n
Responding to media questions in Kirkcaldy, Mr Farage admitted that he saw Mr Jenrick \u201cresigning from the Conservative party as a big tick\u201d and that he had held talks with him.<\/p>\n
However, there was no plan to announce him as a new member, though he would \u201cgive him a ring this afternoon\u201d, adding \u201cI might even buy him a pint.\u201d<\/p>\n
At a press conference to confirm former Tory minister and peer Malcolm Offord as the new Scottish leader, Mr Farage questioned Ms Badenoch\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds to me that she has panicked,\u201d he said. He denied speculation that he would be announcing Mr Jenrick at a press conference in London later today.<\/p>\n
He rejected suggestions that Reform was now a party of ex-Tories and did not intend to inherit the \u201cpsycho drama\u201d of infighting among the Tories. He looked forward to welcoming individuals from Labour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not Tories 2.0,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been talking to lots of people. We welcome anyone from any party,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are replacing the Conservative party across the UK as the main opposition to Labour.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cpiss poor\u201d.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cSorry for being crude, but after all the hard work I have put into professionalising this party I am enormously angry about \u2026 crises through no fault of my own.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are making sure candidates are fit and proper people.\u201d He said there would be a conference in March to unveil candidates.<\/p>\n Mr Farage was equally animated about the renewables sector, saying the net zero policy was \u201can act of self-harm\u201d.<\/p>\n 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. \u201cSo, no wonder he cannot make it [Grangemouth] work.\u201d<\/p>\n He damned yesterday\u2019s wind farm auction for guaranteeing the strike price for 20 years and said \u201cthe more we rely on renewables the more our energy prices will rise. It is an act of stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the biggest beneficiary of the auction was a German company [RWE] and turbines will be manufactured by the Chinese.<\/p>\n \u201cStarmer is deluded. Miliband has adopted a new religion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr Farage declared that on immigration the party would \u201cput British workers first\u201d and said some of the biggest critics of illegal immigration are those who have arrived legally.<\/p>\n \u201cThey wonder why they went through the hoops [of applying for legal entry] and now see themselves further down the [welfare and housing] queue.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cpositive campaign\u201d in Scotland.<\/p>\n \t <\/div>\n![\"Kemi](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Kemi-Badenoch-applauded-by-Jenrick.png\")
![\"Lord](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Lord-Offord.png\")