David Lammy dismantles Farage’s claim to be anti-establishment with brutal takedown at PMQs

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy took apart Nigel Farage during PMQs yesterday, dismantling the Reform UK leader’s claims to be anti-establishment after his latest political stunt, with Farage triggering a by-election in his constituency.

Farage announced earlier this week that he would be resigning as an MP for Clacton but would be standing again in the immediate by-election, saying he wanted the people to be his judge after facing growing questions over his finances and failure to declare gifts.

He is already facing a probe from Parliament’s standards commissioner since May over a failure to declare a £5m gift he received from a billionaire Reform donor before he became an MP.

And there are calls for another probe after he did not disclose support provided by a different political ally.

It was revealed by the Times that the Reform UK leader failed to declare benefits, including staffing, security and housing, provided by long-time aide George Cottrell before he was elected as MP for Clacton in the 2024 general election.

Many suspect Farage decided to jump before he was pushed, given that the Committee on Standards could have sanctioned him by suspending him from the House for 10 sitting days or more triggering a recall-petition and by-election anyway.

Farage however has sought to portray himself as the victim of an establishment stitch-up, claiming that he is fighting for the people.

Lammy had to put that straight during PMQs.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper asked Lammy if Farage’s resignation should be delayed until after the probe into his undeclared gifts.

She joked: “The honorable member for Clacton used to say leave means leave, but it seems his latest stunt is to leave this place so he can return as a fully-fledged member, after not just one referendum on his behaviour, Mr Speaker, but possibly two.”

Lammy replied: “Everyone can see that the Reform leader is just trying to distract from the fact that he is up to his neck in sleaze.

“He’s got serious questions to answer and he can’t run away from them.

“Labour isn’t going to be part of this circus.

“I hear it’s the people versus the establishment – the city trader, Putin-admiring, professional politician who is pals with crypto billionaires versus Count Binface.