Former Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry defects to Farage's Reform UK

Sir Jake Berry, a former leading Conservative, has announced that he has defected to Reform UK – in the latest move by a senior Tory to Nigel Farage’s party.

Sir Jake, who served as Tory chairman in Liz Truss’ short-lived government, said his former party had “lost their way” as he left the Conservatives. Speaking to The Sun newspaper, the new Reform member added: “Old Westminster politics has failed... Millions of people, just like me, want a country they can be proud of again. The only way we get that is with Reform in government.”

Sir Jake is the second former Cabinet minister in a week to join Reform, after ex-Welsh secretary David Jones announced he enrolled as a member.

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A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Not content with taking advice from Liz Truss, Nigel Farage has now tempted her Tory Party Chairman into his ranks.

"It’s clear Farage wants Liz Truss’s reckless economics, which crashed our economy and sent mortgages spiralling, to be Reform’s blueprint for Britain. It’s a recipe for disaster and working people would be left paying the price.”

This comes after Sir Keir Starmer declined to rule out a wealth tax, after Kemi Badenoch accused the Prime Minister of “flirting” with the idea.

The Prime Minister was also branded as “weak” by the Conservative leader, as she claimed he had been “forced into a series of chaotic U-turns” and failed to prevent doctors strikes.

Sir Keir defended his record in Government saying he is “proud” of the NHS 10-year health plan, free school meals and the roll out of family hubs.

During the back and forth at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs Badenoch claimed “investors are fleeing the country” as a result of a potential “tax on aspiration”.

This comes after former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock suggested a wealth tax could “commend” the Government to the general public.

She said: “He’s flirting with Neil Kinnock’s demand for a wealth tax. Let’s be honest about what that means – this is a tax on all of our constituents savings, on their houses, on their pensions, it would be a tax on aspiration. Will the Prime Minister rule this out?”

Sir Keir replied: “What we did in the budget was stabilise the economy through the measures taken by the Chancellor, what has that led to? Four interest rate cuts, for mortgage holders that is hugely important – compare and contrast what happened to the Liz Truss mini-budget.

“The fastest growth in the G7 in the first quarter of this year. Wages up more in the first 10 months of the Labour Government than the 10 years under the Tories. So no, we don’t need lessons from them.”

Mrs Badenoch then said: “It is time for him to take responsibility for the mess he is making. He has been in office for a year, and all we see is him congratulating himself on what a fantastic job that he has done. Nobody out there believes it, not even them, not even them, what a weak cheer.

“He’s congratulating himself. We can compare records. He talks about the fastest growing economy. We left him the fastest growing economy of the G7. We cut the deficit in every year until the pandemic. We got inflation down to 2%.

“On his watch, taxes are up, unemployment is up, inflation is up, and this weak Prime Minister has been forced into a series of chaotic U-turns.”

She added: “Yesterday, the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) said that our economy is being eroded under Labour. Doctor strikes, tax bombshells, the wealthy leaving in droves, isn’t the truth that under him, he is dragging us back to the 1970s?”

Sir Keir replied: “We’re responsible for four million extra appointments in the NHS, we’re responsible for a 10-year plan on the future of the NHS after they broke it, we’re also responsible for free school meals being rolled out in a way which has never been done by any government, breakfast clubs being rolled out, family hubs being rolled out, transport across the country, and migration coming down.

“We take responsibility and we’re proud of that.”

Mrs Badenoch said the Prime Minister “folds in every negotiation and claims that it is a triumph”, as she hit out at him over news from the British Medical Association that resident doctors will go on strike for five continuous days later this month.

She added: “He boasted that he solved the doctors’ strike but only a Prime Minister who was so weak and giving a 28% pay rise to doctors, only now we see that they’re still voting to strike again.”

Mrs Badenoch went on to accuse Sir Keir of planning to increase costs for the public, as she said any freeze to income tax threshold would mean pensioners have to pay a “retirement tax”.

The Prime Minister had earlier said he stands by Labour’s manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.

Mrs Badenoch said: “He’s talking about record investment and more jobs, we know that people are losing their jobs. Unemployment has gone up every single month since their year in office, but what does it mean on this issue of tax thresholds?

“It means that under Labour, millions of our poorest pensioners face being dragged into income tax for the first time ever. Does the Prime Minister think it is right that struggling pensioners should face a retirement tax?”

Sir Keir said: “We will stick to our manifesto commitments, we will stick to our fiscal rules. This is a language they don’t understand. That’s what got us into the problem in the first place.”

The Tory leader then went on to ask: “Will the Prime Minister admit that under him, council tax is set to soar?”

Sir Keir said: “No, of course it’s not. It soared under the last government. But, here she goes again. Back on familiar territory.

“She comes here complaining about the national insurance rise every week, she comes here complaining, and then when she’s asked the question, ‘Well would you have the courage then to reverse it?’, what’s the answer? No. And I’ll tell you for why, because she’s too embarrassed to say she doesn’t want the investment we’ve put in.

“That investment went in the NHS, they want the investment, they can’t say how they’re going to pay for it. That is what got us into the problem in the first place.”

Later, in response to a question from Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay about introducing a wealth tax, Sir Keir said: “We can’t just tax our way to growth, we need to ensure that we put in place the necessary measures.”