Lee Anderson was secretly recorded boasting he was provided “a lot of money” to give up the Tories and be part of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK get together.
The Conservative Deputy Chairman was taped making the declare at a “Lagers with Lee” gathering at Cambridge Rugby Club in October. He mentioned Reform UK, which was based by the ex-Ukip chief, wished the Tories to “get hammered in the next election” as he ranted a few vote for the get together being a vote for Labour.
In the recording leaked to the Sunday Times, an activist instructed Mr Anderson he will not vote Conservative on the subsequent election however one other get together corresponding to Reform. The Tory MP responded: “Now there is a political party that begins with an R that offered me a lot of money to join them. I say a lot of money, I mean a lot of money.”
Reform chief Richard Tice mentioned as we speak that he had held talks with quite a lot of Tory MPs and ministers indignant in regards to the Government’s dealing with of immigration – however mentioned “no cash or money has in any way been offered”.
In the audio, Mr Anderson mentioned Reform UK “don’t care about this country at all” and accused the folks concerned of being “mad”. He claimed the get together needs a proportional illustration system to allow them to win seats in parliament as he mentioned he believed they might win “zero seats” on the subsequent election.
“Now all they want, Reform, and I spoke to the leaders of Reform, they want PR, which is proportional representation. They are hell bent and want us to get hammered in the next election, because they firmly believe that Labour will bring in PR,” Mr Anderson mentioned.
“But the Labour Party won’t do that. This is what Reform wants. They don’t care about this country at all. They are mad, these people. For a party to want that to happen, they don’t care about this country. All they want is a bit of power in parliament.”
Mr Tice claimed Mr Anderson had used the menace to barter himself a plum function as Tory Deputy Chairman earlier this 12 months. “Desperate Tories will make desperate lies to save their skin,” he instructed the paper. But experiences emerged that Mr Anderson had knowledgeable the Tory Chief Whip Simon Hart in February this 12 months in regards to the supply.
Mr Hart instructed Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle that Conservatives have been being provided “bribes” of greater than £400,000 to hitch Reform. The gives allegedly included a assure that in the event that they stood for Reform UK however misplaced their seat at an election, the get together would pay them 5 years of their MP’s wage. This could be 5 occasions £86,584 so roughly £430,000. Mr Hoyle reportedly needs Mr Hart handy any particulars of Mr Anderson’s case to the police to be investigated.
A spokesman for Reform UK described the Tory MP as a “plank” and denied the get together had any cash to “do anything dodgy … not that it would do anything dodgy”. The supply added: “We might be able to buy him a pint but that’s about it. This is all about damaging Reform UK at a time when we are surging in the polls. The Tories are terrified because they can see Reform UK is likely to take more votes from them than Labour and they are facing a potential wipeout.”
Mr Farage is proving a thorn within the Tories’ aspect. The Brexit architect, who’s presently that includes on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, has mentioned he “might be interested in having another go [at becoming an MP] at some point”, in addition to that he could be “very surprised” if he weren’t Tory chief by 2026.
In October, the by-elections of Mid-Bedfordshire and Tamworth revealed the extent of Reform UK’s menace to the Tories. In each by-elections, the vote share for Reform UK got here out bigger than the Labour majority. It means the Tories would have gained each seats had voters on the appropriate of the get together not voted for Reform.
The Conservatives proceed to wrestle to show their dire ballot rankings round. A ballot by Opinium this weekend revealed Labour gained some floor in the course of the week of Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement. Keir Starmer’s get together now leads by 16 factors, with its vote share elevated by 2 factors to 42%, whereas the Conservatives dropped 1 level and are on 26%. It is a blow to Rishi Sunak who could have been hoping the bulletins of tax cuts would have given his get together a lift.
It comes as figures revealed this week that UK web migration hit a report breaking 745,000 final 12 months – greater than 3 times increased than promised by the Tories of their election manifesto. Cabinet minister Laura Trott insisted she was not nervous in regards to the Reform UK get together outflanking the Conservatives from the appropriate.
“I’d be very clear {that a} vote for Reform or another get together which isn’t Conservative is a vote for Keir Starmer as prime minister,” she instructed Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips. “But what I’d say is without doubt one of the causes it is so essential for me to come back on reveals like yours is for us to speak as a authorities what we’re doing to cease the boats.”