ITV News interview at Reform's conference: the undercover donations sting, investigations, his family, the first 100 days and the boats

Well, I've had 2 years, actually. 2 years.

Yes, I created the brand. And I said to Richard Tice, "We've left the European Union. I've been in this game for over a quarter of a century. I've simply had enough. I'm off to do other things." And Richard kept it going for 3 years, and thank goodness he did.

I've been back for 2 years. And look what we've achieved. Look what we've achieved. 2 years ago, we were here in Birmingham. We just won a handful of MPs.

We had no councilors. We had no base. Now we have 2 and 1/2 thousand councilors. We're running nearly 35 councils up and down the country. We have a parliamentary assessment process going on, which all ex-MPs from Tory and Labour say is better than anything they ever saw before.

I've recruited top people, and I promise you, I am turning this into a professional outfit. That doesn't mean that things won't go wrong. Doesn't mean that sometimes people will mis- you know, they will misbehave. And that's human nature. But no, we're making a machine.

And by the way,

Well, I mean, look at this conference. Could any other party in Britain put on anything nearing the professionalism of what is going on here. I would argue no. Um and look, the investigations, we are living in a complainant society. I am reported to a regulatory authority or the police or something like that virtually every single week.

Yes, there is I'll tell you what it is. For 100 years, we've had two parties dominating British politics and an ecosystem around it. That means the appointment of quangos, going to the House of Lords, government contracts. And for the first time in a century, the new kids on the block and threaten all of that. They are not going to just stand aside and see reform take over and not fight back.

Well, there's no cheap conspiracy theory about Richard Tice's bank accounts being published online. There's no conspiracy theory about that. There has been a coordinated attack against us. Now, look, as I say, if we do wrong, if we do wrong, we will hold our hands up and say so. But this is an attempt, since our huge success on May the 7th, to sully our name.

Well, I mean, as far as I'm concerned, there is nothing I've ever done that the police should need to take action on and I feel pretty confident, hand on heart, about that. When it comes to Parliament, well, look, you know, I have not broken any law. I've not taken any public money. By the way, my my expenses claims as an MP in 2 years is zero. I don't need it.

I've got outside income. You know, the accusation is I didn't fill in a piece of paper. All right, I mean, that's actually what we're talking about here. That is actually what we're talking about. And I would have thought in the light of the murder of Ann Widdecombe and given some of the serious security issues that I've faced here, even yesterday, that people might understand why I was given that sum of money.

Because I asked them, I asked them and my people, and you see it in the video, is this all above board? Has this all been checked out? That is there in the video.

Because I was assured by both sides that it was above board, right? I was coming in at the end of the process. I'd never met these people before. And then, I'm told it's a global family trust and run from London. And a global family trust can get income from all over the world.

So, I didn't question it, I didn't query it.

Yeah.

Oh, come on. Come on. You've been around forever. You know, for decades peerages have been sold by both the Labour and Conservative parties. Give 5 million, we'll put you in the House of Lords.

You know, we've seen funding scandals of all kinds. Have a look.

No, no, no, I'm not saying that for a moment. I'd equally say, have a look at Labour's donors pre-2024 and government contracts that have been given out. I am not

I am saying that what happened was injudicious at best. What was said was injudicious at best. It's subject to an investigation, but I would also say it's not just us.

I know.

Yes, I am. And I I put that down to loose pub talk regarding

Because he was trying to persuade this bloke to do something. Look, it As I say, it was injudicious at best.

That Reform is being Well, look, there is a

And it will go And it will go on.

back and see me in 6 months, there'll be five more investigations. It won't end. This won't end.

because you're part of the establishment.

Don't get it. They are not going to give us a free ride. They will do anything they can. I expect many more investigations over the course of the next few months. I've no doubt about it.

None.

Oh, yeah.

No, I wasn't thinking of quitting, but I'll tell you what happened. And a lot of people noticed over the summer that my usual quite jolly demeanor

was perhaps absent. And I, you know, accept that. I accept that and I

Well, let's put it like this. You know, it's 34 years since I first stood in a by-election and got involved in politics. And all the way through that, my family have always supported me. Many of them agree with my politics. One or two take a different view, but they've always supported me all the way through until this summer.

Until this summer.

And suddenly

most of my family say, you know, give it up. Walk away. And the impact on them is horrific. Even last week, another horrific round of debanking

of people closely related to me. So, you know, I have had, I'll be honest, you know, when your own family start to turn on you because of what you do, some very thoughtful moments, very very thoughtful moments.

I didn't get that close. I didn't get that close to quitting, but but but I think that sense of upset and exasperation was there.

Oh, yes. No question about that. No question about that. I mean, I'm going to do that. And I tell you, we may have had a bit of a setback this summer and we have, and that's you know, that's I mean you know, markets never move in straight lines.

I still really believe that by the time the next election comes, we will be seen as the only party on the center right that actually has a chance of winning.

Do you know what? He's not the first in politics, is he? [laughter] He's not the first in politics to have ambition. By the way, he's a very, very talented communicator.

If If these thousands of people out there would prefer would prefer Ziya or someone else to me, do you know what? I'd recognize it.

Yes.

Well, when you've got terrorists crossing the English Channel every week, people who may well do us enormous harm, people being sent in by the Iranian regime, as I was the first to point out in Parliament many months ago, that is a national emergency. Of that, I have no doubt at all.

What we're saying to What What we're saying What we're saying to Parliament is, "Sorry, guys, summer recess is canceled. This place is going to sit 6 days a week. It's going to sit all the hours God sends."

Well, hang on a second. You know, I mean, I made it very clear on the platform yesterday that if we are elected, if we if we win on a very specific, clear manifesto, I would expect the House of Lords to honor the Salisbury Convention that has been around for over 100 years. I would expect them to. But if they decide they want to obstruct it, well then we'll fight back. And we will use whatever means we can to get some change.

You know, think about politics and the level of disenchantment is people feel that an election after election, they're told things by parties who want power for the sake of power. I'm not interested in that. Not in the least bit interested in that. What I'm interested in is getting genuine fundamental change and turning this country around in a number of key areas. And so we are saying, you vote for us, these ministers will be given jobs, really big pledges to get through in 100 days, and if they fail, I will sack them.

Absolutely.

Oh, I'm tired of being told you can't do this and you can't do that.

impossible. Tony Abbott did it in Australia in 2012. He stopped the boats in 2 weeks. In 2 weeks, he stopped the boats. The boats were coming from Indonesia, boats with 2 or 300 people on.

They were headed for 50,000 people a year coming into Australia. Within a fortnight, Abbott turned it around. If you've got the will, you can do it. And frankly, to have Jordan Bardella here yesterday, and let's face it. I mean, he and Marine Le Pen are odds-on favorites to win next year.

To have a French government that genuinely wants to work with us and cooperate and will accept us taking boats back over the channel. Do you know what? We could end this trade. If we get the legislation done, we could end this trade in less than a fortnight.

Intimidation goes both ways. You know, there's intimidation through mothers walking through a park with their kids where there are gangs of men just idling around staying at staying at HMOs or hotels. I do not approve of what is happening in Dover today. I do not approve of mass people turning up and protesting anywhere, whatever side of the argument they're on.

Yeah.

Honestly. Honestly, it's all one way, isn't it? You know, I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with with placards, and that's all fine. That's absolutely fine. Yet when we have a big event that people have paid a lot of money to come to, and we get people there trying to disrupt it and we remove them, suddenly we're in the wrong.

Utter nonsense.

Please. Please, this is just all so one-sided. It is ridiculous. There were people there trying to disrupt our conference. We always have them.

We always have them, and we remove them quickly and expeditiously.

All right.

The bottom bounce is much smaller than most people thought it was going to be and I I sense one of the reasons I think the early election is coming. I sense that the UK bond market is in for a very very torrid time. I genuinely I just don't see in the budget. On October the 28th. What John Heaton can do.

Because his hands are tied by the labor backbenches and the conservatives well I mean Kemi has been pushed by the Tory press. As if she's the new Messiah. There's no impact in the country. And in the areas where they are getting a bit stronger, they're the safe Tory areas already. They don't exist in the middle of the north.

They're gone. I mean they are in deposit losing territory in those areas. On restore, well look. I think as the public begin to understand. Some of the fellow travelers.

That restore have accepted. And some of the things that they stand for. Frankly things we haven't heard in Britain since the 1930s. Around Jewish people etc. I I think you'll find there'll be a change.

Well not with some of their key. Most prominent people saying things that the vast majority of people in Britain would find repulsive.