A Labour MP lost it at Nigel Farage after he moved to outflank Sir Keir Starmer’s party with its traditional working class supporters. The Reform UK leader pledged to scrap the two-child benefit cap and reinstate winter fuel payments for all pensioners in a high-profile press conference today.
But Dover MP Mike Tapp did not hold back as he claimed Mr Farage is “another rich bloke masquerading as a working class hero”. He told GB News: “What I’ve seen is a cynical attempt to be all things to everybody.
“And the fact is here, from what I can see, is Nigel Farage has been listening far too much to Liz Truss and there’s a real risk of the economy crashing should Nigel Farage have his way in the future.
“We can’t have that, we’ve already been through 14 years of conservatives and we’re having to fix the mess they left us with.
“What he said about Keir Starmer was quite underhand in my view as he served the country as Director of Public Prosecutions putting people in prison.
“Nigel Farage is another rich bloke masquerading as a working class hero and using the flag to essentially act as a patriot when we all know that he’s not.”
But Reform deputy leader Richard Tice hit back on X: “Drip, drip, drip. Dripping Tapps get really boring. Anyone know a plumber?”
Mr Farage declared that Reform is now the “party of working people” at the press conference earlier.
He also insisted he could be Britain’s next PM, saying: “History would suggest the answer to your question is no. Circumstances would suggest the answer is yes.
“Something extraordinary is happening; the collapse of confidence in two political parties that are pretty much merged.”
And he challenged the Prime Minister to a debate in a working man’s club before the next election.
He said: “That’s my open invitation to the Prime Minister. Let’s go to one of the former mining communities, let’s go somewhere that Labour have held the seat pretty much consistently since 1918. Whether the Prime Minister will enjoy a few beers with the lads and do the Channel 4 racing that afternoon, I’m not sure, but I am very, very happy to do so.”
