Keir Starmer has said voters are being “conned” by Reform and Tories in a scathing attack ahead of local elections.
The prime minister labelled the electoral threat of Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch as “equally” challenging.
It comes amid calls for the two parties to unite and join together in a bid to defeat Labour.
Talking to Sky News, he said: “The Tories have got a terrible record, 14 years of failure. Reform moan about everything, but have got no answers.
“And at the end of the day, Reform and the Tories, there’s all this talk about them getting together and merging.
“If you’re a Tory voter who doesn’t want a pro-Russia foreign policy, how does a merger with Reform work for you?
“If you’re a Reform voter that thinks the Tories have failed for 14 years, how’s a merger or coalition with the Tories work for you?
“Both sets of voters are being conned. Behind the scenes, behind the leader of the opposition, other people are looking for a coalition of these two parties. It would be a disaster for Britain.”
Last week, Tory frontbencher and former leadership candidate Robert Jenrick vowed to “bring this coalition together” to ensure that Conservatives and Reform UK are no longer fighting each other for votes by the time of the next election, in a leaked audio recording.
Despite the Conservatives ruling out a pact with Nigel Farage’s party, Jenrick told a group of students he will try “one way or another” to make sure Reform UK and the Tories do not compete at another general election and hand a second term in office to Sir Keir Starmer in the process.
Nigel Farage said: “Reform have no intention in forming coalitions with the Tories at any level because the Tories broke Britain nationally for 14 years, and their councils continue to break local communities with the highest taxes ever and worst services.”
Reform UK is now topping all other rivals in the polls with about 25 per cent support. By contrast, Labour has fallen since their win last year, down to just 24 per cent, with Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives on 22 per cent.
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