The Labour deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has unleashed a scathing attack on Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, branding him as the “love child of Thatcher and Enoch Powell” and accusing him of backing policies that keep children in poverty.
In a keynote address at the Fabian Society New Year Conference, Ms Powell will tear into Farage, describing him as the true heir to the former Tory Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She will argue that Farage is not an insurgent, but rather part of the old establishment, advocating for the economic status quo.
“He is the love child of Thatcher and Enoch Powell. He’s the real heir to Thatcher. The long-line of Tories going to Reform show. His actions and his associations show he’s in hoc to vested interests, for the status quo on the economy because it benefits those at the top, with assets and wealth,” Ms Powell is expected to say.
The Labour deputy leader will accuse Farage of being “anti-worker and for bad bosses, anti-renters and for rogue landlords, anti-pay rises for low-paid younger workers, and anti the North again st new rail infrastructure.” She will argue that the only thing Farage is “for is scapegoating migrants, and keeping children in poverty.”
Ms Powell will also criticise Farage’s diagnosis of the country’s problems, stating that he is not promising change but rather “the same economic model which has battered ordinary people, whilst the wealthy like him have weathered the storms we’ve faced.” She will assert that Farage is “more at home in the wood-panelled private clubs of the City than the working men’s clubs of the North” and that he “will be found out for being the charlatan he is.”
The Labour deputy leader’s attack comes as the party seeks to position itself as the champion of working-class interests, in contrast to the perceived elitism of the Conservative establishment. Ms Powell will echo the language of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, calling for the party to “tell its story” and argue that “for too long the country hasn’t worked for ordinary people, and we’re the ones fixing it.”
