Braverman defects to Reform as Burnham blocked: Where does it leave us? | ITV news

Former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman says she "no longer" trusts the Conservative Party following her defection to Reform UK.

Speaking during a press conference in London on Monday, Braverman said the Conservative Party had "left the building" and that Tories no longer represented the values she believed in when she joined the party.

“If the party you joined no longer reflects the values and principles that it once did, you should question your allegiance. If the party keeps breaking its promises, you should question your loyalty," she told reporters.

“And now too many promises lie in tatters. Too much damage has been done, and I no longer trust the Conservative Party.”

Meanwhile, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, reinforced his party's message that "Britain is broken," amid criticism of the message from his political opponents.

"I'll tell you what the key difference is, and it’s this: The prime minister insists that Britain is not broken, the leader of the opposition insists that Britain is not broken; we absolutely insist that Britain is broken.

“I don’t think until you’re prepared to accept the depths to which we’ve sunk and are sinking fast – economically, socially, societally – unless you understand and accept those things, that it’s impossible to get into the mindset to be radical enough to change them.

“It is like the others want to sort of fiddle with the plumbing; we think you need a completely brand new boiler and a brand new system.”

Sir Keir Starmer has defended the Labour National Executive Committee's (NEC) decision to block Andy Burnham from standing in a parliamentary by-election, saying he was doing a "great job" as Greater Manchester mayor.

The prime minister faces significant backlash from Labour MPs and members following the decision.

A ten-strong group from Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), including the prime minister himself, voted to deny Burnham permission to stand in Gorton and Denton at a meeting on Sunday.

The NEC cited the cost of fighting a mayoral by-election and the risk of losing the Greater Manchester mayoralty.

On Monday, the prime minister defended the decision, saying allowing Burnham to run for a Westminster seat would "divert resources away" from Labour's May elections.

He said: "We have really important elections already across England for local councils, very important elections in Wales for the government there, and very important elections in Scotland for Scottish government that will affect millions of people. We're out campaigning on the cost of living and they're very important elections.

"Andy Burnham's doing a great job as the mayor of Manchester, but having an election for the mayor of Manchester when it’s not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have, that we must fight and win.

“And resources, whether that’s money or people, need to be focused on the elections that we must have, not elections that we don’t have to have. And that was the basis of the NEC decision.”



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