Rishi Sunak campaigns in additional Tory strongholds

Rishi Sunak underlined the Tories defensive strategy today as he campaigned in North Devon.

The PM joined former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox in Torridge & Tavistock – where he had a notional majority of nearly 23,000 at the 2019 election.

The pair joined a group of fishermen catching lobster, as well as chatting to local activists on the beach in Clovelly.

But Mr Sunak’s focus on previously ultra-safe seats will heighten alarm within the party about the prospects of a near-wipeout on July 4.

A huge Survation poll – conducted using so-called MRP technique – showed Sir Geoffrey losing his seat, with the Conservatives reduced to just 72 MPs. 

It suggested that Keir Starmer could win by an incredible margin of 262, with Nigel Farage‘s Reform picking up seven MPs.

Home Secretary James Cleverly was projected to lose his Braintree seat, while Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would fall victim to the Lib Dems in Godalming and Ash.

Election experts have been warning that previously ultra-safe seats are under threat as the party’s core vote is collapsing – comparing it to Churchill’s defeat at the 1945 election. 

 Tories are urging Mr Sunak to take the gloves off against Nigel Farage as the battle to stave off the Reform threat intensifies.

Anxiety has been mounting about the passive approach being taken by the PM, as the insurgents gain ground in the polls.

Senior Conservatives warned that the current strategy of largely ignoring the Brexit champion and focusing fire on Labour is ‘not working’, insisting that Mr Sunak needs to get ‘personal’ to stop the party bleeding votes.

One Cabinet minister told MailOnline that the tactic of not uttering Mr Farage’s name – similar to the treatment of Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter – is ‘ludicrous’ and Mr Sunak looks ‘scared’.

Another ex-minister voiced alarm that their majority of around 20,000 was ‘touch and go’, and the premier had to recognise that Reform was the ‘real enemy’ rather than Labour. They said of Mr Farage: ‘Rishi can’t beat him on personality. But Rishi can try to laugh off his absurd policies… our attack has to be direct.’ 

The defending MP added: ‘It is insane to ignore him the way they are at the moment… they need to get personal.’ 

The internal Tory wrangling came after another poll showed Reform level with the Tories, and Mr Farage unveiled a huge tax cutting and spending manifesto.

Reform were up a point with Redfield & Wilton Strategies, alongside the Tories on 18 per cent – both a full 25 points behind Labour.

Mr Farage complained that the country was ‘broken’ as he unveiled the election prospectus – conceding at the same time that he will never be able to implement it.

The document included commitments to slash £50billion off public spending, leave the European Court of Human Rights, and ban all ‘non-essential’ immigration. It suggests that moves to ‘stop the boats’ – including sending migrants back to France – would start within 100 days.

Along with stripping the Bank of England of key powers, those policies are meant to fund an extraordinary £140billion splurge, largely on tax cuts, the NHS and defence spending.

However, the respected IFS think-tank said the plans ‘do not add up’ – with tax cuts reducing revenue by more than the party claims, and savings not generating as much revenue.

There have been signed that senior Tories are ramping up attacks on Mr Farage, with Michael Gove branding him ‘ridiculous’ and Reform a ‘giant ego trip’.

Former Scots Tory leader Baroness Davidson said Mr Farage would only be allied to the Tories ‘over my cold, dead corpse’.  

A former Cabinet minister told MailOnline the PM’s current strategy was ‘ludicrous’. 

‘It’s very clear that Reform are approximately level pegging with us, if not ahead. They are our threat from the right, as Labour are from the left. Simply to attack Labour is very unwise,’ they said.

‘I suspect the truth is that Rishi is scared of taking Farage on. Nigel is a very accomplished debater and would have no trouble dealing with him.

‘What’s more, I am sure that a lot of established Tories prefer Reform’s ‘contract’ to our manifesto. So No 10 want them to have as little oxygen as possible. But it’s not working.’

Mr Farage clashed brutally with Ed Balls today over whether the wealthy would benefit most from Reform’s £90billion tax cutting splurge.

Mr Farage was attacked by the presenter – and Labour ex-Cabinet minister – during an interview on ITV‘s Good Morning Britain.

Balls repeatedly demanded to know who would gain the most from raising the starting point for paying income tax to £20,000, and the inheritance tax threshold to £2million.

Mr Farage argued that the poor would be the biggest winners from the personal allowance hike ‘in percentage terms’. But Balls hit back that the wealthiest would get far more in cash terms.

He also swiped that the IHT increase would only help people who had properties worth between £1million and £2million – as they could already avoid the levy up to that level.

At one point a clearly frustrated Mr Farage griped ‘this is so typical’ about the grilling from Mr Balls, accusing him of ‘playing silly games’.

But co-host Susanna Reid stepped in to say: ‘What do you mean this is so typical, being asked questions and asked to answer them?’

Mr Farage said: ‘We are getting stuck here on one very narrow point.’ 

He insisted that by raising the income tax threshold ‘we make work pay, we get people off benefits, we help the lower-paid keep more money in their pockets and we reduce the need for unskilled migration’.

Mr Farage was trying to defend his manifesto after the Institute for Fiscal Studies said it was based on ‘extremely optimist assumptions’ about growth and the sums ‘do not add up’. 

Mr Farage also claimed Reform has been ‘stitched up’ by a firm it contracted to vet candidates.

The party has been hit by a series of revelations about the online activities of some of its would-be MPs, from links to a British fascist leader to suggestions the UK should have remained neutral in the fight against the Nazis and admiration of Hitler’s ‘brilliant’ ability to inspire action.

Mr Farage said Reform had paid a ‘large sum of money’ to the vetting firm, which he did not name, but claimed the party has been let down.

He told LBC Radio: ‘Have we had trouble with one or two candidates? Yes, we have.

‘We paid a large sum of money to a well-known vetting company, and they didn’t do the work.

‘We have been stitched up politically, and that’s given us problems. And I accept that and I’m sorry for that.’