Sir Keir Starmer today went to war with Reform UK as he accused Nigel Farage’s party of ‘fawning’ over Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The Prime Minister used a speech at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow to launch an full-throated attack on Reform’s ‘dangerous right-wing politics’.
It follows Reform’s recent poll surge, which has seen the party overtake both the Tories and Labour in some opinion surveys.
The most recent YouGov poll showed Reform on 27 per cent support, two percentage points ahead of Labour and six points ahead of the Conservatives.
Amid the political threat being posed by Mr Farage’s party, Sir Keir hit out at Reform over workers’ rights, the NHS and their stance on the Ukraine war.
He claimed the party’s offering is ‘alien to working people’ – but Mr Farage hit back at the PM’s ‘desperate’ attack.
The Reform leader warned that Labour’s ‘disastrous’ tax-hiking Budget would cost jobs.
Mr Farage also dismissed the PM’s ‘completely untrue’ suggestion that Reform want to charge for access to the NHS.
As well as their poll surge at Wesminster, Reform has also moved into double-digit support in a series of surveys ahead of next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.
In his speech to Scottish Labour members this morning, Sir Keir warned his party: ‘If we don’t show a path to the future, others will fill that void. In fact, they already are.
‘A dangerous right-wing politics – even here in Scotland – that will say they are the ones who can tilt politics towards the interests of working people.
‘Even as their proposals do precisely the opposite. A politics which feeds off the failure of the free market. A failure of public services to reform.
‘And, above all, a failure to control borders properly. We have to be ready for this test.
‘Ready to point out that beneath their bluster, the alternative they offer is alien to working people.’
Sir Keir added that on ‘rare visits to Parliament’ by Mr Farage and his four other Reform MPs, the party had voted against Labour’s Employment Rights Bill.
‘They talk the language of workers’ rights online and on the doorstep, but they voted against banning fire and rehire,’ the PM said.
‘They voted against scrapping exploitative zero-hour contracts, they voted against sick leave and maternity pay.
‘And what about the NHS? They want to charge people to use our NHS. They claim to be the party of patriotism but they’re fawning over Putin.
‘They are not the answer for working people in Britain. And they are not the answer for Scotland.’
Mr Farage has recently come under pressure over his support for US President Donald Trump, who has been accused of spouting Russian propaganda over Ukraine.
Sparking fears he has sided with Moscow, Mr Trump recently astounded European capitals by branding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a ‘dictator’.
He also falsely blamed Kyiv for starting the war and has excluded Ukraine and other European countries from nascent peace talks with Russia.
Mr Farage admitted Mr Trump was wrong to call Mr Zelensky a ‘dictator’ but echoed the US President’s claim that Ukraine should hold fresh elections.
The Reform leader later showered praised on Mr Trump and his ally Elon Musk in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Thursday.
In response to Sir Keir’s speech in Glasgow today, Mr Farage said: ‘How dare Starmer talk to us about jobs.
‘Scotland has lost more than 70,000 jobs linked to the North Sea as a result of government Net Zero policies over the past decade.
‘The remaining 30,000 workers directly employed in the North Sea and 90,000 jobs supported by the spending of oil and gas workers will be the cost of his net zero push.
‘Starmer’s disastrous budget kicks in on 1 April and will cost even more jobs in Scotland because of his National Insurance Contribution rises imposed on businesses.
‘His comments on the NHS are completely untrue, the Prime Minister must be getting desperate. Under Reform UK, the NHS will always be free at the point of use.’