Kemi Badenoch today warned it would be ‘very bad’ for Britain if Nigel Farage became prime minister.
The Tory leader accused her Reform UK rival of saying ‘whatever he wants in order to get into power’ and said he would ‘bankrupt’ the country if he enters Downing Street.
She also claimed Mr Farage was ‘making the same mistake’ as Labour‘s Sir Keir Starmer by making promises he ‘can’t deliver’.
Mrs Badenoch took a swipe at Mr Farage – who was criticised for taking a holiday abroad while Parliament was sitting last week – as she responded to reports that he will commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
The Reform leader is expected to make the announcement in an upcoming speech as he attempts to broaden his party’s appeal to left-wing voters.
He is also set to commit to restoring the winter fuel payment – which has controversially been means-tested by Chancellor Rachel Reeves – to all pensioners.
Despite campaigning against Labour’s cuts to winter fuel payments, Mrs Badenoch is not promising to return it to every retiree.
The Tory leader also said the two-child benefit cap ‘needs to stay’ as Britons ‘shouldn’t have to rely on benefits to have your children’.
Kemi Badenoch has warned it would be ‘very bad’ for Britain if Nigel Farage became prime minister
The Tory leader accused her Reform UK rival of saying ‘whatever he wants in order to get into power’ and said he would ‘bankrupt’ the country if he enters Downing Street
Mrs Badenoch hit out at Mr Farage in the wake of an opinion poll showing the Conservatives had slumped to fourth place.
The YouGov survey found the Tories trailing far behind Reform UK and Labour, while they had even been overtaken by the Liberal Democrats.
It was the first time the Conservatives have placed fourth in a YouGov ranking since the final weeks of Theresa May’s premiership in 2019.
But Mrs Badenoch suggested there was a contrast between her approach and that of Mr Farage, the Prime Minister, and some of her Tory predecessors.
She told Sky News: ‘Nigel Farage is someone who’s going to say whatever it is he wants in order to get into power. I’m taking the hard road. I’m not going to do that.
‘We spent years chasing polls telling people what they wanted to hear and not delivering.
‘He is doing that now. He’s making the same mistake that Keir Starmer made, of making promises, and then they’ll get into government and can’t deliver it.’
Asked about the likelihood of Mr Farage winning power, the Tory leader added: ‘I hope not – it would be very bad for this country.’
She also vowed that she was ‘not going to announce lots of policies to chase polls like Nigel Farage is doing’.
‘Things that are unaffordable, like the two-child benefit cap,’ she continued. ‘He’s someone who is going to bankrupt our country if he ever gets into power.’
In his first speech since Reform’s stunning local elections success on 1 May, Mr Farage is set to describe Sir Keir as ‘one of the most unpatriotic PMs in our history’.
He is also set to commit to restoring the winter fuel payment to all pensioners and to scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
A Reform source said: ‘We’re against the two-child cap and we’d go further on winter fuel by bringing the payment back for everyone. That’s already outflanking Labour.’
The two-child benefit cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third or additional child born after April 2017.
Prior to July’s general election, the Tories committed to retaining the cap that was introduced by ex-chancellor George Osborne.
Mrs Badenoch said it ‘needs to stay’ amid reports that Sir Keir wants to scrap the limit, as he faces growing pressure from Labour MPs over welfare cuts.
‘I’m going to tell the truth and be the person who is being honest with the public,’ she said.
‘We cannot afford to scrap it. People know that the two-child benefit cap is there for a good reason.
‘And there are many people out there who will say, ‘if you can’t afford to have lots of children, then you shouldn’t do so’.
‘You shouldn’t have to rely on benefits to have your children. But we do have a humane system where we look after people. But the cap is its two children.
‘I think that is right. That is fair. Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer are just saying things to please people.
‘They’re not doing what is right. I am saying what is the right thing to do. It may not be popular, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do.’
Mrs Badenoch also said the wealthiest pensioners should not receive winter fuel payments, despite her having put pressure on Labour to reverse their changes.
‘I’ve always said millionaires should not get the winter fuel payment,’ she added.
‘That is not right. But we shouldn’t be taking it away from people who end up below the breadline after it’s gone.
‘So what we need is a system that can make sure that all of those people who do need it get it.’
The PM has pledged to partially undo Labour’s controversial decision to axe winter fuel payments – worth up to £300 – for millions of pensioners.
He told MPs on Wednesday that he wants to ensure ‘more pensioners are eligible’ for the payments ‘as the economy improves’.
But Downing Street failed to offer any further detail on how many more pensioners would be eligible, or even if the unpopular policy would be altered in time for this winter.
Shortly after Labour’s general election win in July, Ms Reeves sparked uproar by announcing the means-testing of winter fuel payments.
Charities reacted with fury at the Chancellor’s decision to restrict payments to only those pensioners in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits.
