Senior Liberal Democrats have accused Labour and the Tories of copying parts of Reform’s “extremist” rhetoric as Ed Davey’s party has today committed to taking on Nigel Farage ahead of next month’s local elections, The London Economic can reveal.
Party figures believe there are local council seats to be won in May by calling out Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch for “appeasing” Reform while warning against their “dangerous” policies.
It comes after it was revealed the Lib Dems have received £100,000 from donors in recent weeks to establish a “Farage fighting fund” to counter Reform in key areas where Sir Ed Davey’s party are already strong locally, such as Devon, Cornwall and Shropshire
Liberal Democrat president and peer Mark Pack told The London Economic: “Both Labour and the Conservatives seem to think the best way to respond to Reform’s rise in the polls is to increasingly copy parts of what Nigel Farage says.
“But as we have shown in council by-election wins over Reform, there is another way – one that rejects Reform’s extremism and divisiveness and instead works with local communities to tackle the most pressing issues.”
A party insider added: “While the two main parties are too focused on appeasing Reform, we know Nigel Farage will ruin vital public services like the NHS and make poor families even poorer by giving tax breaks to the super rich.
“The public agrees with us on our approach to Donald Trump and many agree with us on the dangers of a Reform council, let alone, government.”
Another figure said Labour and the Conservatives “seem to cower away and pretend that Reform aren’t a threat to Britain”, urging them to “wake up and actually start protecting our democracy”.
While Labour HQ has stepped up efforts to take on Nigel Farage with campaigns accusing him of wanting to privatise the NHS and “fawning over Putin”, some have criticised the government for adopting a bolder approach to migration by publishing efforts to deal with the issue after pressure from parties like Reform.
The Home Office was yesterday accused of taking a “move straight out of the far-right’s playbook” for revealing a league table of foreign criminals awaiting deportation and their offences. Tory Robert Jenrick paraded the move, arguing it shows the “hard reality that mass migration is fuelling crime across our country”. The government has previously faced criticism for releasing videos of illegal migrants being deported.
Kemi Badenoch has said Tory-Reform council coalitions could be formed around the country after the local elections and has told Conservative associations to assess if a pact was “right for the people in their local area”.
The Liberal Democrats now hope their “Farage fighting fund” will reach £1 million this year to help increase the production of campaign materials and digital adverts to counter Reform. An additional £75,000 has been pledged to support campaigning for next year’s Senedd elections in Wales, where Reform is anticipated to perform well.
“Normally at this time of year, at this point in the election cycle, it would be tumbleweed, but we’re getting a huge amount of support,” one party strategist told the Financial Times. “We’re being seen as a bulwark against Farage.”
Sir Ed Davey vowed to replace the Conservatives as the party of middle England while launching his local election campaign late last month, following a survey showing his party is topping the polls in the south of England.
“We can overtake the Conservatives as the second biggest party of local government, replacing failing Conservative-run councils that take their residents for granted with Liberal Democrats that work hard for their local communities,” he argued.
However, Farage wants to win more than 200 council seats next month, particularly across Durham, Doncaster, Lancashire, Kent and Lincolnshire. Predictions suggest Reform is likely to win control of Hull council from the Lib Dems.
Earlier this week, polling expert Sir John Curtice said the upcoming elections are unprecedented because the unusually weak polling of Britain’s two main political parties has opened the door for smaller parties to make gains.
New MRP polling by More in Common shows if a general election was held today Reform UK is in first place with 180 seats, while Labour and Conservatives are in joint second with 165 trailed by the Lib Dems at 67 seats.
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We are living through a period of economic and social decline. Our great country is heading in the wrong direction.
“Labour have broken promise after promise since entering office and voters rightly feel betrayed. Reform UK will fix broken Britain, starting on May 1st.”
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