Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has been in Blackpool on the campaign trail

Blackpool Gazette

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has been in Blackpool on the campaign trail. Here he talks to Blackpool Gazette reporter Richard Hunt on his hopes for the General Election

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm with Nigel Farage here, the leader of the UK Reform Party, and he's in Blackpool

00:08at the Imperial Hotel. The general message is, what would the message be to the people

00:14of Blackpool?

00:15Join the revolt. Join the revolt. Britain is broken. Nothing works anymore. The NHS,

00:20all the things that we grew up with and understood to be really good, solid institutions, nothing

00:25works. Our politics is broken too. There's almost no difference now between Labour and

00:30Conservatives. There really genuinely isn't. We believe Britain needs reform. We believe

00:34it needs radical solutions. You know, when the patient's really ill, the patient needs

00:39surgery. Our country needs surgery. Now look, I'll be honest with you, as we all know, Labour

00:45have won this election already. The Conservatives are doomed because they failed to deliver

00:49on their promises of 2019. The question now, the only question now that's open, is who

00:54will be the voice of opposition?

00:56In terms of Blackpool, obviously Blackpool is a town with a great many social problems,

01:03deprivation, poverty. What can reform do to a place like Blackpool?

01:07One big thing. Our main manifesto pledge on domestic policy, apart from freezing immigration,

01:13which is a more, you know, border thing, is to raise the level at which people start paying

01:18tax to £20,000 a year. Right, why? Number one, the lowest earners keep more of their

01:23But the key thing, those on benefits, if they go to do a job and work more than 16 hours

01:29a week, start to lose their benefits. They're better off staying on benefits than going

01:33back to work. That is crackers. If we bring that £20,000 in, we'll say, you know what,

01:39if I go to work, I'm off. And that won't just help them economically, it'll help them psychologically

01:44as well, in terms of their feelings of value to society. That's the biggest thing we can

01:49Second thing we want to do is help small business. Everything that Labour and Conservatives talk

01:54about is all about the giant multinationals. What about local businesses, family businesses,

02:00self-employed people? They have been given a terrible time. Corporation tax on their

02:04companies, up 30% last year. IR35 rules, making it so hard for self-employed people to work

02:11for big contractors.

02:13In terms of a place like Blackpool, with the problems it has, some people would say that

02:19it would be more Labour-friendly. What would make people in Blackpool, with the issues

02:26they face, find the Reform Party attractive to what they need specifically?

02:31Well, Blackpool is now your classic Red Wall seat, as it's called. But it had been Labour,

02:35it went Conservative. But huge numbers here voted for me when I led UKIP. Huge numbers

02:40here voted for me when I led the Brexit Party. Huge numbers here voted for Brexit. And the

02:45modern day Labour Party doesn't represent those kind of values. Keir Starmer, of course,

02:51campaigned for a second referendum, doesn't really believe in it. There's always been

02:56that Labour vote, particularly in places like Lancashire, Yorkshire too, across the Pennines

03:03if I dare mention that, which they're very patriotic. And Labour is now a sort of metropolitan

03:09party run from North London. We want to fulfil Brexit. And the biggest thing was immigration.

03:15And I've met people, and I've been to Blackpool many, many, many times over the years. I've

03:20seen homeless veterans on the streets of Blackpool, whilst all over the North West, hotels are

03:25being filled up with young men that have crossed the English Channel. People see that as being

03:29wrong. They see it as being unfair. And I'm the only person, frankly, with the balls that

03:34will deal with it.

03:35Can it be dealt with? It's easy to talk about that when you're in opposition. But when you're

03:39actually in power and you have to deal with these things practically, is that something

03:43do you think you'll be able to sort out?

03:44My mate Tony Abbott was the Prime Minister of Australia, right? They faced boats coming

03:48across from Indonesia. Do you know what he did? He towed them back. The boats stopped

03:52coming. If you've got the guts, you can do it.

03:55And in terms of the two seats in Blackpool, Blackpool North and Blackpool South, Blackpool

03:59North and Fleetwood, and the Blackpool South seat, do you think they can be winnable for

04:03reform this time?

04:04Well, there was a by-election that took place, of course, in Blackpool South not long ago.

04:09The reform candidate got about 18% of the vote. Our national vote share is now double

04:14what it was at the time of the Blackpool South by-election. We are seriously competing

04:20in Blackpool. It'll be us against Labour. And I would say to people who are thinking

04:24of voting Conservative, if you vote Conservative, you are wasting your vote. If you vote Conservative,

04:29you will let Labour in. If those Conservative voters recognise that we're now the voice

04:33of real opposition, it's going to be really tight in both seats for Labour. Really, really

04:38tight.

04:39Thanks, Nigel. Appreciate the time.

Category

Transcript

Recommended