Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused British prime minister Keir Starmer of using “desperate” and “bordering on inciteful” language after the Labour leader branded Farage’s party an “enemy” ahead of his party’s annual conference in Liverpool.
“To call somebody in politics an enemy is language that is bordering on the inciteful,” Mr Farage told The Telegraph, warning it came close to encouraging hostility after the recent assassination of American activist Charlie Kirk over his conservative beliefs. He added:
The only enemy the British people have got is a weak prime minister allowing tens of thousands of undocumented young males into our country who would do us great harm.
Starmer had vowed to use “every ounce of energy” to defeat Reform, describing the party as “detrimental to our country” and “hiding in plain sight.” He said Labour must present a vision of “patriotic national renewal” while brushing off talk of a leadership challenge from Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, insisting the party must unite and focus on defeating Reform.
But the remarks come after a bruising first year in office for Starmer. Labour’s landslide win last summer—with 411 seats on just 34% of the vote—was widely seen as a “loveless” victory.
A new YouGov MRP projection now suggests Labour could face its worst defeat since 1931, crashing to just 144 seats if an election were held now. Reform would win 311 seats—three-quarters of them directly from Labour—leaving it just 15 short of a majority but with the biggest seat gain in British electoral history.
High-profile Labour casualties would include cabinet ministers Ed Miliband, Wes Streeting, Yvette Cooper, Lisa Nandy, Bridget Phillipson, and even former deputy PM Angela Rayner. The Conservatives would fare even worse, collapsing to just 45 seats—their lowest-ever total. Meanwhile, Reform has now passed 250,000 members, closing in on Labour’s 309,000.
Farage, whose party only won five seats last year despite four million votes, said the figures would “spread panic amongst Labour and Tory MPs as they head to their party conferences.”
