This tonight, from the ‘i’ newspaper (that I also now subscribe to, not just The Telegraph!) ….
“Nigel Farage stood up at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday to hostile silence. Squashed together in the Commons, MPs from other parties glowered at him, and then delighted as he appeared to fluff his lines when asking a question about the Chagos Islands.
Behind the scenes it is a different story, with individual MPs from other parties queuing up to ask the Reform UK leader to sign House of Commons wine bottles and drinks coasters for family members and constituents who are fans of his brand of straight-talking populism. It’s not clear whether those MPs acknowledge the cognitive dissonance involved.
There’s no doubt Reform is having a moment. On average, the last half-dozen polls have put the party on 25 per cent, putting it equal first with Labour. Three of those polls put the party in the lead, either solely or in tandem with Labour.
It’s causing tangible jitters among both Labour and Conservative MPs. At PMQs, Farage accused them of “panic.”
This week a group of around 40 Labour MPs from “Red Wall” seats in the north of England called for Sir Keir Starmer to send a stronger message on immigration as they seek to see off the threat from Farage and his crew ahead of local elections in May.
Behind the scenes, other Labour MPs have requested training sessions from No 10 on how to deal with Reform in their areas. “It really troubles them,” a Labour source said.”
C’mon REFORM!
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