NIGEL Farage last night declared Reform the real opposition to Labour – after his party overtook the Tories in a shock poll.
The firebrand Brexiteer crowed about his one-point lead over Rishi Sunak in results that dropped moments before a seven-way telly debate.
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A glimmer of good news for the PM was that 80 per cent of Reform backers thought it would be “bad for the country” if Sir Keir Starmer won a landslide.
Jittery Tory MPs will hope this fear of a Labour “supermajority” will coax back wavering Farage supporters on Polling Day.
Mr Sunak has insisted throughout the campaign that voting for Reform would only help Sir Keir cruise into No10 on July 5.
But Mr Farage kicked off last night’s clash saying: “Just before we came on air we overtook the Conservatives in the national opinion polls. We are now the opposition to Labour.”
He came out swinging in the ITV rumble – which included Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner – as soaring levels of net migration dominated the 90-minute showdown.
He punched both Tory and Labour bruises on the “exploding population” and said: “It’s a constant problem that none of the other panellists even want to answer.”
He blasted: “The reason we voted Brexit and the reason Penny’s party got the massive majority in 2019, is we voted to reduce the numbers coming in and the numbers have exploded.”
During heated clashes on border control, ITV host Julie Etchingham asked the politicians to raise their hand if they believed net migration needed to fall.
- Penny Mordaunt accuses Labour of having a hidden £35bn tax black hole
- Angela Rayner blasts Tories over migration figures
- But Mordaunt hits back claiming Starmer has ‘no plan’ to stop the boats
- Rayner is held task over leaving door open to private healthcare
Ms Mordaunt, Ms Rayner and Lib Dem Daisy Cooper all raised a hand – while Mr Farage stuck two arms in the air.
And taking on Plaid Cymru’s leader claiming migrants make us richer, he fired back: “They’re not wealth creators and mass migration is making us poorer… if you’re going to university in Britain, you can’t bring your mum in.”
Ms Mordaunt trumpeted her party’s new plan for an annual migration cap, while also accusing Ms Rayner of lacking credible plans for small boats.
The messy exchanges once again saw the Tory and Labour big beasts squabble on tax, with the Conservative accusing Labour of a £38.5billion “black hole” in their manifesto.
She blasted: “They’ve only declared about a quarter of the taxes they’re going to put up.
“They’re gonna have to put up a lot more and they haven’t yet told you.”
Ms Rayner admitted “we can’t tax our way out of this” and said taxpayers “can’t afford another five years of Conservative government.”
Clashes also centred on public services, Labour’s private schools tax raid, and the NHS.
In a bizarre moment urging “political dogma” to be taken out of the NHS, Commons leader Ms Mordaunt appeared to use a quote from former Chinese dictator Deng Xiaoping.
She said: “Most of the public don’t care what colour the cat is, they just want some mice caught.”
The crazy day in politics also saw Reform air a TV political broadcast which was just a four-minute still picture of the words: “Britain is broken. Britain needs Reform.”
One Reform insider said: “No party has ever done this before. When we sent it to one of the channels they came back and said the video file was broken.
“They were gobsmacked when we told them that was how it was supposed to be.”
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ANALYSIS
WELL, that was messy.
In a scrappy seven-way debate often characterised by interruption and raised voices, floating voters would have done well to have made up their minds based on the last 90+ minutes.
Yet two key themes emerged during the slanging.
The first was the bunfight between Penny Mordaunt and Nigel Farage over who is the real opposition to Labour.
From the off Farage seized on a shock poll putting Reform one point ahead of the Tories.
He used it to turn the tables on the Conservatives – saying a vote for THEM risked a Starmer landslide.
And he effectively punched Rishi Sunak’s bruises on missed migration pledges.
Mordaunt stuck to the script that it was Farage who was the real “Labour enabler”.
Despite tonight’s YouGov poll, she is probably right, with other outlets keeping the Tories out in front.
And our first past the post system makes it incredibly tough for smaller insurgent parties to win seats.
But don’t expect this debate to go away.
Fighting on the other front, Mordaunt used every opportunity to lash Angela Rayner on tax.
Three times she demanded the Labour deputy rule out a rise in capital gains tax.
She finally managed to eek out a “There is nothing in our manifesto that says we need to raise capital gains tax”..
Westminster hands will know that is not the same as categorically pledging to not raise it, as Labour has done with income tax, National Insurance and VAT.
The Tories clearly spy a chink in Starmer’s armour over tax, with polls showing some cut-through with voters too.
They must hope Brits are still paying attention, rather than reaching for the remote.
By Jack Elsom, Chief Political Correspondent
