Nigel Farage has slammed Andy Burnham's "utterly vacuous" Labour leadership speech, which harped on about the 80s. He repeated his demands for the incoming prime minister to call a snap general election while appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday.
The former MP for Clacton, who will face a bin at a by-election next month, said: “He comes in with absolutely no mandate at all, none … I find the whole thing utterly vacuous. He is the great chameleon of great British politics, capable of being all things to all people.” The Brexit architect added that Mr Burnham has “absolutely no mandate of any kind at all”, adding that Burnham was going on about things from "40 years ago".
Mr Farage warned attendees that Britain is in the “battle for the very soul of our nation”, warning that the nation’s values are “under attack in the most astonishing and extraordinary way”.
He added, "We are less than a decade away from becoming a third-world country.”
The politician said: "Britain is broken. We have to wake up to that fact. Acknowledge the extent of the illness. And until we do that, we'll never be able to put the right cures in place."
He also issued a warning shot over Mr Burnham appointing a chancellor who has never run a private business.
Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood are currently the top two contenders for the Treasury role.
Mr Burnham steps into the job at a time when his party has trailed Reform UK in opinion polls for nearly 18 months, and Labour will be hoping his presence will spark a bounce and turn around its fortunes.
Mr Farage's speech came as candidate nominations closed in the Clacton by-election, which will take place next month.
Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Restore Britain have said they will not field candidates in the race.
Mr Farage quit as an MP and triggered the contest after it emerged he received financial support from a longstanding ally before he became an MP, which he did not declare to parliamentary authorities after his election in 2024.
The story came soon after it was earlier this year, he separately received a £5million gift from a party donor before the election, which he also did not declare.
