UK must ‘roll out the red carpet’ for Trump, Nigel Farage says

The leader of Reform UK has said the British government needs to do everything it can to welcome Mr Trump and negotiate a trade deal, at the party’s conference in Newport, Wales on Friday.

Mr Farage was speaking after returning from a trip from the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he celebrated Mr Trump’s election win.

Speaking to the PA news agency at the Reform UK Welsh conference on Friday, he said: “Roll out the red carpet, that’s what they’ve got to do (to build bridges).

“I’m pleased to say that the speaker of the House of Commons has made a start by inviting Donald Trump to come and address both Houses of Parliament.

“It’s a big improvement on speaker Bercow before, who banned him from the premises.

“Whether you like Trump or not, this is the important point that in terms of intelligence sharing, in terms of defence, in terms of investment, in terms of trade, America is our most important relationship.”

GB News has reported that Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the House of Commons, will not be blocking a visit by Mr Trump, but it is not clear if he has offered Mr Trump a visit.

Mr Farage insisted the UK-US relationship was “mendable”.

“(The) most important thing will be the tariff regime,” he said.

“He’s talking about putting a 10% tariff on all goods that are being sent to America, and we’ve got to start negotiating fast to make sure we’re not part of that.”

The US election was a key talking point during the conference, with people wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ clothing, and many speakers raising it as an issue.

Matt Goodwin, a right-wing commentator and former university academic, told the conference the Reform movement represents the “forgotten majority” like Mr Trump does in America.

Mr Farage said he has offered to help Labour “mend some fences” between the UK Government and the president-elect.

It follows David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, receiving criticism for his previous comments branding Mr Trump a “neo-nazi”.

But Mr Farage said the president-elect is a “far more forgiving figure than many people think,” with Mr Trump having chosen JD Vance – who previously criticised him – as his pick for vice president.

He also defended his trip to America and his presence in his Clacton constituency, saying: “I’m moving there, what more do you want?”

Mr Farage insisted he could not hold in-person surgeries in Clacton, calling it “too risky”.

“Other MPs aren’t Nigel Farage, other MPs don’t have constant death threats – it’s a different kettle of fish – and David Amess in Essex, just down the road, was murdered just a few short years ago,” he said.

Addressing the conference, Mr Farage used his speech to claim his party now has 96,000 members, putting Reform less than 40,000 supporters behind the Conservatives.

He said: “Isn’t it incredible that we’ve got up now to 96,000 members of this party? And we’re growing every day. We’re growing by hundreds every day.”

Last week, the Tories revealed there were only 131,680 Tory members eligible to vote for their next leader, a drop from 172,000 in 2022 when Liz Truss defeated Rishi Sunak.

He also praised Mr Trump’s “stunning victory” while criticising the UK Labour and Conservative parties.

He branded the Government’s policies “recipes to make the country poorer” with a Budget that “punishes anybody that does their own thing” and said Kemi Badenoch has selected a shadow cabinet of “non-entities”.

His speech was met applause and cries of support from the crowd, with one shouting out “traitors” when he spoke about Labour staffers campaigning for Kamala Harris.

The conference follows a Survation poll, which suggests the party is polling ahead of the Conservatives in Wales and just behind Plaid Cymru.

The survey of 2,006 people showed 20% would back the party at the next Senedd elections, with Labour on 30%, Plaid on 21% and the Tories on 17%.

The Reform leader called on supporters to join his “people’s army” in Wales and help Reform UK “organise and mobilise”.

“Winning elections is about having a party machine,” he said, “Winning elections is about a volunteer army. Winning elections is about the power of word of mouth, talking to people.

He added: “I’ve been asked before what my ambitions are. Well here in Wales the primary ambition is to be the main challenger to Labour.

“But frankly my ambition, sky is the limit. Let’s go for it. Let’s try and win this.”

Reform had tables set up outside the conference hall for members to sign up to work supporting the party in their communities.

Outside the conference venue a group of around 30 protesters gathered chanting “stop the fascists” and calling for Nigel Farage to “go away”.