Ben Habib has been grilled by GB News host Martin Daubney on the launch of his new political party, warning him of "splitting the Reform vote".In an announcement video posted on social media, Habib launched Advance UK, hailed by him as a new "political force on the British political landscape".FULL STORY HERE.
00:00Brexit Party MEP and the ex-deputant leader of Reform UK, Ben Habib, has today launched a new political party.
00:06And why don't we take a listen to his announcement, video posted earlier on today on social media.
00:11Today, I address you in a new capacity. I address you as the leader in waiting of Advance UK,
00:19a new political force on the British political landscape, a new political party.
00:26So why a new political party now?
00:30Well, the simple truth of the matter is that the United Kingdom is in deep, deep trouble.
00:35We face multiple existential threats, constitutionally, culturally, economically.
00:44Well, I'm now joined in the studio by the leader of Advance UK, Ben Habib.
00:48Ben, welcome to the studio.
00:50So you said on this show quite a few weeks ago you were going to start a political party.
00:55Today, that's happened. Advance UK has launched. What's the point?
01:00So the point is that, and viewers may not believe this, but there isn't a single political party
01:06that actually stands for the nation state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
01:11stands for free speech, stands for democracy and stands for equity under the law.
01:16People looking at the screens will probably agree that the Tory party's been hijacked,
01:20but they'll think reform might offer up some of these, you know, these aims that I've just described.
01:26But reform, actually, when you look carefully at what reform is doing,
01:31it doesn't stand for the nation state of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
01:35Farage is on the record saying a united Ireland is inevitable.
01:38He doesn't stand for free speech.
01:40He's forever policing his own membership to see what they said on Twitter three or four years ago
01:45and then ignominiously chuck them out of the party.
01:48As far as democracy is concerned, he doesn't have a democratic party.
01:51So he can't stand for the democracy that is the United Kingdom
01:54and not have a democracy within his own party.
01:57Indeed, if he can't define the democratic unit, which is Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
02:01I think he's challenged in understanding what democracy means.
02:04It's insane, isn't it?
02:05No, I know you would think that insane, but it's true.
02:09He wears Union Jack's socks.
02:11I mean, you're saying he doesn't care about the union, Nigel Farage.
02:13Nigel Farage is on the record saying a united Ireland is inevitable
02:18and he's happy to share a platform with Mary Lou MacDonald,
02:22who is an apologist, in my view, for the IRA.
02:25Ben, Ben, Ben.
02:25For terrorism.
02:26Ben, Ben, Ben.
02:26We're getting sidetracked into Northern Irish politics.
02:29I know you're very close to your heart, but let's be resolutely clear.
02:32There have been thousands and thousands and thousands of responses to your launch video today.
02:36It has to be said, a lot of people who would ordinarily support you are saying a common thing.
02:40Ben, Ben, what are you doing?
02:42You're going to split the vote.
02:44Runcorn violation went down to six votes, whisker-thin majorities.
02:49You yourself have said repeatedly on this show and many others,
02:52you want to try and wipe out the Conservatives.
02:54You can't countenance the notion of Sir Keir Starmer being in power for four more years.
02:58So surely a new party will split the vote on the right
03:01and allow the parties you despise to stay into power.
03:05So isn't a better thing for you to do to work with Reform UK rather than trying to work against them?
03:10Well, I would have worked with Reform UK if it had actually established
03:13some kind of democratic constitution within itself.
03:16It hasn't.
03:16Notwithstanding all the declarations made by Farage and Youssef, they haven't done it.
03:20But just addressing your splitting the vote point, we are four years away from an election.
03:28The key is to set the direction of travel and the policy agenda that is required to save the United Kingdom.
03:35So it's a pressure group.
03:36It's not a pressure group.
03:37That's the first step.
03:39Then we get to the electoral mathematics and the electoral strategy and how you deal with that
03:43to ensure that Labour are ejected and you get the kind of government
03:47which will deliver the policies to which I just referred.
03:51And moreover, I have set a target, a minimum target of 30,000 members that we have to achieve,
03:58which, by the way, is about the same number of members that Reform had
04:01just before the general election last year.
04:03So it's a sizable number of people which you can count on to campaign around the country and so on.
04:07I've set that as a target in part because I want the British people to validate my belief
04:14that we do need a new political force and we won't become a fully-fledged political party
04:19until I get that validation from the British people.
04:22This party is by the people and for the people.
04:25That might sound a bit quiche, but it's absolutely the fact.
04:28This party is a gigantic ego trip for Ben Habib, isn't it?
04:32I know Nigel Farage.
04:34You'll know Nigel Farage.
04:36He's someone who has fought and lost eight by-elections.
04:38He's got the scars on his back going back two decades on Brexit.
04:42He's fought for the nation-state.
04:43He is the challenger brand.
04:45Why are you splitting the vote, Martin?
04:47The persona of Nigel Farage is great.
04:49The reality is not so good.
04:51He is taking into his party a whole load of Liberal Democrats, Labour councillors,
04:56former wet, sort of lefty Tories.
05:00Farage is the most brilliant campaigner.
05:03He's the most brilliant political expedient.
05:06But he doesn't have a joined-up political philosophy.
05:09He doesn't have a coherent philosophy.
05:11So why don't you join up with him and get that job?
05:14Because you can't.
05:15Recently, you were colleagues and associates.
05:17You were doing Brussels with him.
05:19Surely the best thing to do is be inside the tent.
05:21Martin, I've been on this show and I've said I would give Farage a big cuddle and a kiss if he wanted.
05:27In order to do the right thing for the country, he can have a cuddle and a kiss whenever he wants.
05:31It's not about me or him.
05:33It's about getting the right agenda for the country.
05:36Farage ain't doing it.
05:38And unless he democratises the party...
05:40The opinion polls say the opposite.
05:42The opinion polls out today over this weekend show reform, whether you'd like it or not, is running away.
05:47It's eviscerating the Labour Party, eviscerating the Conservatives.
05:51Isn't that the thing?
05:52Join the winning team rather than trying to start a fresh one?
05:55Well, that, I'm afraid, goes to the heart of where British politics has gone wrong.
06:00People have been politically expedient.
06:02They've wanted to be on the winning side.
06:04They've joined the Tories when the Tories weren't doing the right thing.
06:07And they've embedded failure in our system.
06:10We are on a precipice, if not over it, as a country.
06:13And we need to get a grip of this urgently.
06:15And on the way to 2029, I'm going to give that bat the best damn swing I can.
06:21To make sure this country is saved.
06:23And you're going to put quite a chunk of your own money into it.
06:25You say if you get 30,000 members, you're going to put 100 grand of your own cash into the pot.
06:30Absolutely.
06:30If the people show that they want this party, if the people put their hands in their back pockets,
06:36it's only right that I should put my hand in my back pocket.
06:39And I should make sure that the party is properly capitalised and that the people know that I'm completely committed to the endeavour.
06:46That this isn't a vanity project.
06:48This is a project born out of duty and obligation.
06:51That's why I'm in it.
06:52Can I ask you a quick question?
06:54What's the structure?
06:55Do you own all the shares or the majority shares?
06:57No.
06:57It is a company limited by guarantee.
07:00Same as the thing you criticised Nigel Farage.
07:02No, precisely the opposite.
07:04Reform UK is a company limited by shares and the shares were largely owned by Nigel Farage.
07:10And even now he has complete control of that company.
07:13We have a company limited by guarantee, which is a non-profit company where the members will control the party.
07:19And by a simple majority of the members vote, they will be able to remove any board director, including the leader.
07:26It's fundamentally democratic.
07:29But where it really differs, and I think this is in a Trumpian way, if I may say, beautiful about the party, is that it has something called a college, which will number up to 100 people, all of whom will not be honest.
07:43None of whom will be getting a penny from the party.
07:45They have to do it because they believe in it.
07:46They won't be elected officials.
07:48They can't be bought off by this agenda or that agenda.
07:50And they will set, they will be the heart, soul and conscious.
07:55They will be the intellectual ballast of the party.
07:57They will be the ones that will make sure that the party executive deliver the promises they make.
08:02There will be rigorous controls in place to ensure the party does not deviate.
08:07If seats are won and lost by wafer-thin margins and if Advance UK is enabling Labour to get more seats, and that could be the balance of power the next election, how would you sleep at night?
08:19Come on, you're on the same political page as Nigel Farrell.
08:23If I did anything to put Labour into office again, I would have sleepless nights.
08:27Of course I would.
08:28But what we've got to do is have made every effort to do what's right for the country.
08:36And what happens in 2028 or 2029, it might be that Farage and I are hugging and kissing.
08:42Let's see what happens.
08:43OK, well, we can live for miracles.
08:46Ben Abid, the leader of Advance UK, thank you very much.
