Top Tory Robert Jenrick has said he would not oppose Nigel Farage returning to the Conservative Party, on a day he launches a new report demanding a huge reduction of immigration.
Speaking on LBC this morning, Nick Ferrari asked whether it’s time to have Mr Farage back into the Conservative Party, with Mr Farage having quit in the 90s over John Major’s pro-EU policies.
Mr Jenrick said he “would not oppose Mr Farage coming back into the party”, but conceded it’s “not our priority”.
“He’s associated with a different political party today, what we should be doing is tackling the issues that the public care about and which are leading some former Conservative voters to look elsewhere.
“As I say, legal migration seems to be absolutely top of the list and I believe that can be improved in the months ahead.”
Earlier this week, allies of Boris Johnson and Mr Farage were said to have been in discussion about how to realign the right after the General Election.
A Sunday newspaper claimed Mr Farage may fight to win Clacton for Reform, while Mr Johnson could return to parliament in a by-election.
The former premier would then “woo” Mr Farage to persuade him to return to the Tories.
However these claims were denied by all sides, with Richard Tice arguing Boris Johnson’s politics are “quite a long way apart” from Reform’s.
Mr Jenrick’s comments come on a day he is launching a major new report arguing that the scale and type of recent mass migration into Britain has failed to deliver the economic benefits its proponents promised.
He calls on the Government to re-commit to David Cameron’s ‘tens of thousands’ migration pledge, something he argues is achievable.
Speaking at the paper’s launch this morning, Mr Jenrick said Britain should be the “grammar school of the world” with a “highly selective approach” to who is allowed to come here.
He said the tens of thousands pledge was a “sacred promise” that the Tories “should fulfil – and it’s one that we can fulfil”.
Mr Jenrick says it would be “unforgivable” if Mr Sunak failed to act on the crucial issue before the election, dismissing Treasury claims that high migration boosts economic growth and warning it is driving the housing crisis.
The potential Tory leadership candidate says: “It would be unforgivable if the Government did not use the time before the general election to undo the disastrous post-Brexit liberalisations that betrayed the express wishes of the British public for lower immigration.”
Among his crackdown proposals include a cap on numbers, tougher restrictions on students coming to the UK, immediate reduction in social care visas.
He also called for the Home Office to be broken up, with a new Department of Border Security and Immigration Control created to take over responsibility for migration.
“The changes we propose today would finally return numbers to the historical norm and deliver the highly-selective, highly-skilled immigration system voters were promised,” he added.
“These policies could be implemented immediately and would consign low-skilled mass migration to the past.”
