Nigel Farage once dismissed Robert Jenrick as “a fraud” and “not to be trusted”, according to a resurfaced video recorded less than six months before reports emerged of Jenrick’s potential move to Reform UK.
The comments have re-emerged in the wake of Jenrick’s dramatic sacking as shadow justice secretary by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch. Badenoch said she had been shown “irrefutable evidence” that her former leadership rival was preparing to defect to Farage’s party.
Reacting publicly, Farage confirmed he had held “conversations” with Jenrick and said further talks were planned later today, fuelling speculation about a high-profile switch.
Old Nigel Farage Video Resurfaces Amid Reform UK Defection Claims
The footage dates back to last August, during protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which was being used to house asylum seekers. In a video posted on X, Farage criticised Jenrick’s appearance at the protest and questioned his credibility.
Farage said: “You might have seen pictures of Robert Jenrick turning up outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, and what he’s saying is ‘I’m on your side, I’m with you the people, what’s going on is a disgrace’.
“Well, when he was immigration minister just a couple of years ago it was very, very different. Here he is boasting that he’s going to open more migrant hotels than all the ministers that went before him.”
Immigration Policy Record at Centre of Farage Criticism
Continuing his attack, Farage highlighted Jenrick’s record while serving as immigration minister, focusing on the use of hotels to house people who had crossed the Channel.
Farage added: “Up to him as immigration minister, we got up to 56,000 people who’d crossed the channel by boat living in hotels.
“He put more people in hotels than even this Labour government, and here we are three years later and he turns up and says ‘I’m on your side’.
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“My advice to you would be to say this man is a fraud, this man is not to be trusted, and certainly his party aren’t either.”
The resurfaced remarks sit uneasily alongside Farage’s latest confirmation that discussions with Jenrick have taken place, as political attention intensifies around the possibility of a senior Conservative figure joining Reform UK.
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