Labour MP Mike Tapp has taken apart Nigel Farage for his fake patriotism, as he slammed the Reform UK leader for ‘doing nothing for this country’.
Tapp made the comments during an interview with Left on Red Media, a new media outlet that seeks to take on the misinformation being spread by the far-right, cutting through the spin to fight for a fairer, stronger Britain.
Discussing patriotism and British values, Tapp told presenter Issy Waite, that plastic patriotism made his blood boil.
Tapp highlighted his past experience serving in the military and said: “I went into the military to serve and I’ve come out into politics as a patriot, and realised very quickly and by the way I was noting it before as well, that there are some like Nigel Farage who wrap themselves in the flag but do nothing or would do nothing for this country. They’re opportunists not patriots.
“It fills me with anger, boils my blood, which is why I speak out against it so much.”
Tapp also took apart Reform’s plans for the National Health Service.
He said: “There’s nothing fair or decent about filling people with fear that they might have to pay for their healthcare.
“Already it’s on its knees, and we’ve seen that after 14 years of Conservative managed decline of our NHS, it’s going to take time to fix it, obviously we’ve got record investment and Wes Streeting is batting away at some of the civil service quangos that are holding us back, which is really positive to see but that underlying tone coming out of the likes of Nigel Farage and his party around making people pay for healthcare is worrying. It’s anti-British and people on the doorstep hate it.
“I’ve no idea why they think that’s the correct political strategy, I think it’s because they don’t care about the country, it’s all about themselves, it’s about ego and it’s about opportunism.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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