‘The bigger story for Reform this week is they really are becoming the party of sleaze and scandal and dud and dodgy personnel.’
Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell roasted Reform UK in a statement to MPs this morning.
Reform MP James McMurdock announced earlier this week that he would not seek to have the party whip restored, after The Sunday Times published an investigation raising questions about his use of covid support scheme loans.
Despite former Tory chair and Boris Johnson ally Jake Berry defecting to Reform this week, she said: “This defection doesn’t make up for what has actually been a terrible week for the Reform party […] especially when it comes to HR matters shall we say.”
Powell added: “The bigger story for Reform this week is they really are becoming the party of sleaze and scandal and dud and dodgy personnel.”
Joking about issues with Reform’s candidates, she said: “It’s not really the right moment, I don’t think, to start ditching your vetting procedures”.
The Labour MP for Manchester Central continued to mock Reform during Business Questions, stating: “Even though they’ve only got a handful of MPs, their chief whip seems to have had a busier week than ours, and I mean that’s kind of saying something.”
She also joked about whether Reform would support Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” migrant deal with the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Under the agreement, France would agree to take back asylum seekers who have crossed over to the UK but cannot prove a family connection to the UK.
In return, the UK would grant asylum to one migrant from France who can prove a family connection to the UK.
Powell said: “I’m not sure if the Reform party will welcome our partnership with the French on tackling the small boats this week, but when it comes to their own party they’re already really enthusiastically implementing a policy of one in, one out.”
Powell also took aim at the Tories, calling them a “sinking ship”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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