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FAR-AGE AND WIDE
General Farage is on the march, warns Reform’s Lee Anderson and ‘jittery’ Tories are ‘freaking out’
Lee Anderson also revealed some jittery Tories are now begging him to stand down Reform candidates in their seats
THE People’s Army is on the march with General Nigel Farage leading the way, Reform’s Lee Anderson has warned.
The Red Wall firebrand insisted the Brexit supremo’s declaration of war on the Tories is “good for the country” as “nobody has got the divine right to rule”.
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The ex-Tory MP told The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots: “It’s the political revolution this country wants”
He also revealed some Tories are now begging him to stand down Reform candidates to save them from annihilation.
But he bluntly told them on our show: "The answer is no."
Mr Farage also declared this morning he would “under no circumstances” do a deal to stand his candidates down.
Also appearing on the show, Sun on Sunday Political Correspondent Sophia Sleigh said the Tories she had been speaking to were "jittery".
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And revealed a number of them had wanted Rishi Sunak to do a deal with Mr Farage to prevent him from running.
Despite weeks of denying he was planning another tilt at a Commons seat, the Brexiteer announced on Monday afternoon he would replace struggling Reform leader Richard Tice and stand in Clacton.
His shock return is a hammer blow for the PM - who was pinning his hopes on seeing off a political annihilation by squeezing support for the right-wing challenger party.
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Asked by The Sun on Sunday Political Editor Kate Ferguson if he felt bad for his former party, Mr Anderson said: “That’s politics. Nobody's got the divine right to rule this country. Nobody's got the divine right to assume they're going to be re-elected at a general election.
“It's good for politics. It's good for the country.
“It has certainly stirred up a little bit of a hornet's nest. It's the political revolution that this country wants.
“The People's Army is on the march, and we've got the best General Mr Farage.”
Mr Anderson, who defected to Reform in March becoming their only MP, declined to say whether he wanted to see the destruction of the Conservatives.
But he added: “What I want to see is Parliament actually represent the people of this country.”
Conveying a sense of panic amongst Tories, Mr Anderson said: "These ex-Tory colleagues are texting me now and saying... 'can you step down in my seat?
"And the answer is no."
'Jittery' Tories are 'freaking out' about 'big beast' Nigel Farage's Reform stunt, says Sun on Sunday's Political Correspondent
SUN on Sunday's Political Correspondent Sophia Sleigh said Tory MPs she had been speaking to were "jittery".
And she said a number of them had wanted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to do a deal with Mr Farage.
"It's not great news for Downing Street yesterday and today," she told The Sun's Never Mind The Ballots.
"We're still talking about Nigel Farage and we're still going to be talking about him for the next few days.
"Coupled with this poll Tories are really, really jittery today."
Ms Sleigh said Reform are a "big threat" to the Tories, adding: "I think they're a big threat in the sense that they are going to bite into the Tory vote, which will enable Labour to come up through the middle in some of these seats.
"I know that Tory MPs - I have been speaking to a couple this morning - are freaking out about this. It's not because they're going to lose their seat to Reform, it's because they're going to lose to Labour because of Reform.
"They are absolutely freaking out that Nigel Farage is back on the playing field because he's this massive figurehead of the right.
"Some Tory MPs until very recently wanted a deal with Nigel Farage. They wanted Rishi Sunak to come to some sort of agreement for him to call off the dogs, help them out."