Afternoon summary
Greg Smith, a shadow business minister, has said the Conservative party will have to negotiate some sort of pact with Reform UK before the next general election if there is a risk of Labour winning. (See 5.31pm.) Smith was speaking as the Tories launched their local elections campaign, with Nigel Huddleston, the co-chair, suggesting the party is on course for big losses (see 9.45am) and Kemi Badenoch saying anything better than a wipeout will be an improvement on the general election result (see 12.22pm).
The Social Market Foundation, a thinktank, has proposed savings and tax increases that it says could raise £30bn over the next five years, as an alternative to cutting disability benefits. The plans include replacing the pensions triple lock with a double lock, and taxing empty homes. Here is the list.
Shadow minister Greg Smith says Tories and Reform UK must agree pact before next election if there's risk of Labour winning
Greg Smith, a shadow business minister, has said the Conservative party will have to negotiate some sort of pact with Reform UK before the next general election if there is a risk of Labour winning.
In an interview with Talk TV, asked if he would be happy for the Tories to do a deal with Reform UK, Smith replied:
Look, I think if we want to get rid of socialism from this country, there may well be a point where the right-of-centre parties have to play nicely.
I don’t think we’re at the point of having to negotiate a deal like that. At the moment, I very much hope we can have a Conservative victory.
Asked what “playing nicely” might look like – a informal non-aggression pact, or a more formal electoral alliance – Smith said it was “far too early” to say. But he went on:
I think there is going to come a point where the parties on the right-of-centre look at where things stand ahead of the 2029 general election, and if there is a risk of a continued Labour government – or, possibly the worst case scenario, a Labour/Lib Dem/SNP coalition that would almost certainly bring in proportional representation … then I think there has to be some sort of deal negotiated out. Exactly what that looks like, [it’s] far too early to say.
Asked if Kemi Badenoch thought the same way, Smith said:
Britain is not a leftwing country. What we’re trying to do at the moment is ensure we’ve got a policy platform and an offer to the British people that has got to be radically different to the offer that they threw out so comprehensively last July, that can get us a majority. We want to form a majority Conservative government.
But we’ve got to look at the facts the closer we get to that general election to see how things are going, to see how the turquoise team [Reform UK] are doing compared to us, and take a judgement close to the time.
Asked if he would serve in a Nigel Farage government, Smith said it was “far too early to say” and that he was still working for a Tory win.
The Liberal Democrats challenged Badenoch to sack Smith for his comments. Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:
On the very day that Kemi Badenoch launched her campaign in Buckinghamshire, the local Conservative MP for Mid Buckinghamshire has suggested a Conservative pact with Reform.
The wheels are already coming off this shambolic Tory local election campaign.
Kemi Badenoch should sack Greg Smith from her front bench. Anything less would be an admission that the Conservative Party now wants a deal with Farage and Reform.
