Richard Tice has refused to join forces with the Conservatives after GB News host Stephen Dixon suggested the two parties are “splitting the right”.
Speaking to GB News Breakfast, the Deputy Leader of Reform UK declared that only his party, led by Nigel Farage, would “fix broken Britain”.
New polling from More in Common has found that Tory support stands at 23 per cent, one point ahead of Reform.
The data, which surveyed 3,250 British voters between August 28 and August 31, revealed that the Conservatives have overtaken Reform for the first time in 18 months.
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Putting the polling to Mr Tice, Stephen argued that the issue here is the Tories and Reform “lie in a head-to-head battle”.
He pressed the Reform MP: “It’s splitting the vote on the right. If that was a united vote share on the right, you and the Tories, you’d beat the Labour Party in the general election, hands down?”
Mr Tice hit back: “The Tory party is full of soggy Lib Dems in the House of Commons.
“If people want a proper right-of-centre Government that is going to motivate work, bring down ways for Government spending and then bring down taxes and sort this country out, fix it with real people with experience, you’ve got to vote Reform.
“Otherwise it’s hard left socialism, and I don’t think that’s what people want.”
Mr Tice declared that whenever the next general election does happen, Reform are “planning to win it”.
He said: “So whenever there’s a general election, bring it on. We plan to win it, and this conference will set the scene as to what we’ll do in the first 100 days.”
Turning to Reform policy, Mr Tice was challenged on where the party stands on defence spending, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham was grilled on his commitment to the three per cent target.
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Mr Tice told GB News: “People have known exactly where we stand since the general election. I gently remind Labour and the Tories that we were the only party at the general election to say that we needed to get to three per cent of defence spending on GDP within three years, and that’s what we’re committed to do by 2030.
“We made that very clear that we had to be at three per cent. Robert Jenrick, just a few weeks ago, announced our Making Welfare Work plans, saving up to £50billion over a number of years, motivating and encouraging and getting people back to work.
“Work is a great thing and that will pay for the required savings in order to be able to ensure that we keep ourselves safe, keep our borders safe.”
The Reform deputy also argued that ensuring the safety of Britons also means tackling illegal migration in the Channel.
He stressed: “And of course, the most important thing to keep us safe is to stop the the illegal invasion across the Channel by people including, regrettably, a significant number of people with criminal activity in mind.
“That’s literally the role of the Royal Navy, to protect and defend British citizens at our borders, and both Labour and Tories have failed to do that spectacularly in recent years. Our plans to rescue and return to France will stop these illegal crossings, and that’s what the British people want.”
Challenged on whether the party’s target for three per cent spending by 2030 is “doable” if they are elected in 2029, Mr Tice assured that they have a plan for the “first 100 days” in office.
He concluded: “We’ll be setting out what we can do in the first 100 days so that people can understand and we will be making real commitments about that. And we can, without question, start to reduce bills in the first 100 days. We can, without question, start to change welfare policy and stop the boats. These are the critical things.
“Under Nigel’s strong leadership, we’re absolutely committed to it, and people want action because the country is completely and utterly broken.”
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