Farage taunts the Tories as Labour calls out 'lying' PM

Rishi Sunak has moved to calm Tory nerves amid panic after Reform UK passed his party in a damaging YouGov poll.

- DAVID MADDOX

On a day when Nigel Farage called for a head-to-head debate with Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister tried to take back control of his own election campaign as he flew back from the G7 conference in Italy.

The Reform UK leader began the day taunting the Tories with a video of him singing an Eminem song: “Guess who’s back? Back again!”

Labour then accused the Tories of lying again after a cabinet minister claimed a Starmer government would introduce 18 new taxes, including a capital gains tax raid on people selling their homes.

The Tories were left reeling when a YouGov poll on Thursday put Mr Farage’s Reform UK ahead of them by a point – 19 per cent to 18 per cent. The same poll had Labour on 37 per cent and suggested that the Conservatives are on track to win fewer than 100 seats for the first time in their 346-year-history.

A Whitestone poll yesterday was the sixth in 24 hours to confirm Reform is at least closing the gap on the Tories, up one to 17 per cent, with the Tories down three to 19 per cent and Labour down one to 41 per cent.

But with Tory ministers now openly warning of a Labour “supermajority”, Mr Sunak insisted that voting for Reform UK would be “handing Labour a blank cheque” as he tried to play down the prospect of Mr Farage’s party overtaking the Conservatives.

The prime minister predicted a comeback, stressing that “we are only halfway through this election” and the choice between the Tories and Labour will “crystallise for people between now and polling day”.