Top Tory blasted by Camilla Tominey for 'wasting time' attacking Reform instead of Labour: 'What are you playing at?!'

Highlighting the recent Clacton by-election, in which Reform leader Nigel Farage secured a second victory, the Shadow Defence Secretary was pressed on how it was once a "safe seat" for the Tories.

She told the Tory MP: "This was once a true blue Tory seat, it was covered in blue rosettes. You're in Rayleigh in Essex, you know this territory like the back of your hand, and you've lost it and you've lost it to Reform because you simply weren't Conservative enough.

"Why are you wasting all your time attacking Reform when you should be attacking this socialist Labour Government?"

Mr Francois hit back: "In fairness, we've forced 16 U-turns out of a Labour Government, and I think we put up such strong opposition to a Labour Government that the Labour backbenchers panicked and ditched their own Prime Minister.

"So I think a reasonable person would say we've been putting up quite a good fight, bearing in mind we're outnumbered four to one day to day."

Criticising Reform, Mr Francois argued that members of the party are "hardly there" in Parliament to join debates against the Government's actions.

GB News host Camilla Tominey has grilled Mark Francois on why he is 'wasting his time' attacking Reform UK

GB NEWS

He said: "If you look at defence as my own particular specialist interest, when we debate defence in the House of Commons Reform are hardly ever there.

"Reform don't do defence, so I actually think I actually think we're putting up quite a firm fight."

Interjecting Mr Francois, Camilla reiterated her point: "There's a fight on the right, and this is the problem, Mark. We're now talking about should Andy Burnham have a snap election, and there's a number of reasons why he might want to consider that.

"The Burnham bounce, he's overtaken Reform in the polls for the first time in months for Labour, and the other reason he might want to have a election is because the right is divided."

Mr Francois told GB News that the Tories are 'putting up a firm fight'

GB NEWS

Camilla added: "More than half of the country appear to be right wing in one direction - Tories, Reform, Restore - and you're all fighting like rats in a sack?"

Mr Francois told GB News: "My mother was Italian, so according to Restore, I'm not properly British.

"Winston Churchill's mother Jenny Tarrone was an American, so according to their logic he wasn't properly British, even though he's probably the greatest Briton that ever lived.

"So I'm not going to get in the middle of the sort of Nigel Farage, Rupert Lowe psychodrama."

Hitting back at the Tory MP, Camilla argued: "But you're in it a little bit because you gave Rupert Lowe that seat on the Select Committee. Do you regret doing that now?"

He said: "Why on earth would any party, a party that's now doing better in the polls under a new leadership, want to go into some kind of an alliance with another party like Reform whose sworn aim, repeated by Nigel Farage on many occasions, is to destroy the Conservative Party?

"Something which, if you look at the polls, he has palpably failed to do. One minute some of them they want to work with us, the next minute they want to destroy us.

"So I cannot realistically see anything happening in the current environment. And in the meantime, we're getting on with opposing Labour and we ain't doing too badly at it."