Sunak brushes off claims Reform UK trying to lure Tory MPs to defect

Rishi Sunak has brushed off suggestions that right-wing rivals in Reform UK are trying to lure Conservative MPs to defect with cash.

Deputy Tory chairman Lee Anderson has claimed he was offered offered a “guaranteed” job for five years on the same £80,000 salary as an MP if he defected.

Mr Anderson lashed out at “amateurs” in Richard Tice’s party – and denied accusations that he used the offer as leverage to get the senior role in the Tory party.

Mr Tice denied that any “cash or money” has been offered to Tory MPs to join – but said he has held “numerous discussions” with Tories worried about Mr Sunak.

The PM was asked about the mess as he attended a major investment summit at Hampton Court Palace.

Asked if he is concerned about the prospect of his MPs defecting, he said: “I’m focused on delivering for the British people.”

Mr Sunak said the party had offered “a very positive autumn statement where we’re now cutting taxes for 28 million workers across the UK”.

“We’re cutting taxes for businesses so that they can invest in our future growth and create jobs,” the Tory leader added. “And this summit represents the enormous positive momentum behind the UK economy, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

The Sunday Times reported that Mr Anderson, a Tory deputy chairman who has represented Ashfield in Nottinghamshire since 2019, claimed last month to have been offered "a lot of money" to join the Nigel Farage-linked party.

Mr Tice on Sunday rejected the claim, reportedly made by Mr Anderson at a South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association event last month.

“Let me make it absolutely clear – no cash or money has in any way been offered. What has been offered is the chance to change the shape of the debate,” Mr Tice told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

According to the paper, which has obtained a recording, Mr Anderson told activists: “Now, there is a political party that begins with an R that offered me a lot of money to join them. I say a lot of money, I mean a lot of money.”

He suggested Mr Anderson has “used the threat of defecting to Reform to negotiate himself the deputy chairmanship of the Tory Party”.

But on Sunday night Mr Anderson hit back at Mr Tice. “From time to time politicians do meet other politicians from different political parties,” he said in a statement issued to GB News.

Confirming the offer, he said: “At one such meeting I was offered the chance to join another party for the following deal – I join within a few months and stand for this party at the next election.

“If I lost my seat I would be guaranteed a job with the party for five years on the same salary as an MP.”

Mr Anderson added: “To falsely claim that I used this as leverage to get the position of deputy chairman is an insult to me and my party.”

A spokesman for Reform UK declined to comment on Mr Anderson’s statement. A high-profile MP, Mr Anderson has attracted criticism for a range of remarks on everything from food banks to illegal migration.

Earlier this month, suggested ministers should simply “ignore the law” and start sending asylum seekers to the east African nation.

But he is a favourite of activists and MPs on the right of the party, keeping his post in Mr Sunak’s reshuffle this month.