In Birmingham, Reform UK has begun its conference amid a wave of allegations that has forced Nigel Farage to suspend two of his top aides. The party hopes to get back on the front foot this afternoon with a press conference between the Reform UK leader and Jordan Bardella, a leading member of France’s National Rally (RN) party. Farage has made much of his relationship with Bardella. He claims that if Marine Le Pen wins control of the Élysée next spring, then her young male compatriot will serve as the French premier, working with a Reform UK government to stop the Channel crossings.

‘We have been working for several months with Nigel Farage to strengthen co-operation’, Bardella told The Spectator,’ shortly before the joint event. Reform is, ‘the only political party that has the courage, the determination and the lucidity to solve a problem they denounced before anyone else.’ He believes that the deal he will unveil today could not be........

© The Spectator