British voters do not like Trump 'because they don't really know him', Farage claims
British voters do not like Donald Trump because ‘they don’t really know him”, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader has claimed.
Asked about evidence showing that British voters don’t like Trump, Farage blamed the media, saying that it was “not surprising he’s not popular” because of the negative publicity had had received.
Farage was speaking to Ali Fortescue from Sky News, who interviewed him as he arrived at the Reform UK Welsh conference in Newport.
Farage is proud of his personal friendship with Trump and and he has been thrilled by the outcome of the US presidential election. In an article for the Daily Telegraph this week he claimed it showed that “politics, including our own, is moving rightwards”.
Asked by Fortescue if he saw himself as a British Trump, Farage joked that he could not be because Trump is teetotal.
But when Fortescue reminded him about Trump’s unpopularity in the UK, Farage attacked the media.
On Wednesday YouGov released polling that suggests 55% of Britons think Trump’s victory will be bad for the UK. Only 18% think it will be good for the country.
Polling on Trump Photograph: YouGov
When Fortescue said Trump was not particularly popular in the UK, Farage replied:
Not for you people, no, and that’s not surprising … All he’s ever had is negative publicity. People don’t really know him, do they?
Farage also said, regardless of what Britons thought of him, it was important for the government to have a good relationship with him. He went on:
He is the president for the next four years. They are our most important relationship in the world in terms of trade, intelligence, sharing, defence and, arguably, culture as well. So our relationship with him is fundamentally important.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has said that Donald Trump “didn’t seem to think it mattered”, in response to a question about whether his past comments about Trump would harm UK-US relations. Lammy was speaking about what happened at a dinner he and Keir Starmer had with Trump in September. He also said the comments were not alluded to, “not even vaguely”. (See 10.16am.)
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has claimed that British voters do not like Donald Trump because “they don’t really know him”. (See 4.34pm.) He was speaking at his party’s Welsh conference, where he also released polling showing Reform UK ahead of the Conservative party in Wales. (See 1.46pm.)
Farage says Reform UK has 96,000 members - putting it less then 40,000 behind Tory party
Farage said Reform UK needs candidates to stand in the next Senedd elections. And her urged people in the audience to sign up to be a candidate at the end of his speech. He went on:
If we organise and mobilise, we will succeed. If we professionalise, we will break every political historical record you have ever seen in this country.
Because I know that the gap in the political market is enormous, and I sense it might just be bigger in Wales than it is in any other part of the United Kingdom.
Farage claimed Reform UK has 96,000 members.
(Last weekend the Conservative party revealed it has 131,680 members – the number eligible to vote in the leadership contest.)
And Farage ended his speech saying the sky was the limit in terms of his ambition for the party.
Nigel Farage speaking at the Reform UK Welsh conference. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
Farage attacked the government over illegal immigration. He claimed people were enraged by young men crossing the Channel in dinghies. They were not, “as the BBC might tell you, poor, desperate people”, he claimed. He alleged:
Increasingly they’re aggressive young males coming into our country to get involved directly in criminality.
And he claimed it was “unbelievable” that this week the London assembly passed a motion saying asylum seekers should be able to get free bus travel. He said the Conservatives in the assembly abstained, which he said was evidence of “what a wet weekend of a political party” they were.
Farage says Tory party 'split down the middle', and shadow cabinet full of 'total non-entities'
Turning to the Tories, Farage said that Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative leader, has chosen a shadow cabinet of “total non-entities”. He claimed not to have heard of any of them, except for perhaps Priti Patel.
And he claimed the Tories were “split down the middle”, divided between some people who agree with Reform UK, and others who are Blairites or Liberal Democrats.
Farage restates offer to serve as link between UK and Trump, saying he will know 'at least half' of incoming US cabinet
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK, started his speech by recalling being in the ballroom at Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago watching the election results came in.
And he claimed there was a lesson for the Reform UK in what happened in the US.
What has happened in America in the last few days is what happens when you get a political movement with a strong political leader that actually talks to the electorate about the things that they care about – and not what the mainstream media discuss, not what politicians in Westminster, or dare I say Cardiff, discuss.
Farage said Trump’s inauguration would be the day woke “died” in the US.
He said Britain needed a good relationship with the Trump administration. He attacked Labour for their approach to Trump, singling out in particular Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London and David Lammy, the foreign secretary.
And he restated his offer to act as an intermediary between the government and the Trump administration.
I have a relationship with Trump. But equally I will know at least half of his incoming cabinet, and I have said if I can in any way help to mend fences between this Labour administration and the incoming Trump administration, that I will do so.
Farage said that was “not because I support a single thing this Labour government is doing”, but because he wanted to act in the national interest.
British voters do not like Trump 'because they don't really know him', Farage claims
British voters do not like Donald Trump because ‘they don’t really know him”, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader has claimed.
Asked about evidence showing that British voters don’t like Trump, Farage blamed the media, saying that it was “not surprising he’s not popular” because of the negative publicity had had received.
Farage was speaking to Ali Fortescue from Sky News, who interviewed him as he arrived at the Reform UK Welsh conference in Newport.
Farage is proud of his personal friendship with Trump and and he has been thrilled by the outcome of the US presidential election. In an article for the Daily Telegraph this week he claimed it showed that “politics, including our own, is moving rightwards”.
Asked by Fortescue if he saw himself as a British Trump, Farage joked that he could not be because Trump is teetotal.
But when Fortescue reminded him about Trump’s unpopularity in the UK, Farage attacked the media.
On Wednesday YouGov released polling that suggests 55% of Britons think Trump’s victory will be bad for the UK. Only 18% think it will be good for the country.
Polling on Trump Photograph: YouGov
When Fortescue said Trump was not particularly popular in the UK, Farage replied:
Not for you people, no, and that’s not surprising … All he’s ever had is negative publicity. People don’t really know him, do they?
Farage also said, regardless of what Britons thought of him, it was important for the government to have a good relationship with him. He went on:
He is the president for the next four years. They are our most important relationship in the world in terms of trade, intelligence, sharing, defence and, arguably, culture as well. So our relationship with him is fundamentally important.
Jonathan Powell will serve as national security adviser in a political capacity, as a Labour special adviser, and not as a civil servant, the Guardian has been told. That is unusual for a job of this kind and partially justifies the Tory claim that he is a “Labour apparatchik”. (See 2.53pm.) Powell crossed the line into party politics when he left the civil servie to work for Tony Blair in opposition in 1995 and, as Downing Street chief of staff, he was a party political “spad” (special adviser), not a conventional civil servant.
But, unlike Alastair Campbell, the other very senior “spad” given executive authority in Blair’s No 10, Powell never got particularly involved in party politics, particularly the murkier side. After leaving No 10, he had a brief career in banking, but mostly he has been involved in policy work and conflict resolution (inspired by the important role he played in the Northern Ireland peace process). In practice, he is much more of a civil servant than a party hack.
Appointment of 'Labour apparatchik' Jonathan Powell as national security adviser 'disappointing', say Tories
The Conservative party has criticised the appointment of Jonathan Powell as national security adviser. Shortly before the general election Rishi Sunak, the then PM, named Gwyn Jenkins, then the vice-chief of the armed forces, as the new national security adviser, but Keir Starmer cancelled that appointment when he took office.
Referring to Jenkins being sidelined, and to Powell’s role in the transfer of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a Tory spokesperson said:
It’s disappointing the government have appointed another Labour apparatchik to a senior role sidelining an experienced general.
Mr Powell’s previous comments about the unimportance of British overseas territories are extremely concerning and many will be worried that there is more to come.
Tories condemn Treasury for 'misleading' claim on social media that it did not raise national insurance in budget
The Conservatives have condemned the Treasury for posting a misleading advert on social media about the budget.
The advert, which has been tweeted from the Treasury’s offical account not from a Labour party account, refers to the budget and says “we are not increasing the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT” – even thought the budget included plans to raise £25bn by increasing employers’ national insurance.
Last week we committed to protecting working people in the Budget.
That is why we are not increasing the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, National Insurance or VAT.
In its manifesto Labour said it would not raise national insurance and, because the manifesto said Labour would protect working people, the party now argues that this pledge only covered employees’ national insurance contributions (NICs) – not the other component of national insurance, employers’ NICs, paid by firms. Labour says it kept its promise because during the campaign it did not rule out raising employers’ NICs.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, put a post on social media this morning saying the new claim is “at best dubious”.
And Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, has written to James Bowler, permanent secretary at the Treasury, asking him to justify repeating this “misleading” claim and to commit to ensuring that in future Treasury communications are factual.
Spot on.
I have written to the Permanent Secretary of the Treasury over the Government’s consistent use of misleading claims relating to their National Insurance hike.
I have written to the Permanent Secretary of the Treasury over the Government’s consistent use of misleading claims relating to their National Insurance hike.
Labour promised not to raise NICs and they did. They should be honest about that.
Reform UK now ahead of Tories in Wales, polling suggests
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has said that his party is now best placed to take on the Labour party in Wales.
He made the claim on the basis of polling showing Reform UK ahead of the Conservatives in Wales. The polling was released to coincide with Reform UK’s Welsh conference, which is taking place in Newport.
Reform UK does not currently have any seats in the Senedd, even though in the past Ukip (a predecessor party to Reform UK) had significant representation there and at the general election the Conservative vote in Wales (18%) was only narrowly ahead of Reform UK’s (17%).
The new polling, by Survation, suggests Reform UK is now ahead of the Tories on three voting measures. But it also suggests that Plaid Cymru is ahead of both the Tories and Reform UK in voting intention for the next Senedd elections – even though the two rightwing parties are ahead in Westminter voting intention.
On voting intention for a general election, the results are:
Labour: 33%
Reform UK: 21%
Conservatives: 18%
Plaid Cymru: 13%
Lib Dems: 9%
Greens: 5%
On constituency voting in the next Senedd elections, the results are:
Labour: 30%
Reform UK: 20%
Conservatives: 17%
Plaid Cymru: 21%
Lib Dems: 6%
Greens: 5%
And on party list voting in the next Senedd elections (voters get two votes), the results are:
Labour: 29%
Reform UK: 19%
Conservatives: 18%
Plaid Cymru: 20%
Lib Dems: 7%
Greens: 7%
The Welsh government has changed the electoral system for the next Senedd elections, in 2026, making them even more proportional than they are now. This will make it even harder than it now is for Labour to be the dominant party.
Commenting on the polling figures, Farage said:
The Senedd elections are now just 18 months away. This new poll shows Reform ahead of the Conservatives in Wales on 19%, and we are on 26% in the Valleys. Only Reform can be the challenger to Labour.
The people of Wales have been failed by Labour for nearly three decades now. Half of all voters think they have handled the NHS badly.
Our conference in Newport today marks the start of our efforts to present a fresh choice to an electorate who have been badly let down. Wales needs Reform.
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