Reform UK launches election campaign with warning to Labour and Tories but without Nigel Farage – live

Reform’s press conference is now underway.

We’ll bring you the main updates from Richard Tice’s speech – you can also watch it live on our YouTube channel:

Reform UK is aiming to win a dozen or more seats in parliament at this year’s general election, its deputy leader has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

Ben Habib, who will stand in the upcoming Wellingborough by-election, said it is “not enough” to defeat the Tories.

“We have to lead the way and get seats in parliament… we don’t need many, but if we can get a dozen or more seats in the next parliament,” Mr Habib said.

“The political environment is extremely bright, people are extremely upset,” he added.

The deputy leader of Reform UK will stand in a by-election in Wellingborough, sparked by the removal of Peter Bone from parliament, Archie Mitchell reports.

In the 20th by-election since the 2019 general election, Ben Habib will stand to replace Mr Bone.

Mr Habib is a former Tory donor who backed Brexit and was later elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the Brexit Party.

The leader of Reform UK has claimed Labour and the Conservatives are both part of the same socialist coin in a bid to offer his party as an alternative, Archie Mitchell reports.

Richard Tice warned a Labour government would usher in “Starmergeddon”, claiming Sir Keir Starmer dragging Britain back toward the EU.

And he said Labour would oversee more government spending and “nanny state regulations”.

“Starmergeddon is a risk near you in 2024,” Mr Tice said.

Richard Tice has said the country never voted that it was “ready for Rishi”, but is now ready for the prime minister to call an election, Archie Mitchell reports.

The leader of Reform UK, which is setting out plans to wreak havoc for the Conservatives at the election, said Britain wants to “punish the Tories for breaking Britain”.

“I think the country wants to punish them, to oust them and replace them,” Mr Tice told a press conference in London.

He added: “The Tories are terrified… the special pleading has already started, ‘oh, please fon’t stand here’…

“You’ve all broken Britain. You’re all responsible. So there’s no special deals. We will stand in every single seat in England, Scotland and Wales.”

Research by the Liberal Democrats says more than 2 million people in London and South East England are set to be pushed into a higher tax bracket.

The two regions will be hardest hit by the government’s decision to freeze income tax thresholds – which have been branded “stealth” taxes – rather than raise them in line with inflation.

About 1.1 million taxpayers in London and the South East will be pushed into the higher 40p rate of income tax by 2027-28, according to the research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, first reported by the Financial Times.

Just under 1mn people in the two regions will be dragged into paying income tax at the lower 20p rate, the research found. The analysis did not include numbers for the highest 45 per cent rate of tax.

Nigel Farage could take up a role as chief of Reform UK’s election campaign if he is to return to frontline politics.

He is unlikely to return to replace Richard Tice as the party leader, according to the i, which said that an election would take place if Tice were to step away.

Mr Farage has also not ruled out joining the Conservative Party.

Government ministers should get back “around the table” and negotiate with doctors to secure a pay settlement and prevent strikes, a Labour frontbencher has said.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, accused the government of not engaging “at all” with public sector workers across the board and introducing “passive-aggressive legislation to make the situation worse”.

When by Sky News what Labour would do to end the stalemate, he said his party would not have passed anti-strike laws and would negotiate more with medics taking industrial action.

Watch some of the interview here:

The longest strike in NHS history “couldn’t come at a worse time”, experts said as they warned that elderly patients could put off seeking medical help due to the walkouts.

Hospital bosses said the health service is “in the grip of peak winter pressure” as junior doctors in England take to picket lines for six days.