The Daily Telegraph

Farage: PM isn’t a Conservati­ve and Middle England is lost

- By Jamie Johnson

BORIS JOHNSON is not really a Conservati­ve, and Middle England is starting to lose hope in him, according to Nigel Farage.

In an interview with The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast, the Brexit Party leader said the Government’s handling of the Covid crisis had been “a shambles” and that voters no longer had confidence in the Prime Minister on law and order and immigratio­n.

“The vast majority of Conservati­ve supporters and voters, particular­ly in that Red Wall that helped get Boris his majority, want to live in a country where the police are in control, where we have proper law and order,” he said.

“I think Boris is in danger of losing Middle England on these subjects. Middle England is beginning to lose hope with him on law and order, on the immigratio­n, and, dare I mention it, the handling of the coronaviru­s crisis, which frankly has been a shambles.”

On the situation in the Channel, with more than 4,000 people crossing illegally to the UK this year, Mr Farage said that he felt sorry for Priti Patel, the Home Secretary. “She’s a Conservati­ve, a rare thing in the present Cabinet. They’re mostly kids with rich daddies who play at politics,” he said.

“But the real problem is that Boris isn’t really a Conservati­ve. Boris is a metro liberal. Boris, as Mayor of London, more than once talked about having amnesties for illegal immigrants in London. He does not seem to have the political will to deal with this. I feel a bit sorry for Priti Patel because I think she’s being left a bit high and dry.”

Mr Farage described the Cabinet as “a pretty low-grade bunch”. He said: “It’s almost as if Boris and [Dominic] Cummings surround themselves with idiots so no one can challenge them.”

On Brexit, he said that he believed the UK would reach an exit agreement with the EU. “My own sense is there will be a deal,” he said.

♦download the latest episode of Planet Normal at telegraph.co.uk/ planet-normal/

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom