Reform UK has blasted Labour for spreading “misinformation” after Nigel Farage was accused of endangering Britain’s trade deal with the US at a potential cost of £350 per household.
Mr Farage this month appeared before the US Congress and denounced the “awful authoritarian situation” in the UK, asking: “At what point did we become North Korea?”
In written evidence, Mr Farage urged Congress to instruct the US executive to defend freedom of speech for Americans in “diplomacy and trade fora”.
Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky has accused Mr Farage of a “deeply unpatriotic move” which “could risk unravelling the historic UK-US trade deal, which would have devastating consequences for family finances – and could cost every working household £350”.
The MP said the US deal “is estimated to save the UK economy £6.5billion by 2030, by slashing tariffs to protect jobs for UK carmakers, steelworks, and farmers”.
Losing the deal would, he warned, “hammer ordinary Brits who get up and go out to work every day – to put food on the table for their family, to save up for a home of their own, or for their next well-earned beach break”.
He added: “This is anti-aspiration, anti-British, and the public will rightly be dumbfounded as to why Reform UK think ordinary people should be punished. No responsible leader of a political party should seek to make our country poorer – it shows an extraordinary lack of patriotism that sadly we have come to expect from you and your party.”
A Reform UK spokesman shot back, saying: “Labour has revealed their latest attempt to distract the British public from their catastrophic failures as a government on all fronts by using smears and lies. This is an insult to the honest and hardworking people of this country.
“Nigel Farage and Reform UK have never once called for trade sanctions on Britain and the ease with which Labour MPs rush to spread misinformation should speak to their integrity and credibility as a party. The Labour Government is crumbling before our eyes.
“Only Reform can provide a unified voice that truly fights for the interests of decent British people and our great country, instead of misleading the public and playing political games.”