Farage calls Burnham ‘a liar’, saying he was wrong to say Russia interfered in Brexit referendum<\/p>\n
Q: Andy Burnham<\/a> says Russia interfered with the Brexit vote. Does this taint the result? And do you think you gained from Russian interference?<\/p>\n Farage replied:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe prime minister is a liar. Yes, a liar.<\/p>\n Boris Johnson, when he became foreign secretary, one of the first questions he asked was, \u2018Was there seen to be Russian interference in the referendum campaign?\u2019 And the answer was no.<\/p>\n But I can give you a stronger answer than that. And that\u2019s Stephen Doughty, the minister, Foreign Office minister, who was on the Today programme this morning, who within 24 hours of Andy Burnham making that outrageous comment, rowed it back and said even if there was some, it made no difference. [See 9.28am<\/a>.]<\/p>\n There was no Russian interference. And the Russia hoax has run all the way through this.<\/p>\n And I particularly have to mention my friend and supporter Arron Banks, who was severely libelled over this. But in the end, I\u2019m pleased to say, [he] won in the high court.<\/p>\n Farage went on to criticise Burnham\u2019s argument that Brexit<\/a> has done more harm than good. He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markAnd [Burnham] says Brexit has done more harm than good. Well, I don\u2019t think our growth figures are anything to write home about. But I tell you what, they\u2019re a damn sight better than France and Germany and Italy.<\/p>\n Farage admitted that Brexit has caused more \u201cinconvenience\u201d for people trading with the EU. But, when it was necessary to protect borders, there would always be \u201csome level of inconvenience\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Q: Where did you get the dinghy behind you (see 11.25am<\/a>), and how much did it cost?<\/p>\n Farage did not answer these questions, but he joked about how long it took him to blow it up.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Farage calls Burnham ‘a liar’, saying he was wrong to say Russia interfered in Brexit referendum<\/p>\n Q: Andy Burnham<\/a> says Russia interfered with the Brexit vote. Does this taint the result? And do you think you gained from Russian interference?<\/p>\n Farage replied:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe prime minister is a liar. Yes, a liar.<\/p>\n Boris Johnson, when he became foreign secretary, one of the first questions he asked was, \u2018Was there seen to be Russian interference in the referendum campaign?\u2019 And the answer was no.<\/p>\n But I can give you a stronger answer than that. And that\u2019s Stephen Doughty, the minister, Foreign Office minister, who was on the Today programme this morning, who within 24 hours of Andy Burnham making that outrageous comment, rowed it back and said even if there was some, it made no difference. [See 9.28am<\/a>.]<\/p>\n There was no Russian interference. And the Russia hoax has run all the way through this.<\/p>\n And I particularly have to mention my friend and supporter Arron Banks, who was severely libelled over this. But in the end, I\u2019m pleased to say, [he] won in the high court.<\/p>\n Farage went on to criticise Burnham\u2019s argument that Brexit<\/a> has done more harm than good. He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markAnd [Burnham] says Brexit has done more harm than good. Well, I don\u2019t think our growth figures are anything to write home about. But I tell you what, they\u2019re a damn sight better than France and Germany and Italy.<\/p>\n Farage admitted that Brexit has caused more \u201cinconvenience\u201d for people trading with the EU. But, when it was necessary to protect borders, there would always be \u201csome level of inconvenience\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Farage suggests, if a Reform UK<\/a> government were to fail to deliver on its promises to cut immigration, it would be replaced by an even more extreme goverment.<\/p>\n He says:<\/p>\n double quotation markI think the single biggest problem in British politics is the increasing feeling that people say things to the electorate that they never actually intend to carry out, and that trust in the whole system is beginning to break down.<\/p>\n If we were to let people down in that way, I shudder to think what would come after us. I genuinely shudder to think.<\/p>\n And maybe we\u2019ve seen one or two potential signs of that in the last few weeks.<\/p>\n Farage seems to be referring to the masked protests. (Earlier he said he did not approve of protesters wearing balaclavas.)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Q: [From GB News] Have you taken advice from Donald Trump on how you will implement these plans?<\/p>\n No, says Farage. He says he is prepared to disagree with \u201cmany things\u201d the president has said recently. But he goes on to praise Trump\u2019s record on cutting immigration.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Farage and Yusuf are taking questions now.<\/p>\n Q: Are you going to include children among the asylum seekers you deport or repatriate?<\/p>\n Farage says they would not be exempt. If children were allowed to stay, that would open the door to family reunions, he says.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Zia Yusuf, Reform UK\u2019s home affairs spokesperson, is speaking now. He started his speech with an account of a 73-year-old woman dying in North Wales after having to wait 23 hours for an ambulance, and he sought to link this to immigration.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe Royal College of Emergency Medicine estimates that 15,000 people across Britain died last year due to excess wait times for emergency treatment. That\u2019s 300 people a week, 300 lives destroyed, 300 families devastated.<\/p>\n And that number has increased tenfold over the last decade. This is a moral outrage, and it is a direct result of decisions made by Tory and Labour governments.<\/p>\n The Tories imported 5 million net new people and left the country with fewer hospital beds. More people, fewer beds.<\/p>\n Today, we must be frank. Britain is full.<\/p>\n Zia Yusuf speaking at the Reform UK press conferene this morning in Hythe, Kent. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n In his opening speech, Nigel Farage did refer himself to what Andy Burnham said about him on the Rest is Politics. (See 11.17am<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Farage said it was \u201cinteresting\u201d that Burnham was \u201cfor the first time \u2026 lashing out at me\u201d.<\/p>\n He went on:<\/p>\n double quotation markI don\u2019t think that\u2019s because he wants to have a fight over the European Union. I think that\u2019s because he knows what we\u2019re talking about today impacts hard in what is known as the red wall.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n One consequence of Reform UK being awash with cash from donors<\/a> is that they can afford to pay for the sort of stunts that other parties would find too expensive. We have seen an example this morning. At his press conference (where he has just finished giving his opening speech), Nigel Farage is standing in front of a replica of the boat that brought a record 230 asylum seekers to the UK in August.<\/a><\/p>\n Nigel Farage at his press conference, in front of a replica of the boat that bought a record 230 asylum seekers to the UK in August. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe\/ReutersShare<\/a>Burnham says Farage ‘very significantly responsible’ for UK failing to move forward in past decade<\/p>\n Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is starting his press conference now. There is a live stream here<\/a>. He is talking about illegal immigration, and claiming that he just wants the UK to get back to being a \u201cnormal country\u201d in the sense of being a state able to control its borders.<\/p>\n If any journalists are short of a question, they could ask about Andy Burnham saying Farage is \u201cvery significantly responsible\u201d for Britain being deadlocked over the past decade.<\/p>\n Burnham told the Rest is Politics:<\/p>\n double quotation mark I don\u2019t know whether Nigel Farage has got the appetite that he once had. We will see.<\/p>\n I certainly wouldn\u2019t be one of those who would write him off. I think people have done that before at their peril \u2026<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a politics of the kind that Nigel provides [that the UK needs], because he\u2019s given Britain a decade of division and drift. I would hold him very significantly responsible for our failure to move forward in the last decade.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Burnham says Badenoch’s attack on ethnonationalism in Tory conference speech ‘very brave’<\/p>\n Many commentators said the best moment in Kemi Badenoch\u2019s party conference speech last week came when she attacked ethnonationalists, and people like Suella Braverman who suggest black people can\u2019t be English<\/a>.<\/p>\n Andy Burnham liked it. He told the Rest is Politics:<\/p>\n double quotation markI thought Kemi Badenoch did a very brave thing at her conference this week. In some ways, she did something similar to what I did at Liverpool, where she spoke from real personal experience. And that gave her the power to make that point that she did about the racism that we see in politics these days. And that clear dividing line she drew with others on the right, I thought was a real moment in British politics.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Burnham says US plan to livestream execution by firing squad ‘quite abhorrent in many ways’<\/p>\n In his Rest is Politics interview, Andy Burnham said he found the US proposal to livestream the execution of a mass killer by firing squad<\/a> \u201cabhorrent\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked if Britain would take a stand on this, he replied:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt\u2019s something that I can\u2019t say I ever want to see anywhere in the world. It\u2019s something that I find quite abhorrent in many ways. But I only want to speak for what we will do, and why we will do it.<\/p>\n Burnham said the government did not have to provide a \u201cconstant running commentary on everybody else\u201d. But it should be clear about \u201cwhat we stand for, what we believe is right and wrong.\u201d He went on:<\/p>\n double quotation markLet Britain stand for something in a world that seems to change every day.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Burnham says governments in past have not done enough to tell public about extent of Russian interference in UK politics<\/p>\n Andy Burnham made his comment about Russian interference in the Brexit campaign (see 9.28am<\/a>) in an interview with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart for their podcast, the Rest is Politics. The full interview is available today<\/a> for podcast members, but the producers have released extracts to journalists.<\/p>\n Here is the full quote on Russia<\/a> and Brexit. In it, Burnham specifically addressed the argument made by the Conservative party today \u2013 that he should not be raking up the past. Burnham said the government had not done enough to tell people about the extent to which Russia is interfering in western politics.<\/p>\n On Brexit<\/a>, he said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI asked the question coming to Downing Street, \u2018Was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia?\u2019 And I\u2019ve had the clear answer that, \u2018Yes, there was.\u2019<\/p>\n These things are important now to put clearly on the record, and I believe, help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.<\/p>\n And, I think we\u2019ve been too much on the back foot on that, actually. And we haven\u2019t informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas.<\/p>\n Burnham also said he had discussed this issue with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, when they met in Berlin last week. Burnham said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have had a decade of drift and division that has caused more harm than good. In my view, we are a more fractious country than we were. We have a weaker sense of direction. And these are all the things I\u2019m trying to fix as prime minister.<\/p>\n I want to draw a line on that decade \u2026 And one thing I did say to Chancellor Merz yesterday is, \u2018We need to support you in taking on the threat that you face and particularly the type of politics that you\u2019re facing.\u2019 He was saying to me that the AfD is clearly linked to Russia, funded, I believe.<\/p>\n There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics, as I heard yesterday. And I\u2019ve asked the question myself coming into this role, because I gave a speech to the UN recently on this very topic. <\/p>\n I don\u2019t think we knew back then the extent to which there was state-sponsored interference in the British democratic process.<\/p>\n Andy Burnham giving an interview near the Reichstag after his meeting with Friedrich Merz last week. Photograph: Sean Gallup\/Pool Getty Images Europe\/APShare<\/a>Farage says Reform UK would stop anyone being granted asylum for five years<\/p>\n Nigel Farage is set to announce a pledge to ban anyone from being granted asylum for five years if Reform were elected, the Press Association reports. PA says:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe Reform UK leader will announce a plan this morning to suspend the asylum system for a full parliamentary term and declare void any applications in progress.<\/p>\n All asylum tribunals, legal refugee routes and resettlement schemes will be scrapped.<\/p>\n A Reform government would not hear the around 90,000 outstanding asylum and humanitarian protection appeals and instead deport the claimants.<\/p>\n The party would immediately close resettlement schemes that home secretary Shabana Mahmood recently said would reopen, with around a quarter of those admitted to the UK expected to be Palestinians and women and girls from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n Reform says there is \u201cno mandate\u201d for such schemes and that anyone who has arrived under them would be deported.<\/p>\n Any refugees granted asylum in the last five years would have their cases reviewed by the Home Office under the plans.<\/p>\n Farage told The Telegraph: \u201cThe country is currently facing a national security emergency and the first duty of government is to protect its citizens. We cannot accept more asylum seekers while we still have no idea how many people are in the country illegally and the threat they pose. A Reform government will always put British people first and protect our borders.\u201d<\/p>\n The party will also pledge to use tariffs to force countries to take back migrants.<\/p>\n Summing up his announcement on social media this morning, Farage said<\/a>:<\/p>\n double quotation markToday, I am announcing that a Reform UK Government will SHUT DOWN the asylum system.<\/p>\n This is a national security emergency and must be dealt with.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Ed Davey praises Burnham for confirming Russia tried to influence Brexit referendum result<\/p>\n Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has praised Andy Burnham for confirming that Russia tried to influence the outcome of the 2016 Brexit referendum. (See 9.28am<\/a>.) In a statement, he said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI\u2019m not going to agree with Andy Burnham on everything, but this statement needed to be said by a prime minister. After the Conservatives suppressed the truth for years, this took courage.<\/p>\n We must do far more to protect our democracy from attack by the Kremlin and other hostile states, before it is too late.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Tories accuse Burnham of being \u2018dangerous and divisive\u2019 after he confirms Russian interference in Brexit campaign<\/p>\n Good morning. The last time Andy Burnham gave a statement to MPs after a recess, it went on for more than three hours<\/a>. This prompted Kemi Badenoch to make a lewd joke later about the PM\u2019s stamina (which she repeated at a party conference reception with an additional line about how she just had to \u201csit back and lie there\u201d<\/a>.) Today we are getting another post-recess, potentially wide-ranging statement from the PM, but the mood might not be so cordial.<\/p>\n Quite a lot has happened since MPs were last in the chamber almost a month ago, and they will want to ask the PM about issues like the cost of living, North Sea oil and gas, the Iran war and Ukraine. We have not been told yet exactly what Burnham\u2019s statement will cover. But, as Aletha Adu reports, Burnham will talk about Brexit<\/a>, restating what he told Labour\u2019s conference about how he thinks it has done more harm than good and making the case for trying to find a better, closer relationship with the EU.<\/p>\n The statement will come after 3.30pm<\/p>\n Burnham has also given an interview<\/a> to the Rest is Politics podcast and in it he confirmed that Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum. This is one of those statements, quite common in politics, which are simultaneously unremarkable and newsworthy. Unremarkable \u2013 because it has been obvious to anyone reading the news for the past decade that the Russians were trying to help the leave campaign. And newsworthy \u2013 because it is not something that any previous PM has been keen to say.<\/p>\n For some years ministers have been using the line \u2013 set out in 2020 in the government\u2019s response to the intelligence and security committee\u2019s report on the threat posed by Russia<\/a> \u2013 that \u201cwe have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU referendum\u201d. That implies there is evidence of unsuccessful interference. But in the past prime ministers have not said that explicity. Post-2016 Tory PMs, whether they voted leave or remain, did not want to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the leave vote, and Keir Starmer was also reluctant to poke his stick into that particular hornets\u2019 nest.<\/p>\n Burnham is taking a different approach. In his interview, Burnham was not asked, and did not say, if he thought that Russian interference had an impact on the result. Stephen Doughty, a Foreign Office minister, has been giving interview this morning and he told Times Radio:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe result is the result, and I think the prime minister has been very clear that he\u2019s talking about attempts to interfere. The security minister has spoken about this before. I\u2019m confident that both the British people and the British state are able to respond to and defend against these types of threats, but we need to be very honest that those threats exist.<\/p>\n (\u201cI think the PM has been very clear\u201d is the sort of thing a minister says when what they mean is \u201cOf course, the PM wasn\u2019t clear at all, but I\u2019m happy to give you the line now.\u201d Doughty later told LBC the Russians \u201chaven\u2019t succeeded in their many, many attempts to undermine our [democratic] processes\u201d.)<\/p>\n The Conservatives have criticised Burnham for even raising the topic. Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, told Times Radio this morning:<\/p>\n double quotation markThat Brexit referendum was a legitimate vote. People voted in this country in record numbers to leave the European Union. And I actually think it\u2019s very dangerous and divisive of the prime minister to reopen this debate in such an explosive fashion.<\/p>\n Here is the agenda for the day.<\/p>\n 11am: Kanishka Narayan, the AI minister, gives a speech.<\/p>\n 11am: Nigel Farage<\/a>, the Reform UK leader, and Zia Yusuf, its home affairs spokesperson, hold a press conference.<\/p>\n 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.<\/p>\n 2.30pm: Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, takes questions in the Commons.<\/p>\n Afternoon: MLAs (members of the legislative assembly) will vote on a no confidence motion in Michelle O\u2019Neill, the Sinn F\u00e9in first minister, over her support for a protest against the proposed Orange Order march down the Garvachy Road.<\/p>\n