The Conservatives should aim to put Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party “out of business”, Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick said on Wednesday.
The former Home Office minister, who quit Rishi Sunak’s government over illegal immigration, attacked Sir Keir Starmer for failing to mention the issue in a Downing Street speech on Tuesday.
But he conceded that the Tories had themselves failed to deliver on stopping Channel boat crossings, leaving an opening for Mr Farage to exploit.
“I know how damaged the party’s brand is, how difficult the present situation is for our party, but I want to begin the long road of turning that around,” Mr Jenrick told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“I acknowledge we have a mountain to climb, but the way to do that, I think, is to defend the good things we did in government, like on the economy – a decade of high employment – reforming our schools so our children are now amongst the most literate, but being honest about the mistakes that we made.”
He rejected the idea of a deal with the Reform UK leader.
“I don’t think Nigel Farage wants to join the Conservative Party. I don’t think that he needs to.
“I want to put Reform out of business. I want to make them redundant, because I want to have clear policies on legal and illegal migration.”
Mr Jenrick’s rivals for the Tory leadership are Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat, who has called for UK armed forces to be involved in tackling illegal migration in the way the Royal Navy helped stop slavery in the 19th century.
When the Commons returns from its summer recess next week, a series of votes will see the field of candidates reduced to four, who will make their case at the Conservatives’ conference starting in four weeks.
