Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock’s comments come amid the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s summer tour of the country – promoting a ‘Britain is lawless’ slogan during press conferences
Neil Kinnock has called for a more focused and organised attack on Nigel Farage’s “poisonous” Reform UK.
The former Labour leader hit out at the right-wing party for seeking to “encourage grievance, alienation, division” in the country. His comments come amid the former Ukip leader’s summer tour of the country – promoting Reform’s “Britain is lawless” slogan.
In an interview with The Mirror, Lord Kinnock rejected claims the Labour Party under Keir Starmer is leaning towards Reform. But he said: “What I would say is there needs to be a more focused and organised attack on Reform, who are poisonous. I’ve said it elsewhere that their real name should be Deform because you look at all their policy proposals they would reduce and ruin a lot of absolutely vital areas of community life.” It comes after Mr Farage’s appearances on Sky News sparked thousands of complaints.
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He went on: “They are entirely negative. Their whole proposition is based on falsehoods. This is not a lawless country. And it isn’t just that the figures show that, the reality of living in the United Kingdom shows that. But they delight in claiming that it is.
“Everything that Reform is about seeks to discover and encourage grievance, alienation, division, all the negatives. They represent that of being the voice of the people. “People have got much, much broader lives and concerns and hopes than any of that. But that’s what we represent.”
Lord Kinnock also told The Mirror the government should be concerned about a new political party being set up by ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.
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Over 650,000 have signed up on the new party’s website since it was launched under the holding name ‘Your Party’ last month. A Labour source dismissed the launch at the time, saying: “The electorate has twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn led party.”
But askedwhether Labour should be worried, Lord Kinnock said: “Yes, of course. I’ve called them this before – they are the Farage Assistance Faction. They know damn well in the First Past the Post system any grouping that could distract votes from the Labour Party is doing the job of Nigel Farage.”
He added: “It’s acknowledged a Corbyn party would be a serious threat. Not because it would make great electoral gains, but because of the seepage from the Labour vote.”
Jeremy Corbyn responded: “The Labour government is here to appease Reform. We are here to defeat Reform. That means standing up to racism, taking on the rich and powerful, and offering a hopeful vision of a society that works for us all.”
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