Jack Walters
Guest Reporter
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has boasted about the populist party's soaring support in opinion polls as Labour voters appear to have flocked to Farage - just over 100 days into Sir Keir Starmer's premiership.
Responding to a recent poll of polls putting Reform UK up six points on 20 per cent, Yusuf said: "Labour voters are fleeing in their droves to Reform. Not the Tories. Only Reform can beat Labour. And we will."
The polling averages have placed Reform UK is just five points behind the effectively leaderless Tories - who, alongside Farage's party, are the only ones trending up - and nine points behind Starmer's faltering Labour.
Yusuf, who was last month instructed to democratise and professionalise Reform UK, also shared separate polls showing the populist party as more popular than Labour.
Directly addressing Reform UK's support in Wales, Yusuf warned: "You haven't seen anything yet."
Yusuf’s comments come as Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick prepare to lock horns tonight at 7pm on GB News for Decision Time: The Race to Lead - live on The People's Channel.
Despite Jenrick and Badenoch both hoping to thwart the rise of Reform UK, a new opinion poll has suggested Farage could make large gains if either succeed Rishi Sunak as Tory leader.
The situation prompted former Conservative MP Miriam Cates to urge her former colleagues to "swallow their pride" by entering a pact with Reform UK.
Writing in ConservativeHome, Cates said: "It is easy to dismiss Farage as merely a 'populist' - and certainly the Reform UK manifesto this year was a feast of fantasy policies - but this challenger party is rapidly professionalising and building infrastructure, and there is no reason to believe that their advances will be reversed."
SCROLL BELOW FOR MORE UPDATES FROM GB NEWS AHEAD OF TONIGHT’S SPECIAL POLITICAL PROGRAMME, DECISION TIME: THE RACE TO LEAD
Streeting and Johnson in toe-curling 'good girl' exchange in Parliament
MPs in an access to primary healthcare debate were forced to endure a toe-curling exchange in Parliament yesterday, new video shows.
Asking Health Secretary Wes Streeting why it was taking so long to produce a tobacco and vapes Bill, shadow health and social care minister Dr Caroline Johnson asked: "Can he guarantee that he will deliver it, like a present, in time for Christmas? For clarity, I am hoping for this Christmas."
Streeting retorted: "Have you been naughty or nice?"
But the chamber swiftly descended into equal parts laughter, equal parts wincing when Dr Johnson replied: "I have been a good girl, thank you, Secretary of State."
HS2 set to be extended to Crewe - announcement expected next year
The HS2 train line is set to be extended beyond Birmingham to Crewe, according to LBC.
In a move set to be announced early in 2025, sources close to the project say ministers have reevaluated HS2's costs and benefits - with the railway now set to link Crewe to London Euston.
The route had initially been set to connect London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, but was scaled back by the Conservative Government who scrapped its "Phase 2".
Rees-Mogg hails Jenrick's 'vision, work ethic and understanding' ahead of GB News special
Jacob Rees-Mogg has lauded Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick's "vision, work ethic and understanding" ahead of his head-to-head with Kemi Badenoch on GB News this evening.
Rees-Mogg, who has been offered the role of Tory chairman if Jenrick wins, hailed his plans for migration reform - saying "proper immigration policy is essential before anyone will listen to us on anything else".
"We can be a mass movement again, because being a Conservative is something you should be proud of," he added.
DECISION TIME: THE RACE TO LEAD WILL AIR ON GB NEWS TONIGHT AT 7PM - READ MORE HERE
'Shameful!' Tory MP fumes at Lammy's 'failure to engage' with Chagos Islanders
Tory MP and shadow foreign affairs minister Alicia Kearns has lashed out at Foreign Secretary David Lammy over his "failure to engage" with Chagos Islanders after surrendering their home to Mauritius.
Writing on social media after filing a written Parliamentary question to Lammy, Kearns said: "The Foreign Secretary did not meet any Chagossians before deciding to cede British Indian Overseas Territories to Mauritius.
"He refused to admit this in the House. A shameful failure to engage with those to whom the state has a duty.
"A great injustice against Chagossians, again."
Rachel Reeves set to launch largest Budget tax raid in HISTORY
Rachel Reeves is set to launch the largest Budget tax raid in history in her upcoming October Budget.
The Chancellor has reportedly faced backlash from her fellow Cabinet ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister, as her first Budget is expected to include £35billion worth of tax rises as she commits to ending austerity.
It has been suggested that proposals set out in the Budget next Thursday will involve the first increase in fuel duty since George Osborne's freeze during the coalition Government, as the Treasury aims to fill a so-called "£40billion black hole" in the public finances.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Labour NOT hypocrites over donations scandal, says minister handed £14k birthday party by Lord Alli
Bridget Phillipson is still speaking to Times Radio, where she has been pressured on Labour's ongoing "donorgate" row.
The Education Secretary, who accepted £14,000 from Labour peer Lord Alli to fund a birthday party, said that she does not accept the Government has been hypocritical on issues like Taylor Swift tickets and donations from Alli - but accepted that she can "understand" why people would "see it in a certain way".
Asked about hypocrisy, Phillipson said: "I do recognise I'm in a very privileged position, a very fortunate position, but I reject the wider suggestion that you have put to me.
"And I can absolutely tell you that every single day what matters most to me is the work that we are doing as a Government to support our children and families."
Asked again whether she feels that "there is no hypocrisy in the Labour Government", Phillipson added: "I don't accept that, but I can understand how when lots of people would look at that they would see it in a certain way.
"I completely understand that we have responsibilities as politicians which I followed and honoured in terms of my responsibilities in line with the rules."
At the end of last month, when the five-figure sum came to light, Phillipson defended the donations to Sky News.
She told the broadcaster: "The first event was ahead of my birthday, so I was turning 40... I thought it was a good opportunity to get people together in a professional context, so it was journalists, trade unionists, education people, MPs and shadow cabinet.
"The second event was an event that I held, also again for lobby journalists, for people in the education world, as part of a reception. It was in a work context."
She said she didn't pay for the event because it was not attended by her family members.
Education Secretary warns of 'tough choices' to come - but can't resist swipe at Sunak
Ministers will have to "make some really tough choices" ahead of the Budget, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has warned.
Asked about the revolt from within that the Prime Minister is facing over cuts to multiple departments' spending, and whether this marks a return to austerity, Phillipson told Times Radio that "we've got to fix the problems that we've inherited".
She was firm that there will be "no return to austerity", but joined a raft of Labour's top brass in blaming the previous Government as she added: "We do, all of us, have to make some really tough choices because of the inheritance... given to us by the Conservatives."
She also lashed out at prison overcrowding, and accused Rishi Sunak of not being "prepared to confront that difficult choice".
The Education Secretary added: "We've got to fix the problems that we've inherited but we want to make sure that we're delivering on the commitments that we made: Making sure that there are more jobs, more opportunities, a growing economy."
Tens of thousands of migrants could be handed asylum under Labour scheme to 'clear the backlog'
More than 62,000 migrants could be granted asylum in Britain as part of Labour's plans to clear the backlog of claims waiting to be dealt with.
The number of asylum claims still waiting to be processed could stand at 118,063 by January after Labour controversially scrapped plans to send migrants to Rwanda and started processing applications again.
Analysis of official data, based on grant rates in the year to June, indicates as many as 62,801 more people could be recognised as refugees in the UK, according to migrant charity the Refugee Council.
The charity's chief executive, Enver Solomon, said: "People seeking asylum need quick decisions so they can feel secure about their future in Britain, while the public needs to feel confident that the Government is making fair decisions about who can stay in the UK and who cannot."
The charity also said the research suggests the total backlog at the start of next year could be as much as 59,000 lower than at the time of the July election and if no action had been taken to change Government policy.
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A reminder that at 7pm tonight on GB News, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will be going head-to-head on Decision Time: The Race to Lead - READ MORE HERE
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